How to use fill-in-the-blank fields in a snippet
Most reusable text is 90% fixed and 10% variable — the customer's name, an order number, a date. A fill-in field marks that 10%. When you insert the snippet, FlashType prompts you for the blanks instead of making you hunt through the pasted text for the bits to change.
Takes about 4 min
What you need
- At least one saved snippet to edit
Steps
Open the snippet you want to make flexible
Start from one you already send with small edits every time.
Find the parts that change
Names, order numbers, dates, product names — anything you edit after pasting.
Replace each one with a fill-in field
Use the [[fill-in]] syntax so FlashType knows to ask you for it.
Give each field a meaningful label
[[customer name]] is a far better prompt than [[field 1]] when you are moving quickly.
Save and test it
Expand the snippet and confirm the prompts appear in a sensible order and the output reads correctly.
Worth knowing
- One snippet with three fill-in fields beats eight near-identical snippets. It is also one place to edit when the wording changes.
- Label fields the way you would ask a colleague for the information, not the way a database would.
- Check the finished text after your first few expansions — a fill-in dropped mid-sentence can read oddly until the surrounding wording is adjusted.
Questions
What does the fill-in syntax look like?
Wrap the placeholder in double square brackets, like [[customer name]]. When you insert the snippet, FlashType prompts you for the blanks as you go.
Can one snippet have several fill-in fields?
Yes. You are prompted for each one in turn, which is what lets a single snippet replace a whole family of near-duplicates.