Building With the Twitter API

Getting started with the Twitter API may seem a bit complicated, but it’s actually quite straightforward. There are a number of libraries for common languages that make the process quite easy. Twitter’s API documentation has also improved greatly over time.

This series consists of three parts. Part one will cover:

an introduction to the Twitter API
building a database schema for Twitter
building out a PHP application in the Yii Framework for working with Twitter

Posts in this series

Building With the Twitter API: Getting Started
Learn the Twitter API with PHP using a standalone, open-source Yii application called Birdcage.
Jeff Reifman
3 Nov 2014
Code
Building With the Twitter API: OAuth, Reading and Posting
In this series, we're building an application called Birdcage that interfaces with the Twitter API in PHP. In this article, learn to use OAuth for...
Jeff Reifman
10 Nov 2014
Code
Building With the Twitter API: Using Real-Time Streams
While the Twitter REST API is suitable for many applications, if you want immediate updates and access to a broader array of notifications, the Twitter...
Jeff Reifman
17 Nov 2014
Code
Building With the Twitter API: Tweet Storms
Some ideas are too big for 140 characters. Post your thoughts in numbered sequences of tweets with the Twitter API. In this tutorial, we'll work through the...
Jeff Reifman
7 Jan 2015
Code
Building With the Twitter API: Repeating Tweets From a Group
Recurring tweets are more useful if you can vary the content. Learn how to build a feature that repeats tweets from a group of pre-written posts.
Jeff Reifman
19 Jan 2015
Code
Building With the Twitter API: Creating Friends to Follow
Learn to add followers to users' accounts with their authorization. This episode also switches to a simpler PHP-based API library.
Jeff Reifman
20 Mar 2017
Code
Building With the Twitter API: Analyzing Your Followers
Twitter social engagement is often weak. Learn how to investigate how many of your followers are real people vs. bots and how many are likely to ever see...
Jeff Reifman
10 Apr 2017
Code
Using the Twitter API to Tweet Repetitive Content
Twitter's API has various undocumented restrictions that sometimes block attempts to automate a fun bot or a serious marketing effort. Learn ways to succeed...
Jeff Reifman
28 Apr 2017
Code