Try TwitBin

Just installed TwitBin on my home PC.

It's a Firefox extension that adds a narrow panel on the left side of your browser so you can view and post messages to Twitter.



I've only had limited use of the extension for now, so my feedback is probably way too superficial at this point. But here goes:

Last Updated: May 8, 2007 at 9.10pm

Stuff I Liked

• User name and Password. I especially like the fact that TwitBin doesn't store your user id or password on their own servers (or, at least I think they don't).
  
• Shortened Links. I really appreciate the abbreviated links. They make for a much better use of space.
• Adjustable Width. I like keeping the TwitBin panel really narrow, so I'm glad I had the option to adjust the width.
• Character Countdown. TwitBin now has a character countdown so you know when you're almost at 140 characters. It also stops you from entering more characters when you've hit 140, so there's no danger of going over [added May 8]
• Open in new Tab. I'm so used to right-clicking on links and opening them as new tabs on my current browser window. I'd like to be able to do that in TwitBin too. The updated TwitBin opens links only in the active tab in Firefox v2.0. Not exactly a new tab, but this is a good step in the right direction. [added May 8]
  

Stuff I'd Like to See

• Position Preference. I'd actually prefer having TwitBin run down the right side of my browser window, instead of the left. I consider the left side "prime real estate" and would rather reserve that for whatever site I'm visiting.
• Image Suppression. I'd like an option that lets me completely suppress the display of avatars. Considering the limited (narrow) space, and the fact that avatar sizes are scaled down anyway in TwitBin, I'd rather use all that space for tweets.
• Direct Messages. I'd like to view direct messages, or at least get a notification that a new direct message has come in.
  

Overall, I definitely like. Kudos to the folks at infinimedia for coming up with this baby.

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Addendum: If you're like me, you may have some trouble figuring out how to launch TwitBin for the first time, after you install the extension and restart Firefox.



You'll find that a new TwitBin icon has been added to your Firefox Navigation toolbar, inserted discreetly just before the URL field. Clicking on the icon toggles the TwitBin extension on and off.