you’re feeling adventurous, you can hunt online for interesting background images on your own and upload them yourself. Just make sure that they’re the right shape and size.
Your background image is almost always overlaid with your Twitter stream, so people usually won’t be able to see the middle of the image. Their screen width dictates how much of your background they’ll actually see.
Using your background image to expand your profile
Because Twitter’s user profiles are so limited, some avid Twitter users take advantage of the background image to add more information or personal links than Twitter allows for in its short Bio section. In many cases, a Twitter user includes a short professional biography, accompanied by more links and ways to connect with that user (see Figure 2-8). This idea is a great way to let people know where else they can find you.
To customize your background image, you need to use a custom template application or create your own template from scratch by using a program such as Photoshop or a free image editor such as Gimp or Seashore. You can also use Microsoft’s PowerPoint.
Figure 2-8: @Pistachio’s extended profile information contained in a background image.
If customizing your own background image from scratch isn’t your speed, don’t worry! Several sites generate free Twitter templates that are designed just for Twitter neophytes in your situation. One of these sites is TwitBacks ( www.twitbacks.com ), which offers you a fill-in-the-blanks form to create your own Twitter background. Alternatively, you can grab a template from BoinBlog ( http://boinblog.com/2008/07/02/twitter-profile-customization-photoshop-template ). You need Photoshop on your computer to open the file, but it’s a fast and easy way to create a template for yourself or your company if you’re pressed for time.
Adjusting Your Text-Messaging Settings
By using Twitter cellphone notifications, you can keep tabs on your friends, your spouse, or someone who randomly says the funniest things. Some users, though, are more inventive: They use this feature to keep tabs on their current client roster to try to gauge those clients’ happiness levels before calling them for project updates.
You can interact with Twitter on your cellphone via Short Message Service (SMS) text messages, on a mobile Web site, or by using a client application on your smartphone. You can opt for tweet notification from your network in several ways, as well.
Before you can do anything with your new Twitter account on your cellphone, though, you have to associate your mobile device with Twitter. Like most things about Twitter, it’s pretty easy to do.
To associate your cellphone with Twitter, follow these steps:
1. Sign in to Twitter and click the Settings link in the top-right menu bar of your Twitter home page.
The Settings page opens.
2. Select the Devices tab.
3. Enter your cellphone number in the text box and select the check box below it to confirm that you allow Twitter to send messages to your phone; click Save.
A screen appears giving you a code that you need to text to 40404 (brief instructions are provided).
4. Send the code to 40404 from your cellphone.
5. On the right side of your Twitter home page, under Device Updates, click the Phone radio button.
If you find the notifications overwhelming or need to stop them for a while, just turn them off, which we talk about in the following section.
You can turn on cellphone notifications even more easily if you sign up for Twitter by texting a message to 40404. But if you’ve already signed up at the Web site, use the Web site to add your phone. If you sign up both on the Web site and by using your phone, you end up with two accounts that aren’t connected to each other.
Controlling the text-message flow
If your account has text-messaging device updates set to On, you receive a text message each time someone in your network sends a tweet. (To find out how to turn on
Your background image is almost always overlaid with your Twitter stream, so people usually won’t be able to see the middle of the image. Their screen width dictates how much of your background they’ll actually see.
Using your background image to expand your profile
Because Twitter’s user profiles are so limited, some avid Twitter users take advantage of the background image to add more information or personal links than Twitter allows for in its short Bio section. In many cases, a Twitter user includes a short professional biography, accompanied by more links and ways to connect with that user (see Figure 2-8). This idea is a great way to let people know where else they can find you.
To customize your background image, you need to use a custom template application or create your own template from scratch by using a program such as Photoshop or a free image editor such as Gimp or Seashore. You can also use Microsoft’s PowerPoint.
Figure 2-8: @Pistachio’s extended profile information contained in a background image.
If customizing your own background image from scratch isn’t your speed, don’t worry! Several sites generate free Twitter templates that are designed just for Twitter neophytes in your situation. One of these sites is TwitBacks ( www.twitbacks.com ), which offers you a fill-in-the-blanks form to create your own Twitter background. Alternatively, you can grab a template from BoinBlog ( http://boinblog.com/2008/07/02/twitter-profile-customization-photoshop-template ). You need Photoshop on your computer to open the file, but it’s a fast and easy way to create a template for yourself or your company if you’re pressed for time.
Adjusting Your Text-Messaging Settings
By using Twitter cellphone notifications, you can keep tabs on your friends, your spouse, or someone who randomly says the funniest things. Some users, though, are more inventive: They use this feature to keep tabs on their current client roster to try to gauge those clients’ happiness levels before calling them for project updates.
You can interact with Twitter on your cellphone via Short Message Service (SMS) text messages, on a mobile Web site, or by using a client application on your smartphone. You can opt for tweet notification from your network in several ways, as well.
Before you can do anything with your new Twitter account on your cellphone, though, you have to associate your mobile device with Twitter. Like most things about Twitter, it’s pretty easy to do.
To associate your cellphone with Twitter, follow these steps:
1. Sign in to Twitter and click the Settings link in the top-right menu bar of your Twitter home page.
The Settings page opens.
2. Select the Devices tab.
3. Enter your cellphone number in the text box and select the check box below it to confirm that you allow Twitter to send messages to your phone; click Save.
A screen appears giving you a code that you need to text to 40404 (brief instructions are provided).
4. Send the code to 40404 from your cellphone.
5. On the right side of your Twitter home page, under Device Updates, click the Phone radio button.
If you find the notifications overwhelming or need to stop them for a while, just turn them off, which we talk about in the following section.
You can turn on cellphone notifications even more easily if you sign up for Twitter by texting a message to 40404. But if you’ve already signed up at the Web site, use the Web site to add your phone. If you sign up both on the Web site and by using your phone, you end up with two accounts that aren’t connected to each other.
Controlling the text-message flow
If your account has text-messaging device updates set to On, you receive a text message each time someone in your network sends a tweet. (To find out how to turn on
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