We set up systems and, so long as they continue to work, they just carry on and we tend the forget they are therr. Some years ago I discovered the admirable Twitterfeed which automatically pulls articles from Macfilos and posts them to Twitter and Facebook (and other social networks if required). All was well for so long and I confess I was lulled into a false sense of security.
Then last week came the bombshell, Twitterfeed was closing down on October 30 and I’d better make alternative arrangements. Twitterfeed suggested two alternatives, Buffer.com and Dlvr.it. Both are subscription based, costing around $10 a month whereas I have been used to a free Twitterfeed (perhaps this has something to do with its demise).
Without much to go on, I thought I’d first try Buffer simply because B comes before D. But after setting up an account for Macfilos I discovered that the auto thingy wasn’t working. That’s a pity because I really like the system. A chat with Buffer’s excellent support line and I found that at the moment there is no auto posting of items from the RSS feeds. I learned this from Dave who, it turns out, has just bought himself a Leica X-E and is learning the joys of aperture priority shooting. Now we have a new regular reader and something good came out of that little exercise.
Next stop, dlvr.it seems more promising. The system has been set up and appears to be running. This could result in some temporary duplications on Twitter and Facebook until Twitterfeed bites the dust on the 30th. I want to be sure before pulling the plug.
This, then, is a test post to see if it migrates automatically and whether the layout and content is up to scratch. All we want, really, is another Twitterfeed. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it works as well and as seamlessly as we have been used to in the past.
Decision
After testing Dlvr.it we decided to take out an annual subscription. There was an initial worry in that we couldn’t figure out how to add the second social network (Facebook). It wasn’t immediately apparent, without delving into the small print, that the trial version is restricted to one network. Since we’d already entered Twitter the request to add Facebook was being ignored. It now is all set up and appears to be working well. One improvement over Twitterfeed is the inclusion of automatic hashtags (based on categories added to the individual post). This should improve traffic by bringing tweets and Facebook items to a wider audience.
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