Preview: Custom Twitter widgets with MiTwidget

Due to an Upcoming change by Twitter in their API, MiTwidget will cease to function sometime early by 2013 at the latest. Unfortunately, this cannot be fixed reasonably and no further support will be available. I hope everyone that's used my Twitter scripts over the past year and a half has enjoyed them, but regretfully Twitter is no longer friendly to this type of usage and I've ceased development for their service.

What I've been up to lately

The past few months I've spent a good deal of time experimenting with Google App Engine. It's been a learning process, sometimes a frustrating one, as I've dove head first into lots of new technology. I've had to start digging back into Java and JSP server pages, which I've not done since about 2005. Most of my work has been experimental while thinking about a handful of projects. Finally, I have something I'd like to share with you all.

Fully Interactive Twitter Widgets

MiTwidget is an attempt to take Twitter widgets to a new level by adding Lists and Saved Search capabilities into a fully interactive module suitable for any blog or website. There's no need for coding and including created widgets shall be a simple process(get code not yet live as this is a preview only). Even better, the widgets are saved to a database for easy modification and world wide sharing from Google servers. This should make MiTwidget very attractive for organizations and personal interests. Take a look at the widget below for an idea of what is possible.

The Beautiful Game

The widget your viewing was created using the MiTwidget Designer and is hosted on Google App Engine. It includes 4 lists I've created on my Twitter account for viewing Tweets about Soccer, or as most of the world calls it Football. USWNT shows tweets from the U.S. Women's National Team created during this years World Cup. Manchester United contains tweets by several of the clubs players as does the Real Madrid list, while Soccer is a sort of catch all for tweets from various clubs and individuals in the game.

Additionally, the designer allows me to include my own Tweets and any Saved Searches on my account. Simply visit the MiTwidget Designer, connect with Twitter and get started building your own. At this time the site is in a Preview mode and lacks several key features needed to use to app broadly. I'd love to hear any feedback from readers, but bear in mind this is an early preview and you must log in on Twitter to create/edit your lists and saved searches.

Upcoming Features

There are a number of features still required for MiTwidget to go live. I'm working on a tool to allow quick and easy drag/drop editing of lists. Once that is complete I plan to include a method to add new saved searches to your account directly from the site. There's also more work to be done including out of the box color themes and generally finishing up the interface. I have other much more advanced features in mind as well, but those are a long way off. Right now I'd really love some feedback on what you'd like to see. So, take a look and let me know what you think.

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