funny how all the news reporters say “this volcano” “a volcano in Iceland” or “that volcano” instead of “the Eyjafjallajokull volcano”
Twitter is often likened to the evolution of blogging and compared to it in a competitive sense, but I think that isn’t really a fair comparison. Twitter is definitely a streamlined version of blogging, but to accomplish that Twitter had to strip out many integral features of blog software. In my opinion one of the best implementations of both blogging and Twitter is to combine them.
Last year I coded techognized (above) to integrate twitter posts and traditional longer form blog posts on the same page, and more recently, Boing Boing Gadgets (below top) has just redesigned their site to display tweet-like mini posts in the same column as normal posts. In hindsight, I like BBG’s approach better, so with simpler.me (below bottom) – my latest site design – I coded twitter inline with other blog posts.
Here is how to do that.
It’s actually pretty simple, if you know the basics of editing WordPress theme files. Before breaking out your text editor of choice to code, here are a few steps to lay the groundwork:
- Create a WordPress category (I named mine “Twitter”) and note the category ID number.
- Install the Twitter Tools plugin and configure it to create blog posts from your tweets, filed in the category you created in step 1.
Now to the coding. Our objective here is to remove the blog post’s title based on if the post is a tweet or not. To do this we will use a simple PHP ‘if’ function in the site’s index.php file:
<?php if (!in_category(‘[Twitter category ID number]‘)) { ?>
[Information your are cutting out in Twitter posts goes here -- title/header, etc.]
<?php } ?>
Basically, we are saying “If a post is NOT in the Twitter category, show the header/title/etc information”. Here is how that would look in the default WordPress Kubrik theme’s Loop:
<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<div <?php post_class() ?> id=”post-<?php the_ID(); ?>”>
<?php if (!in_category(‘[Twitter category ID number]‘)) { ?>
<h2><a href=”<?php the_permalink() ?>” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>”><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
<?php } ?><small><?php the_time(‘F jS, Y’) ?> <!– by <?php the_author() ?> –></small>
<div class=”entry”>
<?php the_content(‘Read the rest of this entry »’); ?>
</div><p class=”postmetadata”><?php the_tags(‘Tags: ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘<br />’); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(‘, ‘) ?> | <?php edit_post_link(‘Edit’, ”, ‘ | ‘); ?> <?php comments_popup_link(‘No Comments »’, ’1 Comment »’, ‘% Comments »’); ?></p>
</div><?php endwhile; ?>
<div class=”navigation”>
<div class=”alignleft”><?php next_posts_link(‘« Older Entries’) ?></div>
<div class=”alignright”><?php previous_posts_link(‘Newer Entries »’) ?></div>
</div><?php else : ?>
<h2 class=”center”>Not Found</h2>
<p class=”center”>Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.</p>
<?php get_search_form(); ?><?php endif; ?>
Your blog now should display posts from twitter without the title/headline, while leaving your other posts untouched. You can use this same method to edit out the author and timestamp if you wish. Remember, you may have to touch up your CSS afterward in case removing the header fouled up your margins or spacing.
Hope this post has been useful!
I put together a Swine Flu (H1N1 Virus) site last week at http://2009swineflu.info — it pulls in feeds from official government agencies as well as traditional press sources to provide an overview of the outbreak. The site also has an FAQ for common questions and an embedded outbreak map as well. Hope someone finds it useful!
During the height of the early-2009 Swine Flu outbreak I created this site to aid people by aggregating useful news sources. The site draws in feeds from official sources such as the CDC and WHO as well as press sources through Yahoo News. The site also features background info on the website, Frequently Asked Questions, and an embedded outbreak map.
I had a great time at SXSW interactive this year! It was my first time attending, and I definitely will try to make it back next year. My favorite thing about it was the nature of the festival: it was a huge group of like-minded people, all interacting, collaborating and sharing ideas.
Here were a few of my favorite panels:
-> How to Rawk SXSW: The Basics (Friday)
-> Comedy on Television and the Web (Saturday)
During the comedy panel, Avner Ronen was discussing hypothetical media consumption while traveling on a bus, and used the then-nonexistant “snackonsomeclips.com” to make his point. I had my laptop out and WHOIS’ed the site, finding it was available for purchase. Five minutes later, I was curious and checked again, and it had already been bought up by someone else in the audience!
-> Journey to the Center of Design (Sunday)
-> Ultimate Showdown of Content Management System Destiny (Monday)
-> Brave NUI World: The Fearless Future of Device Interaction (Tuesday)
As for the parties, I liked PBS Interactive’s party on Sunday and the MT-sponsored closing party Tuesday.
Hope to see everyone next year!
Though it has been rumored for months, Amazon just “officially” announced their successor to the first Kindle. I own one of the first generation models, and I think I will pass on upgrading to the new one. There simply isn’t enough of an upgrade to justify the cost, and furthermore, a few positive features of the first model have been dropped entirely.
First, here’s what they did right:
- More detailed, faster screen. It still isn’t the high-contrast, color screen that would be ideal, but it is moving in the right direction.
- USB charging. Finally!
- Text-to-speech. The ability to read books aloud is obviously a huge boon for the visually impaired, but is even an advantage for people who would just like to have a book or an article read to them (such as while they are driving).
And what is worse:
- No “mirror cursor”. The little instant-feedback cursor on the right of the original Kindle’s screen was great. I worry that the Kindle 2′s direct joystick screen selection will be sluggish.
- No SD Card slot. Yes, it does include more out-of-the-box memory (2GB), but you can’t add any more like you could with the first Kindle.
- No user replaceable battery (?– unconfirmed). Another mixed blessing – the battery in the Kindle 2 is bigger and longer-lasting, but if it dies, you can’t easily replace it.
- No rubber backing. This has definitely kept my Kindle securely planted, and I am sad to see this clever feature go.
- No lower price. Perhaps the most important negative, the still-$360 price tag will hinder mass adoption of the device.
Overall, Amazon is doing a great job considering they are still very new to product design, I just wish they weren’t removing great features the first edition had!
Happy New Year! Also, Happy Inaugural Day!
As you may have noticed, I have just integrated my blog (formerly at blog.ericsheline.com) and my website together into a coherent whole. I mainly did it for myself, as it’ll be easier to maintain the site this way.
For you, my beloved readers, I will be steering new content in this blog away from the current eclectic mix towards more traditional personal blog material. The main change is that technology articles will go on Techognized instead of here.
Hope everyone has a healthy 2009
— Eric
Yesterday I posted about how Apple should release a Bluetooth-capable iPod Touch, and though I was technically wrong about the Bluetooth, they did the next best thing. As far as I can tell, the new 2nd Generation iPod Touch supports a wired microphone!
Coupled with the new built-in speaker, the in-line Mic addition makes the iPod Touch a perfect platform for a great Wi-Fi VoIP application (such as this one). The app could be distributed through Apple’s official App Store and would work on the iPhone too!
Apple Store – $79 Premium Headphones w/ Mic and Remote
Apple Store – $29 Headphones w/ Mic and Remote
Almost exactly a year ago to this day, rumors were spreading that the then-upcoming Apple iPod Touch would include Bluetooth. Such rumors were quickly debunked, but in doing so, blogger Joel Johnson even speculated about how the feature may have given VoIP applications a boost.
Tomorrow is an Apple Event, and the company is expected to launch a redesigned iPod Nano and possibly new iTunes software as well. What would really be the smart (and probably pretty easy) thing to do would be to add Bluetooth to the iPod Touch. It would give the Touch a new relevance in an iPhone dominated market, by opening up the device to VoIP applications.
It would also benefit consumers by giving them a more ubiquitious home Wi-Fi VoIP device than the current sporadic offerings, and obviously benefit Apple through greater iPod Touch sales. The only group not thrilled by a Bluetooth-equipped iPod Touch would be the phone and cable companies, who love bundling in overpriced VoIP services with their internet and/or TV offerings.