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#1 2010-02-12 10:17:54

milkshake
Member
From: Linz, Austria
Registered: 2007-06-24
Posts: 80
Website

@textpattern on Twitter

When I try and follow @textpattern on Twitter it says “This user has blocked you from following them.”

I’m not sure why, but I’d appreciate if the mods could change this. My username is ‘meleyal’.

Thanks!

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#2 2010-02-13 18:05:52

Destry
Member
From: Haut-Rhin
Registered: 2004-08-04
Posts: 4,909
Website

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

Speaking of Textpattern on Twitter. I don’t really understand the model of use.

Let me be clear, I’m all for using Twitter. I’ve put an entire conference together using Twitter for speaker research, and email for business communication. Twitter is without a doubt a seriously powerful tool if you have the right reason for using it: research, networking, community development…

Where I see Textpattern making effective use of Twitter is for community development, but that’s exactly not what it’s doing. I see occasional pings about themes, and occasional pings about code updates to the core,—both are good and part of the game—but I don’t see any “human” interaction with other humans using Twitter. That’s a wasted opportunity for Textpattern promotion. Big time! (It’s also a bit reflective of many other ways Txp is missing the boat with community development, sad to say.)

Who’s behind the @textpattern account on Twitter? I’m just curious.

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#3 2010-02-13 18:32:15

Gocom
Developer Emeritus
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: 2006-07-14
Posts: 4,533
Website

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

Destry wrote:

human

You are right, it’s not human nor human interaction. It’s all bot — total of 6 real tweets that are replies.

The twitter feed is more about telling what is going on. But yeah, it is really useless. Just some cropped down messages from svn changes and sortened urls.

But if someone likes smaller feeds, then use it. It will save some quota. Those that like readable format can subscribe to:

At least those feeds are readable and don’t depend on external service’s external service.

I would like to see some hand pick tweets on @textpattern and seperate account or #-tags for that autospam. I don’t even really like how it pushes real tweets with #txp #textpattern tags down.

Who’s behind the @textpattern account on Twitter?

My 2cents are on We<3TXP’s owner, Sam. Just a guess. Just because We<3TXP is included in the feed, but other TXP site’s arent — no other implications. Do I win something if I’m correct? Lol.

Last edited by Gocom (2010-02-13 19:01:00)

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#4 2010-02-13 20:13:01

maniar
Member
From: Hamilton, Ontario
Registered: 2010-01-04
Posts: 66
Website

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

That’s the reason I am not following @textpattern – perhaps this is bad marketing ! I rather search for #textpattern or #txp tweets – (I believe these should be added to TxPlanet as well)

It would not harm if there was another twitter account for textpattern tips and updates.

Last edited by maniar (2010-02-13 20:13:29)


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#5 2010-02-14 09:50:51

jstubbs
Moderator
From: Hong Kong
Registered: 2004-12-13
Posts: 2,395
Website

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

Jaffer, there is a Twitter update for TXP Tips.

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#6 2010-02-14 11:35:17

trenc
Plugin Author
From: Malmö
Registered: 2008-02-27
Posts: 572
Website GitHub

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

I’m following @textpattern. I myself find it useful to be up to date on svn changes, new themes, plugins etc. So I use @textpattern as a single one aggregator of different feeds.

The question is: Who is willing to feed twitter with human status updates and what will be the content of these?

Last edited by trenc (2010-02-14 11:36:16)

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#7 2010-02-14 17:46:20

maniar
Member
From: Hamilton, Ontario
Registered: 2010-01-04
Posts: 66
Website

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

Thanks Jonathan ! (I had forgotten about TXP tips when adding that comment !) Following now …

P.S. I wonder if @milkshake’s issue has been resolved yet !

Last edited by maniar (2010-02-14 17:48:27)


اردو میں بھی دستیاب Textpattern آپ کے لیے اب

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#8 2010-02-19 15:44:51

Mary
Sock Enthusiast
Registered: 2004-06-27
Posts: 6,236

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

IIRC, this was not an account created or maintained by the devs. May have changed since then…

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#9 2010-02-19 15:47:39

wet
Developer Emeritus
From: Schoerfling, Austria
Registered: 2005-06-06
Posts: 3,323
Website Mastodon

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

Nope. It’s an anonymous, yet manned jinni.

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#10 2010-02-20 12:04:55

Destry
Member
From: Haut-Rhin
Registered: 2004-08-04
Posts: 4,909
Website

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

trenc wrote:

svn changes, new themes, plugins etc.

Yes, I’m sure everyone agrees, these are just some good kinds of information to tweet.

The question is: Who is willing to feed twitter with human status updates and what will be the content of these?

Actually, that’s two questions; both easily answered by looking at how it’s done in the rest of the world.

AQ1 : A Txp Community Manager; someone appointed to the Txp team who’s primary responsibility is to promote and support community. This has to be someone recognized as a team member (and having reasonably competent skills in community management), as opposed to volunteers expecting everyone else to take care of it.

AQ2 : Twitter is not just about broadcasting (like what @textpattern is currently doing). It’s about dialogue; proposing ideas, answering questions, and helping people. Sure, broadcasting information is an important part of it, but if that’s all it’s used for, then a lot of potential is wasted. Even the current broadcast tweets are formatted pretty horribly and more often than not chopped off. [Ed. Self-edited to spare you even further.]

—————————

Twitter is just one piece of the puzzle. The prevailing issue here is much bigger — growing community. Within that are more channels to take into account and more goals the Txp community could be reaching for. Look at what any other prominent open source CMS community has accomplished to date and what I’m saying should start to sink in. This is the kind of thing a Community Manager would help promote.

Don’t get me wrong, the burden isn’t solely on Team Textpattern (though granted, it’s natural the community looks there for initiative).

I have a question for people in this community: Why in all these years of Textpattern’s existence has there never been a single Txp meetup, TxpCamp, or what have you? I’m not even suggesting on an international level like other projects have achieved, but just something in one’s neck of the woods. I’ve never even seen anyone say they met at a pub for a few beers.

And don’t tell me it’s because Txp is so easy to use there’s no need to talk abou it, or that the one book is the holy grail of answers. To this date people still come to this forum expressing their frustration with getting over the Txp hump, or about the documentation. Plus, many people like more than just docs anyway, they want hands-on learning activities where their questions get immediate answers, and where they have a little fun in the process. We could also say it’s the trend anymore.

I sometimes akin the Txp community to a small country village abandoned by youth and barely kept on the map by a few seniors fiddling about in the chicken coups. Under this model, a lost community is only a matter of time.

It’s sad we don’t see any interest in meetups (whatever) here, because obviously there’s a lot of interest in those kinds of things. You start having events like that and it’s more to tweet and re-tweet about, for example.

You want to know how this works? Somebody just has to step forward. Like this…

If there’s any Txp users in Strasbourg or Paris, let’s touch base to plan a meetup, hoist one and talk Txp. We’ll take it from there how to raise the bar each time. That’s a genuine proposal!

Last edited by Destry (2010-02-20 13:46:10)

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#11 2010-02-20 16:03:24

maniar
Member
From: Hamilton, Ontario
Registered: 2010-01-04
Posts: 66
Website

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

I am quite new to the TXP community but I too have wondered about this as well that while TXP ranks high among other CMSes, why is there no ‘Textpattern Confrence’ or a ‘Text-Camp’ (Sorry for obvious references) ?
And we don’t require the Founder or the Lead Developer to lead the meeting or give a ‘keynote’ speech !

Such meetings are not just for meeting and socialising, but it could bring TXP further into the limelight – and bring out the in-real-life community spirit.

Perhaps not everyone can physically meet but even perhaps virtual gathering over Twitter or Skype or similar can do !


اردو میں بھی دستیاب Textpattern آپ کے لیے اب

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#12 2010-02-20 16:28:51

Destry
Member
From: Haut-Rhin
Registered: 2004-08-04
Posts: 4,909
Website

Re: @textpattern on Twitter

I’m sure you are not alone, Jaffer. Not by a long shot.

There is some Txp history that influences things, and to be respected. For example Txp’s founder is no longer around, so that’s a moot issue. Also, it’s a well-known fact that core developers, who are worth their weight in gold, are generally not the initiator type, and we can’t expect them to be, at least not in terms of giving presentations or what have you.

But what can be done, like I mentioned, is core folks backing such an initiative and bringing someone else into the fold that is willing to spearhead a little more forward thinking outside of the machinery and into the social scene — the community itself. I think that kind of “leadership” (I hate to use that word, but you all know what I mean) is necessary if anything is going to happen, otherwise it would have happened already.

That’s not to say it’s too late for members of this community to do something on their own accord, without core team leadership, but so far nobody has shown any interest, for whatever reason. Until today, I guess.

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