Snippets and Short Codes

Save your commonly used paragraphs and sentence fragments to be instantly pasted into time entries, expenses, and fixed fees

Doug Schmierer avatar
Written by Doug Schmierer
Updated over a week ago

A snippet is a batch of text that you create in LeanLaw. Snippets are shared by all users in your firm and appear in a “Snippets” dropdown that you can find when editing or creating time entries, on both the Calendar page and the Time Entries page. When you click a snippet from this dropdown, LeanLaw will automatically copy and paste the text into the time entry's description.

A short code is a few letters, numbers, and/or other characters that you can connect to a snippet. Snippets don’t require short codes to work, but by assigning a short code to a snippet, any time you type that short code in a description field, plus a space, LeanLaw will automatically replace your short code with all of the text you connected to the short code as a snippet.

Table of Contents:


How to create a snippet (with a short code)


1. Go to Settings

In the top right corner, click the gear iron ⚙️ to open your firm’s Settings page.

2. Click Snippets and Short Codes

In your firm’s settings page, click on Snippets and Short Codes.

3. Type a snippet

In the upper right corner of the Snippets and Short Codes page, click the field that says "Snippet (Required)" and type the text which you wish to use as a template.

An image of the Snippets and Short Codes page with the Snippet field indicated.

4. Enter a short code (optional)

If you wish to connect a short code to the snippet you just typed in step 3, click the field labeled “Short Code (Optional)” and type the characters you wish to use elsewhere in the product as the short code for your snippet.

An image of the Snippets and Short Codes page with the Short Code field indicated.

5. Click Submit

Once you’ve reviewed your snippet and short code, click the green Submit button to save your changes.


How to add a short code to an existing snippet


1. Click the edit icon

On your firm’s Snippets and Short Codes page, click the edit icon (which looks like a pencil on a pad) next to the snippet you wish to edit. This will cause your existing snippet to appear to the right, underneath Edit Snippet.

2. Add a short code

Click the field labeled “Short Code (Optional)” immediately below the snippet you’re editing.

3. Click Submit

Click the green Submit button to save your changes.


How to use snippets


If you don't have a short code connected to your snippet, you'll need to select snippets from the Snippets dropdown menu. This menu is available in time entries that you create or edit from the Calendar page or the Time Entries page.

1. Click the Snippet dropdown

While editing or creating a new time entry, click the dropdown labeled Snippets to expand it.

2. Select the snippet

With the Snippets dropdown expanded, select the snippet from the list.

A gif of the New Time Entry window snippet being selected from the Snippets dropdown.


How to use short codes


Once you have a short code connected to a snippet, you can type the short code, followed by a space, in the Description field of any time entry, expense, or fixed fee to cause LeanLaw to replace the short code with the full text of that short code's snippet.

1. Type your short code

While typing in the description field of time entry, fixed fee, or expense, type a short code you've created.

2. Press space

After you've typed your short code, without typing or clicking anything else, press your space bar. This will cause your short code to be replaced by the snippet connected to it.

A gif of the New Time Entry window with snippets being entered through short codes.

What's next?


Did this answer your question?