=head1 NAME
App::Twirc::Manual - User guide and reference for Twirc
=head1 DESCRIPTION
C<Twirc> is a twitter client. More precisely, it is an IRC/Twitter gateway that
makes your favorite IRC client a twitter client.
=head1 FEATURES
=over 4
=item Follow friends timelines
=item Receive replies from friends and non-friends
=item Post status updates
=item Send and receive direct messages
=item Follow, un-follow, block, unblock, and use most other twitter commands
=back
=head1 INSTALLATION
You can install C<twirc> just as you would any other CPAN distribution:
cpan POE::Component::Server::Twirc
Or, you can download and unpack C<twirc>, then run it from a directory of your
choice without running C<make install>. That's the way the author runs it. If
you choose this option, run C<make> to install C<twirc>'s dependencies.
=head1 CONFIGURATION
C<Twirc> uses L<Config::Any>, so you can configure C<twirc> using XML, YAML,
JSON, Apache-style configuration, Windows INI file format, or even Perl code.
A configuration file is not necessary, but is recommended.
Here's an example configuration in YAML:
state_file: twirc.state
log_level: INFO
=head2 CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
=over
=item irc_server_name
The name of the IRC server. Defaults to C<twitter.irc>. Every IRC server has a
name. The IRC server included with C<twirc> isn't intended to be accessed
publicly. It is for your own personal use. So, the name is not significant.
=item irc_server_port
The port number the IRC server binds to. Defaults to 6667.
=item irc_server_bindaddr
The local address to bind to. Defaults to all interfaces. You probably want to
set this option to C<127.0.0.1>. That will prevent others from attempting to
connect to your C<twirc> IRC server.
=item irc_mask
The IRC user/host mask used to restrict connecting users. Defaults to C<*@127.0.0.1>.
If you run C<twirc> on a different system than your IRC client, you will need
to provide this configuration option with a suitable mask.
=item irc_password
Password used to authenticate to the IRC server. If you don't provide this
option, no password will be required. It adds a bit of security. You may want
to set this option if other users have access to your system.
=item irc_botname
The name of the channel operator bot. Defaults to C<tweeter>. Select a name
that does not conflict with friends, followers, or your own IRC nick.
When running C<twirc>, you interact with a bot in the channel. The bot carries
out commands on your behalf and provides feedback, particularly when there are
errors.
=item irc_botircname
Text to be used as the channel operator bot's IRC full name. Defaults to
C<"Your Friendly Twitter Agent">. This is the name that will appear in
response to an IRC C</whois> command.
=item irc_channel
The name of the channel where your twitter friends' timelines appear. This is
the channel where most of your interaction with C<twirc> occurs. It defaults
to C<&twitter>. The IRC convention for channels names is channels local to a
single server begin with C<&>. Network channels begin with C<#>. You can use
either to name, however C<&> is more appropriate.
=item twitter_alias
An alias to use for displaying incoming status updates from the owning user.
This is necessary if the user's IRC nickname and Twitter screen name are the
same. Defaults to C<me>.
With the default value C<me>, when C<twirc> reads a status message in your
timeline from your Twitter screen name, it will use C<me> in place of your
Twitter screen name in the channel.
=item selection_count
How many status messages to display for selection when favoriting, replying, or
retweeting. Defaults to 3.
=item truncate_to
When displaying a list tweets for selection, for example, in response to the
L</"favorite"> command, they will be truncated to this length to avoid
cluttering the screen with long messages that wrap. Defaults to 60.
=item log_channel
If specified, twirc will post log messages to this channel. If you set this
option to C<&log>, then you can join the C<&log> channel and see the copious
debug messages that C<twirc> generates. This may be useful for trouble
shooting or problem reporting.
=item log_level
Twirc supports C<log_level> values OFF, FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, and
TRACE. The default is WARN.
=item state_file
File used to store state information between sessions, including Twitter OAuth
access tokens, friends, and followers_ids.
=item twitter_args
Use this to pass additional parameters to L<Net::Twitter>'s constructor. For
example, this version of Twirc uses SSL connections to the Twitter API. If
you're using a service that requires non-SSL connections, add this to your
configuration file:
twitter_args:
ssl: 0
=back
=head1 USING
To use C<twirc> you first need to start the server:
bin/twirc -b --state_file=twirc.state
The C<-b> option runs C<twirc> in the background. Drop the C<-b> to see log
messages to STDERR. (The author runs twirc and his irc client in screen,
L<http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/>, to monitor log messages to STDERR.)
Next, connect to the server from your IRC client. I use C<irssi>
(L<http://www.irssi.org>) and my examples will use C<irssi> commands:
/connect localhost
On connection, C<twirc> will automatically join you to the configured channel.
The default C<&twitter> will be assumed, here.
Your friends will be automatically joined to the channel. Friends who are
also followers are given voice as a visual clue. In C<irssi> they appear with
plus sign (+) in front of their names.
To post a new status update, use the L</"post"> command:
post My first tweet from twirc!
In general, you enter a command followed by its arguments, if any, as a public
message in the channel. There's a handy exception to that rule for sending
replies. An entry that begins with a nick name, followed by a colon is treated
as a reply. E.g.:
twirc: you make twitter usable!
Is a shortcut for:
post @twirc you make twitter usable!
C<twirc> uses the Twitter User Streams API to receive updates in real-time.
Use IRC private messaging to send direct messages. In C<irssi>:
/msg friend Watch out, I'm right behind you!
The C<twirc> server stops when you disconnect. This isn't normal IRC behavior,
but C<twirc> isn't a normal IRC server. Its only purpose is to interface with
Twitter on your behalf and server no useful purpose when you're not connected.
=head1 COMMAND REFERENCE
=over 4
=item post status
Post a status update. E.g.,
post Now cooking tweets with twirc!
=item follow twitter_screen_name
Follow a new Twitter user. This creates a friend relationship and adds the
friend to the channel.
=item unfollow twitter_screen_name
Stop following a Twitter friend. This destroys the friend relationship and
removes the friend from the channel.
=cut
=item block twitter_screen_name
Blocks the Twitter user from receiving your Twitter feed.
=item unblock twitter_screen_name
Stop blocking a Twitter user.
=item whois twitter_user
Displays information about Twitter user. C<twitter_user> can be either a screen
name or email address.
=item notify on|off twitter_screen_name...
Turns device notifications on or off for the list of one or more Twitter
friends. The list is space separated.
=item favorite friend [ count ]
Mark a friend's tweet as a favorite. Optionally, specify the number of tweets
to display for selection with C<count>. (C<count> defaults to 3. The default
can be changed with the L</"favorites_count"> option.)
=item rate_limit_status
Displays information about the remaining number of API requests available in
the current hour. The C<rate_limit_status> command does not count against the
limit, itself.
=item help
Display a simple help message listing the available command names.
=back
=head1 TIPS AND TRICKS
=head2 Ignoring
If you're following a particularly noisy friend, you can of course
L</"unfollow"> her. Alternatively, you can use your IRC client's features to
ignore the user. In C<irssi>:
/ignore LoudMouth ALL
/ignore -except -pattern @YourName LoudMouth ALL
Now, you won't hear from LoudMouth unless she @replies you, and she won't know
you're ignoring her (unless she reads this tip!).
=head2 Multiple accounts
Although C<twirc> doesn't currently support multiple accounts, there's nothing
stopping you from running multiple instances of C<twirc>, one for each
account.
Here's how I do it for accounts C<semifor> (my personal account) and C<twirc>
(C<twirc>'s feed for update notices, etc.).
First, the pertinent sections of the configuration files (in YAML format).
# File: semifor.yml
irc_server_port: 6667
irc_password: secret
irc_channel: '&twitter'
# File: twirc.yml
irc_server_port: 6668
irc_password: secret
irc_channel: '&twirc'
Next, start an instance for each account:
bin/twirc -c semifor.yml -b
bin/twirc -c twirc.yml -b
In your IRC client, connect to both instances (C<irssi> here):
/connect localhost 6667 secret semifor
/connect localhost 6668 secret twirc
Now you've got 2 channels, one for each account---in my case, C<&twitter> for
C<semifor> and C<&twirc> for C<twirc>.
=head2 PLUGINS
Plugins are modules that are optionally included by specifying them in user
configuration file in the C<plugins> section. Some of the plugins included in
the distribution are:
=over 4
=item SquashWhiteSpace
Squashes whitespace in tweets to a single space. See L<App::Twirc::Plugin::SquashWhiteSpace>.
=item BangCommands
Commands are prefixed with a bang (i.e., exclamation point "!"). Text entered
without a bang prefix is posted as a status update. See L<App::Twirc::Plugin::BangCommands>.
=item SecondaryAccount
Cross-posts status updates to one or more secondary Twitter (or Twitter API
compatible, like Identi.ca) accounts. See L<App::Twirc::Plugin::SecondaryAccount>.
=back
=head1 SUPPORT
C<Twirc> is free open source software with no warranty of any kind. That said,
it's used by some competent perl coders who may be able to help if you have
trouble. Try the C<#net-twitter> channel at C<irc.perl.org>.
The code repository with the development branch is located at
L<http://github.com/semifor/twirc>. New features, and bug fixes appear there
before they hit CPAN, so check the commit log there to see if a problem you've
found has been addressed. And feel free to use the development branch.
=head1 AUTHOR
Marc Mims <marc@questright.com>
I'm C<semifor> on twitter and IRC.