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Can I use [my favourite short url service] with TweetUpdater?

Sure, add it yourself! ;D

Short URL retrieval is handled by the tu_get_shorturl() function in tweetupdater.php. If you'd like to use another service, taking a look at this function will give you an idea of how to add one.

Some URL shorteners return a link as the only content from an API call, but others, like bit.ly give other information that needs to be parsed before it can be used. Take a look at the tu_make_bitly_url() function to get an idea of how to deal with that. Help files for the service should tell you the format of the returned request, including any error messages.

For short URLs from WordPress plugins, you'll need to find the function that outputs the generated URL from just a $post_ID input variable. You can't use the same one as you use to show the link on the page, because TweetUpdater doesn't run when a page is processed to view; it runs when a page gets published/updated.

Will you be adding any more URL services/placeholders/other functions?

Because the plugin does everything I need it too, I'm not looking to add any more URL services at the moment. The main work for me was including la petite url (which I use) and adding the OAuth login for Twitter so it would keep working after basic auth was swithched off.

I use this plugin and will keep it updated, but if there's something specific you want to see in TweetUpdater, the quickest way to get it is probably to poke around and figure out how to add it yourself.

If I add a function, will you include it in TweetUpdater?

Yes. If you have a URL service or placeholder that you've added, let me know and I'll add it to a new release.

Source code is available for you to tinker with or fork at Github.

What's next?

TweetUpdater needs some better error handling, and to cache and retry requests that fail if Twitter is down.

TweetUpdater doesn't do what I want.

If TweetUpdater doesn't do what you want, and you don't want to get your hands dirty with code, there are a number of nice looking Twitter Status updaters about, WordTwit looks very fancy, but I haven't tried it.