Lee Munroe » Twitter

Updated Northern Ireland’s Twitter directory

Lee — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:01:11 +0000

I decided it was time to tidy up the design of TweetNI. When I started doing that I decided it was time to tidy up the ruby code behind the design. As a result, I completely redesigned and redeveloped it.

What is TweetNI?

Old site

1. A directory

TweetNI is a website I set up in 2009 that lists people from Northern Ireland on Twitter.

The hope is that it will help you find people, either to follow or to contact.

If you wanted to find any Northern Irish journalists on Twitter, for example, you could search for journalists and assuming they mentioned the word journalist in their description, they would be returned in the results.

2. A hashtag

After launching TweetNI I included a little Javascript widget that would show any tweets containing the #tweetni hashtag on the homepage.

After a while quite a few people were using this hashtag in their daily tweets, including the likes of @utvlive, @bbcnewsline and @nidirect. There could be up to 200 tweets a day containing #tweetni.

Why the update?

New site

The design was a bit awful looking.
Tweets weren’t actually getting saved anywhere, so I was missing out on some good data.
People were listed by follower count by default meaning anyone who follows lots of people (generally to get more followers in return) still got listed high up.
It wasn’t that easy to maintain thanks to my hacked together code.
I wanted to try out some Rails 3 development.

How I built it

It’s actually pretty simple to build and there are only a handful of tasks.

Ruby on Rails

The website is developed with Ruby on Rails.

Here’s a great step by step guide on setting up your first Rails application.

If you still need to setup Rails, Ruby and MySQL on Snow Leopard then take a read at this.

Twitter gem

Using the Twitter gem it’s easy to call the Twitter API and find out who is tweeting what.

Search for #tweetni and save the results that are returned. It’s that simple.

HTML5 and CSS3

As with any personal or side project I got to make the most of HTML5 elements and CSS3 goodness.

From Northern Ireland? Be sure to add yourself

To join TweetNI all you need to do is tweet “Just joined Northern Ireland’s Twitter directory http://tweetni.com #tweetni”

Okay, maybe not the nicest way to register people (OAuth is slicker) but one that helps spread the word at the same time and it’s quick and painless to implement.

Have you developed any projects using the Twitter API?

5 Mac Apps You Should Try

Lee — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:01:10 +0000

Nearly two years ago I published a post on 15 mac apps web designers should have in their dock.

I thought it was about time I updated this list with any new apps I’ve started using but turns out I’ve been using pretty much the same lot since then.

Here are 5 new apps I’ve been introduced to during that time and now use daily.

1. Google Chrome

Firefox was once my choice but for some reason it started running very slow for me. I’d especially find YouTube videos very jumpy. So one day I tried out Chrome and absolutely loved it. It’s light weight, fast and trim.

After I sourced a few extensions I use often (namely Delicious and EyeDropper) I fully switched over my default browser.

Chrome also renders with the WebKit engine so you get all the nice CSS3 and HTML5 goodies (that also come with Safari).

I still tend to keep Firefox open though. It’s hard to beat that Developer Toolbar and Firebug. I also prefer the autocomplete that comes with the Firefox web address bar.

If you’re asking “What about Safari?” I never really got using it – an earlier version used to crash on me quite a lot which put me off it.

2. Mailplane

Only started using this recently for managing emails. I have 4 different GMail accounts for different domains that I was continually checking and had tabs open in the browser for (I wanted to keep them separate).

Mailplane is a desktop app but with the same look and feel and interaction as GMail has in the browser. It has some niceties like a top toolbar and ‘neater’ switching between accounts.

3. TweetDeck

This is my Twitter client of choice. Some people really dislike it, and to be honest it doesn’t scream of the typical nice UI you get with Mac apps, but I find it really handy for keeping track of multiple accounts and groups of people.

Also nice integration with other social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, even FourSquare.

4. MacJournal

MacJournal actually came part of a MacHeist bundle and I find it really useful for taking daily notes. I now use it to keep track of:

Meetings (what was discussed)
Events (what was talked about)
Books (overviews and key notes)
Workshops (what I learned)

Great for referring back to. In the past I would have recorded these things in a notebook, which would eventually be lost, forgot about or binned.

5. LittleSnapper

LittleSnapper was also part of a MacHeist bundle. Useful for taking screenshots of web pages and nice graphics then keeping them to hand for inspiration.

I wish I could say I had a really neat and nicely configured LittleSnapper for all areas of inspiration but I never get around to organising it (except once when I did it on a plane).

What would you recommend?

I’m sure there are tonnes of apps out there that I haven’t tried and should be using.

If you were to recommend one really good app that I haven’t mentioned, what would it be?

How To Get More Done As A Freelance Web Designer

Lee — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:00:24 +0000

There are a lot of daily tasks a freelance web designer will go through:

Going through emails
Sending website planners to potential clients
Reading and replying to returned website planners
Quoting people for services
Sending proposals
Replying to current clients about different enquiries
Going through new Twitter followers
Tweeting
Approving blog comments
Replying to friends
Writing blog posts
etc.

After going through all these daily tasks, it can be very easy to see your day come and go without getting any ‘real’ work done.

When I finished University and started freelancing full time I found myself getting caught up with these daily tasks so I went about making some changes and trying to find a more effective way of dealing with them. Here are several techniques I use for getting more done.

Email

Cancel blog comment alerts

Cancel any automatic email alerts from your various blogs. This means you’re not notified of any new comments or any comments waiting approval.

Instead, put these on a ‘To-Check’ list so when you have 5 minutes free in the morning/evening, you can check these sites for comments. This saves you being concerned with checking throughout the day.

Unsubscribe to newsletters

You probably get a lot of newsletters through to your email, most of which you have no interest in. It can be easy to delete/ignore them but instead make an effort to unsubscribe to any that are no use. This way they don’t clutter up your inbox at all.

Check email twice a day

This is a hard one and I’m still getting used to it. Ideally you should only check your emails twice per day. The ideal times are 12pm and 4pm (unless you’re expecting an important email/reply).

This gives you time in the morning to concentrate on work already planned and also lets you correspond with anyone between 12 & 4. No in-between wasting time. Every time you check your email it takes up a few seconds or even minutes so it’s good practice to batch process this.

The best way to accomplish this is to keep your mail app, Gmail etc. closed.

Use templates

As a freelance web designer I get a lot of requests for quotes or to see if I’m interested in taking on a project. To let me find out more about a project I will send out a website planner to gather requirements.

Rather than writing the same email everytime you receive an enquiry, have a template that you can use. This way you can copy and paste the template into the reply, and simply add the senders name at the start to personalise it.

Some email templates you should have to hand (as a freelance web designer):

I’d like to find out more, please complete this website planner
Sorry but I’m busy until…
Proposal and estimate attached

And of course have Word (or similar) templates ready for your proposals, contracts, invoices etc. Any document that you’re going to need more than once.

Twitter

Tweet in advance

I like to share interesting links and articles with my followers and usually I’ll find these links while going through my RSS reader. But if I’m checking my feeds first thing in the morning, it’s a bit of a waste to tweet all the interesting links at once that early. So how do I spread out my tweets? I use Tweet Later.

Tweet Later is a useful service that lets you set a time to publish your tweet. Very handy for spreading out all those useful tweets throughout the day. RTweeter is another new Twitter app that lets you schedule tweets.

Use Tweetdeck to filter your Twitter friends and replies

It’s hard to keep track of what everyone is doing on Twitter if you follow more than 100 people. Using Tweetdeck you can setup filters which will group particular users into 1 column. This way you can keep track of the designers you’re interested in or keep track of local tweets, keywords or business related words that you’re interested in.

Cancel Twitter follower alerts

This also comes down under email distractions. Turn off automatic emails for new followers but make a point of checking your new followers at 1 point during the day. Again an example of batch processing a task.

Blogs

Read blog posts for 1 hour in the morning/night

It’s crazy how many interesting blog posts there are out there and it takes forever to go through them. Go through your RSS reader for 1 hour in the morning instead of receiving alerts throughout the day.

But what about all the interesting links appearing on Twitter during the day? Usually all these posts may appear in your reader too but if there’s a particularly interesting one drag it into a ‘To read’ folder saved in your browser favourites.

Only check analytics once a week

It’s very easy to get drawn into checking analytics multiple times a day. It’s always good to see your visitor count go up.

But instead of wasting your time checking all your websites stats daily, its much more useful to check at the end of every week and every month as this gives you a better bulk overview of your true stats.

Use a desktop blogging app to continuously write notes for blog posts

Using MarsEdit you can continuously take notes for different blog posts throughout the week, then when you have time take a look at all of the blog post ideas you’ve jotted down and finish one before publishing it. This works a lot better than sitting down to a blank canvas and MarsEdit saves you having to open up your WordPress admin area each time.

How do you get things done?

These are some of the techniques I have introduced to getting things done.

Are there any special tips or techniques you will use to get things done? I would still like to get more work done during the day so it would be great if you could contribute some suggestions.

10 Proven Tips To Get More Twitter Followers

Lee — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:56 +0000

After reading this recent post from @paddydonnelly, Not Another ‘10 Tips to get more Twitter Followers’, I felt compelled to write what I think is the best way to use Twitter for getting more followers.

Follow this surefire guide and you’ll have hundreds (or even thousands) of more followers on Twitter in no time.

Sponsored link: If you can’t be bothered with the effort involved you could always buy Twitter followers here.

1. Follow everyone

How do you get noticed on Twitter? Follow everyone else. Literally go through as many Twitter profiles as possible and click follow. Do this 1,000 times and you’ll get around 900 follows back.

2. Retweet like mad

Retweet every link that comes from your friends. First of all your friend will be thankful for the retweet and secondly your followers will be thankful for the shared link.

Be sure to retweet in the format “RT @friend:” and keep any other RT @friend references in so they get the credit they deserve.

3. Constantly tweet about what you’re doing

Nobody will follow you if your Twitter stream is lying static so make sure you constantly update it, every 15 minutes if possible.

If you’re not doing anything interesting, talk about the food you’re eating, what you’re watching on TV or who you’re talking to and meeting e.g. “Eating sushi with @myfriend while watching Family Guy”.

4. Auto DM new followers to welcome them

You want your new followers to feel welcome so setup an auto welcome message via DM to say “Thanks for following me”. This is also the perfect time to list your sites that you want them to visit.

5. Link to your MySpace, Facebook or Bebo page

Twitter is a social networking site so when listing your website it’s a good idea to link to another social networking site that you’re on so friends can connect with you on that site also. Enter your MySpace, Facebook or Bebo site here, not your website or blog.

6. Ask people to Digg, Retweet, Bookmark, Float etc.

This is the true value of Twitter. You can use it to gain significant advantages like asking people to digg your posts. If you have 500 followers and you ask them all to help you digg a post, you’ll more than likely get at least 400 diggs and be featured on the Digg homepage.

7. Ask people to follow you

Milestones are important on Twitter. There’s a big difference between someone who only has 99 followers and someone who has 101 followers. You want and need to hit these follower milestones.

If you’re at 90 followers, tweet “nearly at 100 followers” and before you know it you’ll reach the 100 mark because your friends will retweet it. Likewise when nearing 1,000, 2,000 etc.

8. Use all 140 characters

Don’t waste your tweets. There are 140 characters up for grabs so make sure you use as many as possible. The more information provided for your friends the better.

9. Don’t give away your secrets

If you find a good link that helps you achieve something extraordinary in your field, it would be silly to share it on Twitter. Don’t forget, your friends on Twitter are also your competitors so don’t be giving your secrets away.

10. Don’t reply to nobodies

You want people to think that you’re really big and popular so only @reply to people who are famous or have thousands of followers. This will make you look like a Twitter big gun and people will feel the need to follow you.

What do you think?

Are these effective ways to use Twitter? Do you have any other recommendations?

The Power and Kindness of Twitter

Lee — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:30:15 +0000

There’s no doubting the power of Twitter and the ability to share information virally. Just look at the Hudson plane crash as an example. But what’s amazing is the kindness that comes with the Twitter community.

On Tuesday I launched Sponsor Lee (to raise sponsorship money for running the London Marathon). I asked a few friends to check it out, I tweeted and blogged about it and all day people were tweeting and retweeting and by the end of the day £389 had been raised, the majority of which came from Twitter friends and followers. A lot of these people I haven’t even met before.

If I take @ismets as an example, a designer all the way from Belgium who I’ve never met, was happy to give some money for a good cause. And @vanilla_man, whose Twitter profile I can’t even understand, was happy to help and featured Sponsor Lee as the site of the day on WebDesign.org.

It really does show how generous and how willing the Twitter community is willing to get involved, especially for a good cause. The money raised is going to Action for Kids, a worthy charity who help disabled children.

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me so far and thanks for all the tweets. Be sure to check out the websites of sponsors to date.

30 Creative Twitter Theme Backgrounds

Lee — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:31:44 +0000

One thing I love about Twitter is it’s simplicity. The concept is simple, the usage is simple and even the design is simple. As far as your theme is concerned you are restricted to changing a few colours and adding a background, keeping things nice and clean and ensuring the app doesn’t become a mess like MySpace did :)

These restrictions limit our creativity boundaries so if you want to make an impression with your Twitter profile it all comes down to the background.

I’ve compiled a list of Twitter profiles who have impressive creative backgrounds, which I feel stand out above the rest. Feel free to share any you’ve come across and you can also follow me on Twitter.