This simple guide on Twitterfall is written for Twitter users and the instructions are based on the Firefox Browser running on Windows. My recommendation is that you also download an add-on called IEtab as that will allow you to avoid launching more than one browser.
To start, launch Firefox, and go to the Twitterfall site at http://twitterfall.com. If you already have IETab installed, then open one more tab, and go to the same site, then right click to bring up the menu and select ‘View Page in IE Tab’ [1].
When you are done, you will now be running one session of twitterfall on Firefox, and another in Internet Explorer but embedded as a tab within Firefox itself. (If you do not have IEtab installed and have no intention to install it ever, then you can load another session by launching Internet Explorer [IE].)
Leave the IE tab alone for now and look the Twitterfall page loaded in Firefox. There will be 3 columns: the left column will contain several sections that allows you to customize what Tweets you can view, the center column is where all the Tweets will appear, and the right column I hardly used.
Now, on the left column look for the section that says ‘Login to Twitter’ [2], then click the portion that says ‘Authorize Twitterfall with your Twitter Account’. This will load a new page [3], and in here you enter your Twitter username and password, and click Allow. When completed, this should return you to the Twitterfall’s main page, and almost immediately you will get flooded by a whole load of irrelevant Tweets.
This will likely not be what you like to see, so look at the left column and under the ‘Trends’ section, move the mouse pointer over ‘All Terms’ and uncheck the box beside it [4]. The deluge of Tweets should now stop and at the top part of the center column, click ‘Clear Page’ [5] to remove all the Tweets currently displayed. If there are still no Tweets from the people you follow shown after awhile, then look at the left column again and look for section ‘Logged in’. Ensure that the boxes beside both ‘Timeline’ and ‘DM Interval’ are checked. For those who lacks patience (like me) set the interval to ‘1 min’. [6]
Once all these are done, you will now get auto updates of Tweets only from people you follow on Twitter. You can click on ‘Hide Panels’ [7] at the top of the center column to hide both the left and right columns if you no longer wish to see them. This will extend the center column to cover part of the now empty sections. [8]. (To reverse this, click ‘Show Panels’ [9].)
Now, move the mouse pointer over a Tweet, and you will notice that a set of six icons will appear at the right end of it [10]. Their respective function – Reply, Direct Message, Retweet This, Follow, Favorite Tweet, View In Twitter – is shown when the mouse pointer stops over any of them. I believe their functions are self explanatory to a person familiar with Twitter. As a reminder, replying to a Tweet would mean that the reply is public, while a Direct Message is sent in private to the recipient.
Now, regarding the Twitterfall session either embedded as a tab in Firefox or loaded in IE itself. This session is used for the purpose of following the current popular trends on Twitter, or for you to set up custom searches to see what other users have to say using certain keyword(s). For e.g. I have custom searches for Windows 7, Blackberry Storm and Psystar [11], and here’s a partial screen shot on some of the Tweets [12].
Note that Tweets from people you do not follow are in Brown, and people you follow are in Green. When someone sent you a direct message, they appear in Blue, and when the mouse pointer is over it, it is in Black.
Why set up 2 different sessions when one can have all of it in one session anyway? The reason is that Tweets from custom searches and trends comes in so fast and furious, they push Tweets from your friends or the interesting people you follow out of the screen too quickly. You end up missing some of the Tweets that might matter more to you. If not do not intend to use custom searches or to look at the trends [13] at all, then you might not even need to load this extra session at all. Alternatively, if you don’t need the auto updates that Twitterfall provide, you can still use just use Twitter itself to follow your friends and not use Twitterfall at all.
And oops, I almost forgot about this, if you need to start a new Tweet, just click on ‘New Tweet’ at the top [14]. A drop down window with a message box will appear for to key in your 140-character long message.
So, if anyone is wondering why am I ‘promoting’ Twitterfall when I am already using Plurk, let me just say Twitter’s block feature allows me to get rid of the stench from some of the cockroaches currently infesting Plurk. It is just too difficult to exterminate vermin and thus it might be better to move elsewhere. On top of which, I am to lazy to hit F5 to refresh my Twitter page.
Anyway, I hope this guide will help to resolve some of the issues and answer some of queries people have when using Twitterfall. Enjoy!
Cartoons:
