Red Hot Chilli Project

arc_twitter v3.3.0 is out now for anyone using Textpattern 4.5+. It should resolve the problems that people have been experiencing.

In order to get a quick bug-fix release out I’ve temporarily disabled some of the JavaScript functionality of the arc_twitter extension tab but it shouldn’t cause any major issues. The plugin should update Twitter from the Write tab again (thanks to @trenc).

The recent release of Textpattern (version 4.5.1) has caused a number of issues to arrive in the current version of arc_twitter (version 3.2.1).

I have been extremely short of time recently and so have not had chance to ensure the plugin is fully supported in the current version of Textpattern. As a result it doesn't work properly any more.

I have begun to test and log the known issues on Github and will work to fix each of these as soon as possible. If you come across any bugs not listed on Github then please log them there and I will investigate. If you feel inclined to help fix some of the bugs yourself patches to the existing code would be extremely appreciated to get things back on track. The latest code is all up on Github for anyone wanting to get their hands dirty.

I'm sorry for any difficulties this may be causing you and thank you for your continued support of the plugin.

I've finally gotten round to releasing a couple of updates to the arc_youtube plugin for Textpattern.

arc_youtube v1.0 sees some relatively big changes to the way the plugin works; mainly due to the move from the old Youtube embed code to the new iFrame version. As a result a load of parameters for the plugin have been dropped and new ones added according to what is available. The new embed code no longer allows for the player's colours to be fully customisable so color1 and color2 parameters have been dropped and the new color and theme parameters have been added. Other new parameters include start that lets you specify the starting point of the video.

Anyone wishing for a simpler upgrade can install v0.4 which includes some bug fixes. The old parameters remain the same (see the plugin's help documentation).

Both versions now support Youtube's youtu.be short URLs as the video parameter and now will be auto-enabled on install.

You can get the latest releases from the plugin's page.

TXP Tweet 3 is now available for Textpattern and includes arc_twitter v3 and a new extension plugin, arc_twitter_intents.

arc_twitter_intents adds four new tags that output Twitter web intents widgets integrated with arc_twitter. Using arc_twitter_intents you can let people favourite, retweet and reply to your articles' tweets. With search engines increasingly taking social sharing into account for rankings these should help a little towards sites' SEO. arc_twitter_intents also includes the follow web intent.

arc_twitter v3 now includes a tag for outputting a Twitter follow button, similar to the tweet button introduced in the version 2 release.

Other changes include support for multisite setups (so people having difficulties connecting the plugin to their Twitter account should now be fine), the "Update Twitter" radio state is remembered while on the "Write" tab, the tweet suffix is now included in the plugin options, and native URL shortening support.

Due to changes with the way Twitter handles URLs the URL shortening features of this plugin look to become redundant in the near future so this may be their last outing.

Upgrading from v2.x to v3

The <txp:arc_twitter_retweet /> tag is being deprecated and replaced by the <txp:arc_twitter_tweet_button /> tag. You can continue using the old tag, but it will be removed from version 4 of the plugin. The change is to help clarify any differences between this tag and the new <txp:arc_twitter_intent_retweet /> tag.

Documentation

You can now find extensive documentation for this plugin on the TXP Tweet wiki on GitHub. People are welcome to help improve the documenation by contributing to it.

I've been asked over on the Textpattern forums whether arc_twitter supports Twitter Intents. At the moment no, but I began putting the code in place a couple of months ago. Obviously people want it, so I'm going to try and get things sorted for a new release sooner rather than later.

The latest version of arc_twitter is ready for use and can be downloaded from the plugin's webpage.

New to this release are three new Textpattern tags:

• <txp:arc_twitter_retweet /> - add Twitter's Tweet button to your pages
• <txp:arc_twitter_tweet_url /> - URL to an article's Twitter status update
• <txp:arc_twitter_tinyurl /> - TinyURL used for a tweeted article

I've also added a logo to the app; so if you check your Twitter account settings for connections you'll see that TXP Tweet has a logo to make it stand out more! There are a few bug fixes in this release too.

So where next? I have a few ideas for the next release, but nothing's set in stone yet. The plan is to continue pushing developments to the development branch of TXP Tweet on github adding new features. Any bugs that arise with the current version will branch off of the development version in its current form. This way bugs will get sorted quicker, and new features will be kept for the next big release once fully tested.

Basically, I'm taking a more organised approach with the development of arc_twitter.

If anyone is interested getting their hands dirty they're welcome to fork the code and contribute to its development.

The next big release of arc_twitter (TXP Tweet) is really coming together now so I thought it was time to release an alpha version of the new plugin.

The focus for version 2 of arc_twitter is very much on the front-end side of things with the introduction of a load of new tags for your Textpattern templates. Most importantly the ability to retweet articles using the new Tweet button Twitter released the other week.

Since Textpattern 4.2.0 there's been this slightly mysterious yield tag added to the menagerie of Textpattern tags. Its use and value seems to confuse a lot of people, and until recently I'd have included myself amongst them; but I've been converted — it is a truely useful tag.

Basically it works in unison with the output_form tag: you place a <txp:yield /> in a form and then whenever you use that form the contents wrapped in the output_form tag gets placed where the yield tag was.  I'll give some examples of this in a moment, but essentially the value of this is that you can use forms as flexible building blocks.  Each building block has a common structure, but individualised content.

The latest release of TXP Mobile (v0.3b) was released this morning and is definitely worth a look if you want to access Textpattern admin via a mobile.

This release has a simplified install process and more flexibility with themes ("the latest version does not force a theme selection anymore").

With mobile web predicted to overtake the standard browsing from a desktop within the next few years it was encouraging to learn of Oliver Ker's Textpattern project that provides a simple admin interface for Textpattern sites on a mobile.