Montana State University

Web and Digital Communications

About

Web and Digital Communications

Montana State University
P.O. Box 172220
Bozeman, MT 59717-2220

Director:

Jacob Dolan
jake@montana.edu

Service and Support:

websupport@montana.edu

Creating Updates Using Twitter

The convenience of using Twitter:

  • Allows new information to be easily displayed to a target audience
  • Requires no direct page updating/coding on your part
  • Increases recognition of your department and events
Custom formatting: You may create bold text within your updates (use sparingly) using the following guidelines:
  • The first *! - indicates <strong>
  • The second *! - indicates </strong> and *!! to indicate </strong><br /> (line break)
  • The first ** - indicates <strong class="redbold">
  • The second ** - indicates </strong> and *** to indicate </strong><br /> (line break)

Example Code using **:

*!URx - The NEW Prescription Drug Plan

for the Montana University System.*!

See the podcast here: http://bit.ly/aVQkQs
Result:

URx - The NEW Prescription Drug Plan for the Montana University System. See the podcast here: http://bit.ly/aVQkQs



Example Code using **:

**URx - The NEW Prescription Drug Plan

for the Montana University System.**

See the podcast here: http://bit.ly/aVQkQs
Result:

URx - The NEW Prescription Drug Plan for the Montana University System. See the podcast here: http://bit.ly/aVQkQs



Example Code using ***:

**URx - The NEW Prescription Drug Plan

for the Montana University System.*** 

See the podcast here: http://bit.ly/aVQkQs
Result:

URx - The NEW Prescription Drug Plan for the Montana University System.
See the podcast here: http://bit.ly/aVQkQs


An example of posting to the Headlines of the Current Students page

Add your event to the Current Student Headlines by posting to your Twitter Account Login into Twitter

Logging In:

  1. Obtain your login information. If necessary, contact websupport@montana.edu.
  2. Go to twitter.com
  3. Click the login button and type in your credentials; you will be immediately presented with a screen that asks "What's Happening?"
Twitter will not allow you to update if your post is more than 140 characters

Making an Update to your Twitter

When writing an update, keep in mind:

  • Updates are limited to 140 characters, including spaces.
  • You will not be able to post if your update is over this 140 character limit.
  • You can convert urls to shorter links to replace long links
    • Visit tinyurl.com or bit.ly.
    • Paste your link into the box and press Make TidyURL!/Shorten button.
    • Copy the resulting link and paste into your Twitter update box
  • Finally, the #msustudents tag must be added to the end of your update in order for your update to post to the Headlines. Updates will not post unless #msustudents is at the very end of your update!
A successful update will be 140 character or less, #msustudents must be included at the end of your update

After successfully updating your Twitter

The Current Students Page should display your update in the Headlines section after 5-10 minutes.

Note: If your update does not show after 10 minutes, please contact websupport@montana.edu to verify your account has been added to the safe list.