Atext: An introduction to Variables

This is a product plug for Atext. I am in no way affiliated with this company, nor do I receive any financial or other benefits from this company. I simply believe it is a product that everyone should use, and I’ll tell you why.

First, because it saves you time and helps manage human error.

Second, because it can be a learning and experiencing place for the use of variables in data & tech.

Time-Savings and Human Error:

Atext allows you to choose short words or phrases that reference something else longer, and when you type the short word or phrase anywhere on your computer, Atext will change it automatically to the longer thing.

For example: I don’t want to have to type out my full website URL every time I need to send it to someone. Instead, I type “mywebsite” anywhere - in a Google Doc, in an online form, on a website, in my CRM - and Atext will automatically change what I typed to “https://www.maketechworkforyou.com”. 

Another example: It helps me keep track of my typos. I often accidentally type my name as “Emiyl” - Atext will change it to Emily.

Variables:

Like in grade school math: x + 5 = 10. X is a variable. It is a representation for something else. That is what Atext does - it allows you to create variables - short words or phrases that represent something else (and then it goes the extra mile and always replaces the short thing with the long thing). Variables are a central, core, foundational concept applied innumerable times in the computer programming that builds our digital world, from the very simplest of examples to the most complex. Atext provides you the space to create your own Variables, to manage them, use them, and learn more about them. 

Just as I write these words, I am realizing that spell-check is a way that we use variables in our everyday lives. Google and Microsoft have written into their code that when I type “iwth” then Docs or Word decides that I’m not actually trying to write that collection of letters, but that instead I am using a pre-defined Variable - that “iwth” does not exist as its own unique word, but that it is instead a representation of the word “with”. Google and Microsoft decided on that Variable and so so so many others. Atext gives you a piece of the control to define and use Variables for yourself.

Scroll down for a video version of this explanation!

In Summary:

This is a product plug for Atext. I am in no way affiliated with this company, nor do I receive any financial or other benefits from this company. I simply believe it is a product that everyone should use.

If you use this product or a similar one, please share how and why in the comments!