Search tweets block

Description of the plug-in

This plug-in allows you to add a Twitter side block in Moodle; therefore, you can add one or more hashtags in the settings and follow them through this Moodle block. In this block, there will appear all hashtags added in the settings and, in the header of the block, the hashtags searched. Tweets will appear complete and include users, their full name and picture.

Plug-in installation

The first step of the installation of this plug-in is to add the folder "search_tweets" and the files it contains inside the folder “blocks” of the Moodle installation.

Plug-in settings

In order to configure the plug-in, a Twitter account is needed to be linked with Moodle. Data are placed in the next screen: Settings > Site administration > Plugins > Search tweets

This information is found by following these steps:

1. Log in the Twitter account you want to use.
2. Go to the account settings.
3. Click on widgets.
4. Go to ’Create new’.
5. On the bottom of the page, click on Developer Rules of the Road.
6. On the header, click on the button ‘Sign in’.
7. Write your user and password.
8. In the dropdown list that appears on the account picture (in the header), click on My applications.
9. Create a new application
10. Fill in the application:
11. Click on the button ‘Create your Twitter application’.
12. The information needed appears in the section OAuth settings of the following screen:

Add a block

As well as other side blocks, if you want to add it in the main page, in a course or in all the courses, you need a user with permissions to edit Moodle. The steps to follow are:

1. Turn editing on
2. Go to the side block, in the dropdown list to add a block
3. Select the block ‘Add tweets’.
4. Then, a block will appear and it can be moved by clicking on the button ‘Move’.

Block edition

Go to block settings in order to add the tweets subject or the name you want. Follow these steps:

1. Turn editing on
2. Click on Block settings
3. The following screen will appear:
4. In ‘Search terms’, add the Twitter hashtags you want to include in the block. If there are more than one hashtag, they should be separated by commas.
5. You can select 1 to 10 in ‘Numbers of tweets to show’.
6. The other options are the same other blocks have: choose if you want the block to appear always on right or on the left side, in the campus main page, in the course, everywhere, in the default position. Finally, it is also possible to choose how you want it to appear in that page.