Scripting: Factory Functions

By using Twitter Javascript, you agree to the Developer Rules of the Road.

If you're integrating your site with Twitter using Twitter for Websites and Web Intents, you can dynamically generate widgets using JavaScript functions.

Twitter for Websites products—Tweet buttons, Follow buttons, embedded Tweets and timelines—are all loaded using a JavaScript utility named widgets-js. When adding a Twitter widget to your page, this JavaScript file is included in the HTML embed code, or you can directly include http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js in your page. (See the TFW set-up documentation for a recommended code snippet.)

By default, widgets-js will find mark-up in a page and convert basic, functional mark-up into rich interactive widgets. In addition, there are a number of functions of widgets-js that allow you to work with Twitter content dynamically:

Creating widgets at run-time with factory functions

Widgets can be generated at run-time, without requiring an HTML embed code. A set of factory functions can generate any widget type:

• twttr.widgets.createShareButton
• twttr.widgets.createFollowButton
• twttr.widgets.createHashtagButton
• twttr.widgets.createMentionButton
• twttr.widgets.createTimeline
• twttr.widgets.createTweet

Buttons

createShareButton, createFollowButton, createHashtagButton, and createMentionButton take similar arguments.

Primary Argument

The first argument is required, and is unique to the button type. Provide a string representing one of:

• url: The URL to be shared.
• screen_name: The screen_name of a user to be followed, or mentioned.
• hashtag: Hashtag to be Tweeted and displayed on the button.

Additional Arguments:

• target: Required. The element in which to render the widget.
• options: Optional. An object hash of additional options to configure the widget.

Every create function returns a Promise. You can execute code after a widget has been created by passing a callback to twttr.widgets.createFoo().then(function (element) { console.log("Widget created."); });. When fulfilled, the promise will pass a reference to a newly created widget element to the chained callback.

Examples:

Create a share button for a URL:

twttr.widgets.createShareButton(
  'http://benward.me',
  document.getElementById('new-button'),
  {
    count: 'none',
    text: 'Sharing a URL using the Tweet Button'
  }).then(function (el) {
    console.log("Button created.")
  });

Create a Follow button for a user:

twttr.widgets.createShareButton(
  'endform',
  document.getElementById('new-button'),
  {
    size: 'large'
  }).then(function (el) {
    console.log("Follow button created.")
  });

Options

Additional configuration and options can be passed to the factory functions, as in the above examples.

Additional configuration for all widgets

Option Name	Values	Default	Notes
dnt	true, false	false	Enable Do Not Track for this widget.
hashtags	A comma-separated list of hashtags.	Undefined	A list of hashtags to be appended to default Tweet text where appropriate.
lang	An ISO 639-1 language code.	en	The language in which to render a widget, if supported (see the Translation Center.)
related	Any comma-separated list of valid Twitter screen names.	Undefined	A list of Twitter screen names to be suggested for following after a Tweet is posted.
via	Any valid Twitter screen name.	Undefined	A Twitter user mentioned in the default Tweet text as /via @user where appropriate.

Additional configuration for button widgets

Option Name	Values	Default	Notes
align	left, right	locale dependent (left or right, depending on the text direction of the language.)	The alignment of the button within an iframe; use this to ensure flush layout when aligning buttons against opposite edges of your grid.
count	none, horizontal, vertical	horizontal	Share button and Follow button only. (Vertical count only available for share buttons.)
counturl	A valid URL.	Undefined	If the canonical URL to be counted is different from the URL to be shared, you can provide this URL to reference the count. (Share button only.)
size	medium, large	medium
text	Any string	Undefined	The default, highlighted text a user sees in the Tweet Web Intent.

Tweets

createTweet takes the ID for a Tweet, and then the same additional arguments as for buttons.

Arguments

• tweetId: The ID of a Tweet to be rendered. (This should be provided as a String, since Twitter IDs are generated from 64-bit integers, and JavaScript integers are limited to 53 bits.)
• target: Required. The element in which to render the widget.
• options: Optional. A hash of additional options to configure the widget.

Examples:

Create an embedded Tweet for @ev's first Tweet:

twttr.widgets.createTweet(
  '28',
  document.getElementById('first-tweet'),
  {
    align: 'left'
  }).then(function (el) {
    console.log("@ev's Tweet has been displayed.")
  });

Options

Additional options for embedded Tweets.

Option Name	Values	Default	Notes
align	left, right, center	Undefined	Float the embedded Tweet to the left or right so that text wraps around it, or align center so it floats in the middle of a paragraph.
conversation	none, all	all	For Tweets that are replies, the previous Tweet in the thread will be displayed by default. Use none to hide the thread and show a Tweet alone.
cards	hidden, visible	visible	Toggle whether to render expanded media through Twitter Cards in Tweets. Also applies to images uploaded to Twitter.
width	Numeric value	auto, derived from container size.	Fix the width of the embedded widget.
linkColor	Hexidecimal colour value, e.g. #cc0000	Default blue, varies by theme.	Adjust the color of links inside the widget.
theme	dark, light	light	Toggle the default colorscheme of the widget.

Timelines

createTimeline takes the ID for a timeline, as obtained by first creating a timeline in your widget settings. Additional arguments are consistent with embedded Tweets.

Arguments

• widgetId: The ID of a timeline widget to be rendered.
• target: Required. The element in which to render the widget.
• options: Optional. A hash of additional options to configure the widget.

Examples:

Create a timeline widget:

twttr.widgets.createTimeline(
  '123456',
  document.getElementById('timeline'),
  {
    width: '450',
    height: '700',
    related: 'benward,endform,brianellin'
  }).then(function (el) {
    console.log("Embedded a timeline.")
  });

Options

All the parameters described above for all widgets and for embedded Tweets apply also to embedded timelines.

Additional options for embedded Timelines.

Option Name	Values	Default	Notes
ariaPolite	polite, assertive, rude	polite	Apply the specified aria-polite behaviour to the rendered timeline.
height	Numeric value	600	Fix the height of the embedded widget.
borderColor	Hexidecimal colour value, e.g. #cc0000	Default grey, varies by theme.	Adjust the color of borders inside the widget.
chrome	noheader, nofooter, noborders, transparent, noscrollbar	Undefined	Toggle the display of design elements in the widget. This parameter is a space-separated list of values.
tweetLimit	1-20	Undefined	Render a timeline statically, displaying only n number of Tweets.
screenName	Any valid Twitter screen name	Undefined	Override the timeline source with this user's Tweets.
userId	Any valid Twitter user ID	Undefined
showReplies	true, false	false	When overriding a user timeline, include Tweets that are in reply to to other users.
favoritesScreenName	Any valid Twitter screen name	Undefined	Override the timeline source with favourite Tweets from this user.
favoritesUserId	Any valid Twitter user ID	Undefined
listOwnerScreenName	Any valid Twitter screen name	Undefined	Override the timeline source with Tweets from a list owned by this user. Must be used in combination with listId or listSlug.
listOwnerId	Any valid Twitter user ID	Undefined
listId	Any valid Twitter list ID	Undefined	Override the timeline source with Tweets from this list. Must be used in combination with listOwnerId or listOwnerScreenName.
listSlug	The string identifier for a list, as used in the URL twitter.com/benward/example-list.	Undefined

For more information on the options for customising embedded Timelines refer to Embedded Timelines.

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These functions make it possible to integrate Twitter user's content into your site dynamically in a JavaScript application, and integrate user interactions into your own application experience.

Please ask questions and share your code and examples in the developer forum. You may also refer to the main Twitter for Websites documentation.

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