Twitter Tips: Adding a Twitter Flash widget to Site

If you don’t have a Facebook or MySpace account, or a Blogger or Type Pad blog, you can still give your site visitors the gift of your tweets. Twitter actually gives you a choice of not one, not two, but
three widgets that you can add:

A: Interactive Flash widget. This Flash-based widget shows your username, avatar, and the number of people who follow you. It contains a scroll able list of your last few tweets, and also enables visitors to log in to their Twitter accounts and then interact with the widget by following you, replying to a tweet, or marking a tweet as a favorite. Tweet links also work, including @username links to Twitter profiles.


B: Display-only Flash widget. This simpler Flash-based widget displays a shorter list of your recent tweets along with a link to your Twitter profile page. Your site visitors can’t interact with this widget.

C: HTML widget. This HTML-based widget shows your most recent tweets (the default is 5, but you can customize that) as text, as well as a follow me link to your Twitter profile. Tweet links (regular links and @username links) work, so your site readers can surf to the sites you recommend in your updates.

Which widget should you choose? Personally, I love the interactive Flash widget because it’s geared toward people with Twitter accounts, so I think it’s more likely to help you gain followers. If you’re worried about many of your site visitors not having the Flash player installed, then the HTML widget is the way to go.




Adding Twitter’s Flash widget to your site To add one of the Flash widgets to your site, you first need to copy the widget code. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Sign in to your Twitter account.

2. Surf to http://twitter.com/badges. The Get a Widget for Your Site page appears.

3. Click Other.

4. Click Continue. The Which type of widget would you like? page appears.

5. Select the Flash Widget option, and then click Continue. The Which Flash Widget page appears.

6. Select the widget you want to install, and then click Continue. You see either the Set up your Twitter widget page (if you selected the interactive widget) or the Customize Your Widget page (if you selected
the display-only widget).

7. Customize your widget as follows:

A: Interactive widget. Use the Select a style list to choose a predefined design for the widget, and use the Widget size list to choose a width (narrow, wide, or full).

B: Display-only widget. Click Badge Color, and then click the color you prefer.


8. Copy the code:

A: Interactive widget. Click the Copy link.

B: Display-only widget. Click Copy to Clipboard.If your Web host provides you with an online editor, use it to insert your widget code. How you do this varies depending on the host, but here are the generic steps: Open the page in the editor, place the cursor where you want the widget to appear, and then press Ctrl+V (or Ô+V on your Mac).

If you edit your pages locally, open the page or file in your HTML editor, place the cursor where you want the widget to appear, and then press Ctrl+V (or Ô+V on a Mac). Save your work, and then upload the revised file to your Web host.

Posted in: Tips, Twitter