DIY Twitter Client : Yet Another Twitter Client Hack

Above is the menu of the Twitter client I hacked up with Google Reader.  In the meantime I’m calling it Grittr.  The menu appears for each rss story in Google Reader. I’ll show you how to set it up in a moment.

I was inspired by Guy Kawasaki’s article, “How to Hack together a Twitter Client”.  He uses NetNewsWire as his news reader and Twitter Client.  I’m a big fan of Google Reader and Twitter.  However, I was frustrated by find a good story, reading it in GReader, then jumping out to the website with the story and finally tweeting it to my friends. A weekend project was born:)

So by combining Google Reader, FreeMyFeed, Twitter Search, GreaseMonkey, and the Twitter REST API and a few other things… I was able to hack together my Twitter Client.

Some of the features include:

• Tweet/Like any story - Liked “How to Hack Together a Twitter Client” http://bit.ly/k1ilq
• ReTweet - RT @guykawasaki: How to Hack Together a Twitter Client http://snipurl.com/hiisg
• Share Link - Guy’s DIY Twitter client http://snipurl.com/hiisg (Via @guykawasaki)
• @reply - @guykawasaki Loved your Twitter Client tip
• Direct Messages(DM’s) - d guykawasaki dude, yooz a haker
• Favorite Tweets
• Follow Tweeps
• GReader Built-in Features like Archiving, E-mail, search, trends, summary page

also

• Twitter avatars for visual of tweeps
• Current Screen_name you’re using in upper-right-hand corner
• Auto URL-shortening with bit.ly

Below is a snapshot of the interface.  It includes tweet character count.

How to get started:

1. Download Firefox browser here and install it.
2. Download Greasemonkey here and install it.
3. Install Grittr Greasemonkey script here.
4. Grab Twitter RSS feed of you and your friends. Note that your Twitter feed is private and cannot be imported directly to Google Reader.  You must “Free” your feed before you import.  I show you how to do this below.
   • Sign into Twitter, Right-Click, and copy feed link location next to orange icon.
   • Goto freemyfeed.com, paste feed location, generate, and copy “freed” feed url.
   • Goto to Google Reader and subscribe the the “freed” feed.  I recommend you add it to a new folder… call it “Twitter” or anything else.
   • Great! now you can follow your friends.
5. Add “Vanity Search” to follow mentions of your twitter screen name. Go to search.twitter.com and create query, ie. http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=@MartinRuiz+OR+“Martin+Ruiz”.  Click and subscribe to feed.  Add it to your “Twitter” folder.
6. Follow your fave Hashtags or topics. Like (5) you can use search.twitter.com, enter query and grab feed.  I’m doing to work in the education space so I follow “#hackedu” —- http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=#hackedu
7. “Stalk” tweeps. Sometimes you want to follow tweeps but not have their tweets in your feed.  For instance, I don’t follow Tim Ferriss, but I like to read his tweets.  Just go to the Twitter user’s page, ie twitter.com/tferriss and click and subscribe to the rss feed.  Make sure to add it to your new “Twitter” folder. As an example, Tim’s Twitter feed is here.

That’s the basic stuff… How about some cool stuff to manage your friends better?  Jesse Newhart wrote a good article with some great tips that I’ve integrated.

1. Track and answer questions from your friends. Click here, paste your “freed” feed and add to your “Twitter” folder.
2. Home in on Links shared by your friends. Click here, paste your “freed” feed and add to your “Twitter” folder.
3. Track ReTweets from friends for important stuff. Click here, paste your “freed” feed and add to your “Twitter” folder.

Your setup is complete!

Have fun with this and send me some feedback.

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MartinRuiz

Related Articles:

Steal this Idea: Google Reader and Twitter Hashtags by Ruud Hein

How to Hack Together a Twitter Client by Guy Kawasaki

How to Effectively follow 15000+ people on Twitter using these Tweetdeck Tricks by Jesse Newhart