Using Dragon without custom commands is a lot like using a dial up modem [Yes, they still exist.] instead of high-speed Internet.
Custom commands give Dragon a lot of its functionality. Note: Custom command functionality is not available for the Dragon Home version. For the longest time, I did not know how to use custom commands properly. The only custom command I knew how to write was for pasting text. I didn’t realize that you could use custom commands for creating forms, opening apps and navigating within an app. Once I understood how to use custom commands, using Google Chrome and navigating Google Workspace became so much easier. Custom commands can also be used to dictate Internet logins and passwords. I have a few logins and passwords integrated into some custom commands, but not all of them because I’m paranoid.
There are 3 types of custom commands: Step-By-Step commands, Advanced Scripting, and Macro Recorder.
- Step-by-step commands are my favorite custom commands because they’re fairly easy to implement and don’t require coding knowledge. These commands are what helped me make Google Chrome functional now that I can no longer type by hand exclusively due to repetitive stress injuries.
- Advanced Scripting commands have the advantage of executing much faster than the Step-By-Step or Macro Recorder commands. I don’t have many Advanced Scripting commands because I haven’t learned a lot of coding.
- Macro Recorder commands are the third type of custom command. Basically, these commands literally record steps that you take when using the computer. After recording, these commands are accessible via voice prompts. These are not commands that I like to use since they are specific to hardware configuration. For example, if I decided to replace my monitor, I would have to re-record any Macro Recorder commands. Not to mention, Macro Recorder commands are slow.
One book that I recommend for nontechies (such as myself) for learning how to set up Dragon custom commands is Dragon Professional| A step further by Michael Sheppard. This book is written for people who do not code. I really appreciate the step-by-step color illustrations in Dragon Professional | A step further as I’m a visual learner. I don't think I would've figured out how to write custom commands without this book. There is a section in the book about incorporating VBA (Visual Basic for Applications, a code owned by Microsoft) into custom commands. However, if you’re using the 64-bit version of Microsoft 365, you cannot incorporate VBA in your custom commands.
The other coding book that I recommend for beginners is The Easy Guide to Dragon Scripting. That book explains DVC scripting in the simplest terms and has good ergonomic tips. A book that is considered the Bible for Dragon Advanced Scripting is Scripting for Dragon 10-15 by Larry V. Allen. Be aware that this book assumes that you know the basics of coding. If you don’t understand coding, this book is marginally useful.
If you would like to have additional functionality but want to keep writing custom commands to a minimum, you may want to consider buying one or several Dragon add-on apps.
