Twitter: Profile Customization Tools?

[DavidB]

I (finally) signed up for a Twitter account and am spending some time to customize my Profile.

A few free services have been mentioned that provide this functionality: add URLs, change pattern, add LinkedIn URL, etc. -- basically, a template that prompts users to input their info and then outputs a fancier Twitter Profile than the basic one. Some people's profiles are very nice.

However, the ones I have checked out are either gone or not very good.

Can anybody recommend services and/or tools for customizing a Twitter Profile?

If you have a Twitter account, what tools did you use to customize your profile?

[Dani]

I have no clue what you're talking about. Are you just talking about customizing the background? You can create a background, an avatar and now, because they decided to copy Facebook, a header image as well.

Or are you talking about other types of Twitter customizations / integrations? Twitter has a robust API, so a lot of third party apps have the ability to tap into it. For example, I use Twitterfeed to syndicate all of my Facebook wall posts to Twitter and vice versa. Twitterfeed can also be used to syndicate RSS feeds.

[hmmricha]

Personally I don't need any tools to customize my Twitter profiles and backgrounds, cover images, links to the website/facebook/linkedin. You can get background images and can also design themes for yourself. There are lots of API which you can integrate with Twitter. For this you don't need any tools.Just go to twitter settings and explore all options. may be you will come up with better solutions and understanding.

[DavidB]

Hi, Dani.

I have no clue what you're talking about . . .

As far as I know, Twitter limits profiles to 160 characters. So if you want to include your LinkedIn URL, Google Plus URL, or any additional info, etc., you are out of luck.

One way around this restriction is to add extra information into the image in your header or background. For example, see some of the Twitter profiles mentioned in this blog post:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/new-twitter-profile/

Instead of just a raw photo in, say, their header image, users have added text to the image, which includes their website, hashtags they follow, contact email addresses, URL, marketing pitch, etc.

Same for background images. Some users add additional info to their (untiled) background image as a way to get around the 160 character limit on their profile.

In fact, user are advised to, "Include your URL in your Twitter bio, not just the URL field, to optimize for mobile users."

I am terrible at graphics, and do not have a copy of PhotoShop anyhow. I came across mention of free online services that can put it all together for users: i.e. - input your image, URLs, text, etc, arrange things, and presto!-- you have a customized Twitter header and background. However, the services mentioned are no longer available. Hence my original question.

In any case, I think I am going to have to bumble through this on my own, so will mark this thread "Solved" and start working on the task.

[Shashikant_1]

i dont think so there is any tool to create a good profile. if you want to make good attractive profile just refer friends profile and change it .as long as you are familer then your profile looks great.

[DavidB]

Update:

I finally put together something that looks half-decent. It took about twenty attempts--trial and error--but got the background to look like the lab books used in university. The tiling is a little off in some places, but I do not know how to fix that; it may be caused by the way Twitter wraps it around certain sections. And the header is just a photo I took myself of one of my graphs, the mechanical pencil that saw me through four years of Engineering Science at U. of T., and my calculator. It looks like a pretty cosy place now; I am surrounded by familiar objects.

Thanks for everyone's input.