Hey Automators,
I did a search but didn’t find anything.
Wondering how you all track / catalogue all of your automations and keyboard shortcuts.
I use multiple different programs each running their own automations and often these connect together.
As my business grows others are needing to understand the framework - which is very much in my head, lol!
Im thinking a mindmap which links with a database (I use coda).
Just after your suggestions and examples!
Thanks in advance,
Danny
I feel like this has come up recently here or on Mac Power Users, but I could be wrong.
In any case: I use plaintext notes to document each automation. The all live in the same folder of notes, and I tag them so when I search for the tag I get just the automation notes.
I just started doing this, as I was forgetting things like what keyboard shortcuts I had set up and in what application. I was setting up a keyboard shortcut in an automation tool yesterday and chose a combination that I had already used. And that prompted me to do this.
And I decided to use markdown plaintext file for this. I have one text file with a section for each automation tool and a separate section which lists all keyboard shortcuts I’ve defined. I wanted something simple, an index of what I’ve done and not full documentation on each automation.
Each time I add an automation/kb shortcut I plan to update the document.
For example, one tool I use is Hazel and thus there is a Hazel section. And the automations I’ve set up are listed, with a brief, one or two line, description for each.
As another example I have four monitors, and I have a macro set up in Keyboard Maestro that I use to quickly move my cursor from monitor to monitor via keyboard shortcuts. So this is listed in two places, the macro in the Keyboard Maestro section and the specific key combinations in the Keyboard Shortcuts section.
Like I said I’ve just started this, and I expect it will evolve over time.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
I just started keeping my automations in a note inside Craft. I don’t have them all in there. I do like that I can collapse sections of a note (i.e., document in Craft) into a subdocument. That way I can have a main note that is a list of the categories (Shortcuts, Keyboard Maestro macros, HomeKit automations, etc.) and then I can drill into each category. That’s the vision, but I’m just getting started. So far, I only have some of my top Shortcuts.
I’ve been using an Obsidian Vault (“Control Docs”) to document automations, tricks, protocols for dealing with particular software or projects. For example, one note is a comprehensive protocol for updating and maintaining my various computing systems, while another may focus on text expansion. (I tend to think about automation in terms of project contexts, so my documentation blurs those lines.)
I keep the pages in Markdown, so it would be easy to change systems at any point. I’ve used other systems like Notes, but I find it helpful to have an application pretty much dedicated to automations and common procedures.
Thanks for all your help everyone…
I love CODA (for those of you that don’t know CODA is a better version of Notion (in my opinion!)).
I wanted to do this in CODA but after all your suggestions I really just think a plan text document is the way to go. I was trying to have a system that captured everything but unfortunately I am just not a huge fan of CODA as a note taking app.
I think Obsidian will be the way to go for all of my notes moving forward (I love the ‘connectability’ if that’s a word).
Thanks again for all your help!