Twitter Feed at top of Forum Page

[admin]

Yes, I think it's better at the bottom - easier for people who are not interested to ignore without it interfering with their use of the forum. I did want to try it on the main site home page but twitter will not allow one of their widgets to be embedded in a frames page (which is an old-fashioned system used by the main site at present).

It isn't a Marple Website feed, it's from the organisers of the Marple Christmas Cracker (who have re-tweeted my first couple of experimental ones) and the objective is to help publicise the Cracker event. I shall probably leave it on the bottom for a while to see how it works and to judge whether it could contribute to the site in the future. I see it as another potential way of telling people that the main site has been updated but it wouldn't necessarily need to be displayed on the site to do that.

Thanks for the technical tips Howard, there is obviously more to it than I understand at present!

[Lily]

Well, I must admit, the twitter section is better at the bottom of the page - but I'm still not a fan of twitter

[amazon]

Sorry Mark, but I don't like it either 

Nor me .leave well alone don't spoil avery good website

[Barbara]

Sorry Mark, but I don't like it either 

[marpleexile]

I like the idea of it being there, but it's too big and obtrusive at the moment.

[Lily]

I don't like it either and also agree that is a pain having to scroll down.
The rest of the Marple Website is brilliant.
Lily

[Howard]

Whilst I do use Twitter, I think I probably agree with the previous posters. I'm not entirely sure what a feed of Marple Website Tweets brings to the site. Anyone who uses Twitter can follow the feed anyway and will see it on their own timeline. It also seems to me that your Tweets will probably duplicate the content on this site anyway. If someone is a Twitter user and uses this forum then they'll be seeing both.

If you want to reach Marple people who don't use the forum but do use Twitter then you need to do two things. Firstly you should ensure your feed is included in a Twitter "list" related to Marple which is run by Michael Taylor who blogs and Tweets as Marple Leaf and @MarpleLeaf respectively. He runs a list of Marple residents and businesses and you can Tweet him and ask for your Twitter feed to be included in his "@MarpleLeaf/marple-tweeters" list. Secondly you should also use the right hashtags such as #marple and the main subjects of the Tweet as hashtags as well. This ensures that they are included in searches and will also appear in "trending" themes, especially geographical trending which shows you trends related to your location.

So the following Tweet which appeared on your timeline "Marple Carnival faces an uncertain future again and may not be able to run in 2013 unless locals step up to help. marplecarnival.org.uk" would have been better to read "#marple #carnival faces an uncertain future again and may not be able to run in 2013 unless locals step up to help marplecarnival.org.uk". My bold used for emphasis.

I think Twitter is a fantastic tool as long as the user understands how it works and who can see it. There are a few Marple businesses who use it and use it well, for example Inkbox, Stationery Supplies, Dolce Vita and All Things Nice. Toast also used it as well as Facebook to promote their monthly supper evening menus and special and unusual offers. They certainly got some business from me that they wouldn't have had if they didn't use Twitter.

[wheels]

I am with the last two posters on this

[hollins]

I'm inclined to agree with Rudolph Hucker. Is a twitter feed adding anything to the website? It is largely repeating what material is already there (and my experience is that repetition sometimes leads to inconsistency and confusion - e.g. if two sources give different dates).

I haven't got a twitter account (nor do I want one), but most twitter users seem blissfully unaware that the whole world can see their tweets unless they are deliberately locked.

If it is going to be there then a lot smaller, or at the bottom would be my preference.

[Rudolph Hucker]

I don't like it but I've minimised it and, touch wood, that's been the end of it.

However I wonder what value it adds to the website? I don't tweet so don't expect to miss out on anything but I'd worry about "quality control" of streaming external tweets. At least with the existing advert format, Admin presumably vets each one before they get added. With tweets, poor grammar, punctuation or even more Supermarket drivel could be plaguing the site before you know it. Stick to the knitting I say!

Always the Luddite...

RH.

[admin]

I personally don't like it as I am constantly having to scroll down which is annoying me, can you not put it at the bottom out oif the way?

Thanks for the feedback Rover. That's the feeling I have too. Anybody else?

[the rover]

I personally don't like it as I am constantly having to scroll down which is annoying me, can you not put it at the bottom out oif the way?

[admin]

I like the idea of the feed and it seems to work well in my opinion (especially as people can minimise the top bar if they want to).

One question - can only one account be linked to the feed? It would be nice if the feed could include other local groups like the Carnival, The Band Room etc.

The trouble is if they minimise the top bar they can't see the link to new posts, which many people use. I think it's a bit intrusive where it is but I would welcome other people's thoughts on it.

I don't think this particular widget will allow feeds direct from others but it does show anything that is re-tweeted. I've only had a twitter account for about 24 hours so it will take me a bit longer to figure out how it all works

I have managed to get the Cracker Tweets to automatically be added to the face book page 

[Marple Business Forum]

Also, could be potential revenue stream for you to help cover the costs of this website: say a business could be included in the feed for an annual subscription.

[Marple Business Forum]

Ah - I get it.

I like the idea of the feed and it seems to work well in my opinion (especially as people can minimise the top bar if they want to).

One question - can only one account be linked to the feed? It would be nice if the feed could include other local groups like the Carnival, The Band Room etc.