django-switter 0.1

Switter is a drop-in Django app that gets tweets for you, keeps them cached for a short while and makes it easy to display them on your site. Switter provides a django-cms plugin.

Switter app description
=======================

Switter is a drop-in Django app that gets tweets for you, keeps them cached for a short while and makes it easy to display them on your site:

- **backend** part - fetches and caches tweets from Twitter 1.1 API,
- **frontend** part - is slightly modified version of a popular **jquery.tweet.js** plugin, that uses Switter backend instead of talking directly to Twitter API,
- **django-cms plugin** that makes use of Switter backend and forntend in an easy and pleasant way: when cached tweets are fresh enogh, it doesn't even make any ajax call, they're rendered right away.



Installation
============

* To install ::

pip install django-switter

* Add ``'switter'`` to your ``INSTALLED_APPS`` setting::

INSTALLED_APPS = (
# other apps
"switter",
"switter.plugins", # this one is for django-cms
)

* Add Switter url patterns to your main urls.py ::

urlpatterns = patterns('',
...
url(r'^switter/', include('switter.urls')),
...
)

* And update your database::

python manage.py migrate switter
python manage.py migrate switter.plugins


* Or just ``syncdb`` if you don't use South migrations::

python manage.py syncdb



Usage
=====

* Register a Twitter app, get your Twitter OAuth credentials and put them into your settings.py ::

SWITTER_CONSUMER_KEY = '...'
SWITTER_CONSUMER_SECRET = '...'
SWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN = '...'
SWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET = '...'

* Once installed it's pretty straighforward to use cms plugin - just add it yo your pages! ::

* Fine tune Switter plugin by overriding ``cms/plugins/switter/default.html`` template ::

{# cms/plugins/switter/default.html #}
{% load sekizai_tags %}

<section class="switter" id="switter-{{ object.id }}">
{% if object.header %}
<h2>{{ object.header }}</h2>
{% endif %}

<ul class="tweets">{# loading... #}</ul>
</section>

{% addtoblock "js" %}
<script type="text/javascript">
$(function(){
$('#switter-{{ object.id }} .tweets').switter({
// these 3 are Switter-specific:
url: '{% url switter_tweets query_type=object.query_type %}',
url_params: {{ object.get_jquery_ajax_data|safe }},
preloaded_tweets: {{ object.get_tweets_json|safe }},

// put the rest of your usual jquery.tweet.js configuration here...
count: {{ object.count }},
loading_text: "Oooh, loading tweets...",

// for example fancy tweet template:
template: '<p>{text}</p><a class="tweet_time" href="{tweet_url}">{time}</a> <a class="tweet_user" href="{user_url}">by @{screen_name}</a>'
});
});
</script>
{% endaddtoblock %}


* Not using django-cms? Not a problem! Just use modified Switter plugin template code and include it in your templates ::

{# my/fancy/switter/_tweets.html to be included here and there #}
<section id="switter">
<h2>Our tweets</h2>
<ul class="tweets"></ul>
</section>

{# you probably want to paste this in the bottom of your base.html #}
<script type="text/javascript">
// add this javascript at the bottom of your base.html template
$(function(){
// get user timeline...
var switter_url = '{% url switter_tweets query_type='user_timeline' %}'
var switter_url_params = {
screen_name: 'verybritishproblems',
count: 5,
exclude_replies: false, // optional
include_rts: true // optional
}

// or any Twitter search results:
var switter_url = '{% url switter_tweets query_type='search' %}'
var switter_url_params = {
q: 'from:verybritishproblems', // twitter search query
count: 5
}

$('#switter .tweets').switter({
// these 3 are Switter-specific:
url: switter_url,
url_params: switter_url_params,
preloaded_tweets: {{ my_cached_tweets_json|safe }}, // optional (will ajax for tweets if not present)

// put the rest of your usual jquery.tweet.js configuration here...
count: 5
});
});
</script>