Adding a Twit This link to a Typepad Blog

UPDATE:  A number of us are having trouble with the TwitThis service where we get errors when using this technique. 

My apologies to any of my readers who are a) not running a typepad blog, b) not using twitter and c) not worried about how to add a "twit this" link to their blog entries.

It turns out there is a large group of Typepad blog users who are fretting away in the dark while their wordpress peers chortle and gloat over their ability to add a cool "twit this" button.

Well, chin up, dear huddled geeks.  Here is how you can add a "Twit This" link automatically to every blog post you make in the future.  Click to see a full size version of each screen shot.

There is one big caveat.  You have to be using feedburner to manage your RSS.

Step 1:  Turn on Feed Flare

Go into the Optimize tab and click on Feed Flare on the left. 

Step 2:  Customize your Feed Flare

I was already using Feed Flare.  If you are not yet using Feed Flare, you will have to click on the Activate button.  Once it's activated you should see a list of actions you can add to every post.

Try turning a few of them on.  I recommend delicious and stumbleupon as starting points.  Then scroll down to the bottom of the page where it will show you what this will look like.

The lorem ipsum on the page is supposed to represent your article. So these Feed Flare links will appear at the bottom of each post you make.

Now scroll up to the middle of the page to where it says "Personal FeedFlare".  The Twit This Feed Flare is an add-on that you have to add manually.

Step 3:  Find "Twit This" in the Feed Flare Catalog

Click on the "Browse the Catalog" link as shown above.  A popup window should load showing you all the Feed Flares people have submitted which you can add to your Feed Flare configuration.

Scroll down until you find the "Twit This" entry.  IMPORTANT:  This list is NOT alphabetical.  You have to hunt for it.

Once you locate the entry for "Twit This" you will see a few lines of data: A brief description, the Author and a Copy this URL.  We are most interested in the latter.  Right click on the "Link" and copy the URL.

Once you have the Link copied, you can close this window.

Step 4:  Add "Twit This"

Now we simply past this copied URL into the text box to the left of the "Add New Flare" button.  See the screenshot below.

Click on the "Add New Flare" button and the page should update showing you the "Twit This"  Feed Flare is installed.

Be sure that the two boxes are checked next to "Twit This" and that you Save the page at the bottom.

Step 5: Create a new post

That's it.  Now just add a new blog post to your typepad blog and you should see the links!

UPDATE:  I had problems with the links not appearing on my new posts.  So I turned off some of the more interactive feed flares (like the delicious one that reports how many times this page has been submitted) and republished my weblog under the Design tab in typepad. One of the two things fixed it.

Comments

[jonhoward]

I'd put Twit This in last week, but then took it off again as the link didn't seem to work - just a blank with my blog URL at the top.

[Sean Howard]

Hey Jon,

I hear ya, Jon. I'm going to update my post now. I had it error a few times but now it magically seems to be working. I think it might be something hokey with the twitthis service itself?

Sean

[Valeria Maltoni]

You're "the man" Sean. Thank you for the step by step. Your explanations are better than those by TypePad staff.

[Sean Howard]

Thanks Valeria!

Sadly, the "Twit This" service seems a tad bit unreliable. ;(

[Vikk Simmons]

Thanks for your post. It was a great help. The next thing I had to do was go into the design section of my Typepad blog and go under Content. The feed flare option was listed under the page footer and all I had to do was check it on. Typepad says there is a slight wait so I'm hoping all will be well shortly.

[Vikk Simmons]

It was a matter of hours and the service showed up on my blog. Thanks.

[Sean Howard]

Glad it worked out Vikk! Thanks for the update too on the missing step.

I've had some issues with the service not always responding... but it comes and goes...

[Account Deleted]

I prefer the code provided by Twitter (http://twitthis.com/tools) because it is designed as a graphic image not the ordinary text.