{"id":750,"date":"2014-08-31T19:11:58","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T19:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wholetomato.com\/?p=750"},"modified":"2019-05-03T17:28:17","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T21:28:17","slug":"organize-va-snippets-with-hashtags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wholetomato.com\/blog\/organize-va-snippets-with-hashtags\/","title":{"rendered":"Organize VA Snippets with hashtags"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a user with a modest\u00a0collection of VA Snippets, the built-in type filtering and auto-sorting of the VA Snippet Editor are sufficient tools to manage the collection. Type filtering divides VA Snippets by access method in the UI of Visual Assist, and auto-sorting within a\u00a0type\u00a0makes scrolling efficient. For the occasional VA Snippet that is hard to locate by type filter, the search capability in the VA Snippet Editor is an ample ancillary\u00a0tool.<\/p>\n

But for the user who has a massive collection of VA Snippets, built-in type filtering can fail\u00a0to divide VA Snippets into manageable subsets. In these instances, hashtags in the descriptions of VA Snippets will tame the collection. You can add multiple hashtags to one VA Snippet, and tell\u00a0the VA Snippet Editor to display only VA Snippets\u00a0that include a specific hashtag(s).<\/p>\n

If hashtags might help you stay organized, start with a reasonable set of hashtags for your collection. Remember, one VA Snippet can have multiple hashtags. For example,\u00a0you can specify a language construct, custom type, and author for a single VA Snippet. With your hashtags in hand, scroll through your collection of VA Snippets and add the hashtags\u00a0to your descriptions, separating your hashtags with commas or spaces.<\/p>\n

Once you’ve added your hashtags, tell the VA Snippet Editor to\u00a0display\u00a0only entries containing a\u00a0hashtag by:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. setting Type to “Search”<\/li>\n
  2. entering a hashtag in the search field<\/li>\n
  3. setting scope to “Search descriptions”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the following example, I search for VA Snippets I’ve tagged as loop constructs. The editor shows only\u00a0the five I’ve tagged:<\/p>\n

    \"blogHashtagLoop\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Searches for VA Snippets that include any one of several\u00a0tags requires you enable REs in searches\u00a0and\u00a0separate your hashtags with vertical bars\u2014the symbol for “or” in an RE. For example, I can search for VA Snippets I’ve tagged as loop constructs or as switch statements:<\/p>\n

    \"blogHashtagLoopOrSwitch\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Searches for VA Snippets that include\u00a0multiple\u00a0tags are\u00a0a little trickier. The general pattern of an RE that finds VA Snippets\u00a0with multiple tags is:<\/p>\n

    (?=.*#tag)(?=.*#tag)(?=.*#tag).+<\/pre>\n
    In the following example, I find VA Snippets tagged as loop constructs AND authored by Jeff:<\/p>\n
    \"blogHashtagLoopAndJeff\"<\/a><\/p>\n
    If you have a large collection of VA Snippets, especially if you distribute the collection\u00a0to other developers who\u00a0browse through it, consider setting aside time to add hashtags. You may\u00a0be more productive in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    For a user with a modest\u00a0collection of VA Snippets, the built-in type filtering and auto-sorting of the VA Snippet Editor are sufficient tools to manage the collection. Type filtering divides VA Snippets by access method…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28485711,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"undefined","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[672],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips-and-tricks"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpLS4-c6","aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t