How to Use Twitter Widgets

Twitter widgets can be embedded in most websites.

Twitter widgets are small, embeddable boxes displaying a user's latest tweets, Twitter search results, your favorite tweets or a list of Twitter users. Any Twitter user can set up a widget using the official tools provided on the service's homepage. The widget is suitable for placing on other websites and blogs, updating in real time as new tweets are published. A variety of options are available to customize the widget as required.

Instructions

1. Log in to your Twitter account at twitter.com using your username and password.

2. Browse to twitter.com/about/resources/widgets. Click the "My Website" link to see the list of available widgets. Click the "Facebook" link if you simply want to duplicate your tweets on your Facebook account.

3. Click "Profile Widget" to set up a widget that displays your latest tweets. Enter your username, and a preview of the widget appears on the right.

4. Select the "Preferences" option to change whether the widget updates in real time, displays a scroll bar and shows avatars, timestamps and hashtags. Set the number of tweets to display under the "Number of Tweets" heading.

5. Select the "Appearance" option to change the colors used by the widget. Click a color swatch or enter a hexadecimal code to change the color.

6. Select the "Dimensions" option to change the height and width of the widget. Tick the "auto width" box to have the widget automatically adjust to fit the page or container in which it's placed.

7. Click "Finish & Grab Code" to view the HTML for the new widget. Select the "Add to Blogger" button to automatically add this widget to a Blogger blog, where it can be positioned as required.

8. For other blogging platforms and websites, copy the HTML code and paste it into your website at the appropriate point. The exact method varies from platform to platform, so consult the help documentation for information.

Tips & Warnings

• The other widget types -- Search, Faves and List -- can be customized and built in a similar way. Edit the Preferences, Appearance and Dimensions options as required and then click "Finish & Grab Code" to see the HTML.

• Most blogging and website platforms, such as WordPress and Tumblr, enable you to post HTML code to create sidebar widgets. Detailed instructions can be found in the documentation for each platform.

• Third-party widgets can be created using the Twitter API. A quick Web search will return some examples. Many blogging and website platforms offer their own Twitter widgets that fit the styling and format of existing pages.

References

• Twitter Help Center: About Twitter Badges and Widget

Resources

• Twitter Resources: Widgets