Controlling twitter from twhirl

After TweetDeck, the next most popular Twitter desktop client (at least as I write this) is twhirl, and this popularity is well-founded. twhirl is a solid Twitter client that performs all the basic tweeting chores with ease, throws in a couple of extra goodies to sweeten the pot, and offers one thing that even the mighty TweetDeck can’t do.

It can handle multiple Twitter accounts.Giving twhirl a whirltwhirl is an AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) application, so it runs on multiple operating systems, including (as I write) Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X. (I expect you’ll see support for Windows 7 added soon after Microsoft’s latest operating system ships.) Point your favorite Web browser at the twhirl site (www.twhirl.org), and click Install Now.

The installation program first installs the AIR runtime files (if your computer doesn’t already have them), and then it installs twhirl.


Setting up your Twitter accounts

When you first launch twhirl, you see the Accounts tab, which is where you manage your Twitter accounts.

Here’s how to get started.





1. Make sure the pop-up list shows Twitter. twhirl also supports identi.ca, Iaconi.ca, Friendfeed, and Seesmic, but I’ll just stick to Twitter business here.

2. Type your Twitter username in the text box, and then click the plus sign (+). twhirl adds the username to the Accounts list.

3. Repeat step 2 for each of your Twitter accounts. Figure 8.9 shows the Accounts tab with a couple of
Twitter accounts added.

4. Click the Twitter account you want to use.

5. Click Connect. twhirl prompts you for your Twitter account password.

6. Type your password, and then click Login.

7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 to log in to other Twitter accounts. twhirl displays each account in a separate
window.




Figure 8.10 shows a typical twhirl window. The default view shows your friends timeline in the bulk of the window, and an update text box, which twhirl calls the input panel, at the bottom.

Posted in: Tips, Tricks, Twitter