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How to add Twitter and Facebook IM support to Pidgin for Windows
Thanks to the developers of two plugins, a couple quick downloads and some simple instructions can remedy the situation with minimal effort. To top it off, the finished product only uses about 20mb of memory - under half what Digsby consumed on my machine.
If you want to see the actual screens, skip to the gallery now.
Clarification: Ping.fm does not do this. Yes, it will update multiple statuses for you via IM, but it won't let you chat with Facebook friends or send you Twitter updates for people you follow.
Let's start with Twitter.
If you don't have a Gmail account, go sign up for one so you can add a gtalk buddy later on. You'll also need to go to Twitter and follow twitter@twitter.com.
Step 1: Download the pidgin-twitter plugin from the developers. It's about half way down the page, but if you have a hard time finding the link for the files you'll need this one. There's another plugin that is easier to install, called microblog-purple, but I prefer the way pidgin-twitter works.
Step 2: If you're on XP or newer, just double click the archive to open it - or extract the contents using your favorite application.
Step 3: Drop the .dll into your plugins folder - probably c:\program files\pidgin\plugins.
Step 4: Right click the Pidgin system tray icon and choose plugins. Scroll down to Pidgin-twitter and place a check next to it.
Step 5: Press the configure plugin button.
Step 6: Enter your twitter login information and check the box marked "enable get/post status updates via API."
Step 7: Add twitter@twitter.com as a new buddy to Pidgin using gtalk as the protocol.
Step 8: Click the buddies menu, choose show and click offline buddies if there isn't already a check next to it. If everything worked, you'll see Twitter in your buddy list.
Step 9: Double click Twitter to open a conversation window. You should see a pile of updates almost instantly.
That's it! To post a status update, just type it like you would any other Pidgin message. @username works just fine, too.
Facebook is a little easier to add. Just grab the .exe from the pidgin-facebookchat project page and run it. Click next, I Agree, and Finish. Unlike twitter-pidgin, you'll need to close and relaunch Pidgin (assuming you had it running) to activate the Facebook plugin.
Right click the Pidgin tray icon and choose accounts, then click the add button. Select Facebook from the menu, input your account details, and you're done!
Enjoy your new Pidgin functionality!
Comments
23
Subscribe to commentsascagnelJan 18th 2009 5:14PM
are there plugins available for adium? adium is the equivalent of pidgin for mac, since it uses libpurple as its backend.
bachyaJan 18th 2009 5:48PM
Great additions. I would like to know about a Twitter plugin for Adium, as well - that would be super useful.
Good work DS!
DanielJan 18th 2009 5:51PM
Something seems to be missing between steps 7 and 8.
Klink258Jan 18th 2009 7:24PM
I prefer Digsby because it has great stuff like this enabled by default.
And it's one of the only proper GMail notifiers for 64 bit VIsta.
VitaminCMJan 19th 2009 3:55PM
This is cool, but I just can't go back from Digsby. It just seems so much more polished and working.
jojoyohanJan 18th 2009 8:24PM
Step 7.5 is adding twitter@twitter.com to your buddy list.
Lee MathewsJan 18th 2009 8:25PM
Thanks for catching that one....fixed!
nightmarekirbyXJan 19th 2009 3:51AM
Or you could use trillian astra like me, beacause it's cool:
http://www.trillian.im/
blasztaJan 19th 2009 4:01AM
I use http://ping.fm/ service. One message to ping.fm will update my twitter, facebook status, and so on...
Joao AlmeidaJan 19th 2009 7:07AM
Easier way: join Ping.fm and add Ping.fm's GTalk user to update Facebook, Twitter and all the others
Julian BondJan 19th 2009 7:39AM
And Skype? What of Skype?
WLJan 19th 2009 8:03AM
There's also an installer available on the google code website which makes this a little easier. Last time i used digsby they didn't have MySpace IM and there was no plugin to add it which is one reason why I went back to Pidgin
wireless.nemoJan 19th 2009 8:36AM
So wait... to use this, I have to show my offline buddies all the time? that's kind of ridiculous.
Lee MathewsJan 19th 2009 8:36AM
No, you only need to do it once to see if Twitter shows up. After that, you can turn it off.
wireless.nemoJan 19th 2009 8:47AM
Then either I am doing something wrong or it isn't working properly, cause I see my updates when I open a conversation with it -- but it doesn't show on my buddy list. For now, I've set my twitter buddy to show as offline though. No biggie, I guess.
Lee MathewsJan 19th 2009 8:48AM
Twitter will never show online, it just needs to be in the list. That's all. If you're getting updates, you did it right!
codyhatesspamApr 2nd 2009 5:08PM
After clicking show offline buddies in the buddy list, and opening the IM window, simply right click on the Twitter tab in the IM window and click 'show when offline' then you can switch your buddy list back to normal.
tonyJan 19th 2009 5:11PM
The twitter appears to work, but I get a STOP sign and it says Twitter not authorized. but it did show my twitter stream (Did as in the last few times, but I can't see it now).
Did I miss something on either the twitter end or on the pidgin end?
thx for any help.
Tony
Lee MathewsJan 19th 2009 5:16PM
Nope, that's how it should look when you're done. Just turn off "offline buddies" and you won't have to look at it any more!
PhaolooJan 19th 2009 10:36PM
ping.fm does this task easier.