Tweetfilter

for browsers

Tweetfilter is a browser extension for twitter.com, supporting Firefox 3.6+, Chrome 10+, Opera 11+, Safari 5+ and IE 9+. For best experience please always use the latest stable release of your favorite browser.

Tweetfilter allows you to customize many aspects of the Twitter website, declutter your dashboard, hide features and add new ones, for better transparency and usability, just by setting the options.

With the powerful Tweet filter you can filter (hide or search) Tweets of certain kind, from certain sources or with specific content. The filter makes an exception for your conversations and can be disabled and inverted at any time making sure you don't miss something important to you. This gives you the possibility to remove the noise from your timeline or ignore topics you are not interested in without inversive actions like unfollowing your friends, but also to quickly find Tweets with specific content in your timelines.

Tweetfilter was your idea

Thanks to many (direct or indirect) suggestions you and others posted on Twitter over time, Tweetfilter became more than just a timeline cleaner. In particular many #newtwitter and #twitter/@twitter tagged critics and feature requests from the public timeline were (and are still!) taken into account during development, making Tweetfilter a truly useful extension to the twitter.com application.

Basic features

• filter independently all retweets (including classic RT-format), media, replies, Tweets with links from timelines with tweets
• custom filters for keywords, full-word (exact) match, username, mentions, hashtags, real name, source (via) with live updated match count
• shortened link expansion
• highlight Tweets mentioning you
• customize timeline layout, add via information, new menu options
• customize dashboard and aspects of the twitter.com layout gaining more space and remove distractions
• show friend status in Tweets (who you follow, who follows you)
• sound and message notification on new mentions and/or direct messages
• ... please see section Options for full list of options.

New most user requested features in Tweetfilter 2.0

• Filter works on all timelines with Tweets, like favorites, user profile or lists
• Export and import settings and filters via bookmarklet
• Quote Tweets ("classic RT")
• Direct message feature
• Alert and sound notification on new messages and mentions
• Filter exclusion list
• Hide main Tweet box to gain more vertical space (press "N" for new tweet or click the top bar icon)
• Disable timeline cache solving lags between page switches on older/slower browsers
• Regular expression filters

Other new features in Tweetfilter 2.0

• Tweetfilter 2.0 is completely refactored and runs faster and smoother with a index based filter
• New collapsible widget with scrollable filter list, browser independent layout adapting to your color settings
• quickly filter all retweets (including classic RT-format), media, replies, Tweets with links on top of the widget
• Better retweets: show source and friend status of retweeting user.
• New exclusive filter mode: you can middle/ctrl-click filters to combine and quickly search for Tweets matching them
• Highlight excluded tweets
• Friend status now also shows who follows you and who you are following, useful outside home timeline
• New name filter: filter Tweets matching certain bio realnames
• Many more fixes and improvements, adapted to latest twitter.com updates

Usage

Tweetfilter reorganizes and adds new menu options to the Tweets in your timelines. By clicking the Tweetfilter symbol at the bottom right of a tweet a drop-down menu will appear showing you the user, contained mentions, hashtags and links (if any).

Tweetfilter dropdown You can select from the list what you want to filter. Newly added filters take effect immediately and will add matching Tweets to "Filtered" (hide from timeline). On the top of the Tweetfilter widget you see the count of Tweets which passed all filters ("passed") and those which match at least one filter ("filtered"). You can click "filtered" and "passed" to switch between the two (invert the filter).

• Click the filter in the dropdown holding shift to add it to Exclusions - no Tweets matching this filter will be added to "Filtered" Tweets (also see also see section Exclusions).
• Click the filter holding Ctrl to immediately search your timeline (also see exclusive filter)

With the four quick filters on the right of the Tweetfilter logo you can instantly show (white background) or hide (gray background) all replies, retweets, media and tweets containing links from the current timeline.

The Tweetfilter symbol shows when Tweetfilter is currently waiting for the website or processing operations by flapping it's wings. If it stands still, Tweetfilter is idle and not doing anything. Clicking the TF-symbol minimizes the widget (or restores it's maximized state, if minimized).

Tweetfilter quick filters

You can type simple text filters (keywords/phrases) in the "Add to Tweetfilter"-input on the widget, pressing enter will create a new filter entry in the "Filters" list showing you the count of matches and all Tweets containing this keyword/phrase (also as part of another word or contained in the text of links) are immediately moved to the "filtered"-group. This way you can also filter #hashtags, @mentions and links. To copy/edit a filter click it in the Filters/Exclusions list while holding shift.

Special filters

• To hide/search all Tweets coming from a certain user, either select it directly from the "add to filter"-dropdown menu at the bottom of the tweet, or add from:@username (with or without @) to the filter. Filters which match usernames appear bold in the filter. If you want to exclude a user from the filter, prefix it with - (hyphen): -from:@buddy - the filter will be added to the "exclusions" list, no Tweets coming from this user will be added to the "filtered" Tweets.
• to filter Tweets by Tweet's source (via) add via:partofclient to the filter (will appear italic). For example via:web will filter all Tweets from sources (via) containing "web".
• to filter all Tweets by posting user's real name add by:partofname to the filter (where "partofname" is the keyword/phrase you want to search within the user's real name)
• to force any filter to full word match (exact phrase or word surrounded by stop chars like space), wrap the keyword/phrase part in double quotes: the filter "hat" will not match a Tweet which just contains what, hattrick or hate (like the simple text filter hat without quotes would). You can combine exact search with source, name or simple (keyword, hashtags, mentions, linktext) filters: via:"web", by:"Bob", "#exacthashtag", ...
• User filters are always "exact" (username must fully match the posting user). Use Regular Filters (see Advanced Usage) to circumvent this.

Exclusions

If you want to exclude anything from the filter process, write it in the Add to Tweetfilter input and press Shift+Enter.
Alternatively, prefix your filter with - (hyphen).
For example: -love will exclude all Tweets containing love from all other filters - the filter will be added to the "exclusions" list, no Tweets matching this filter will be added to the "filtered" Tweets
This works for all filter types: -@mention, -by:nameofuser, -"exact phrase", -from:@username, etc.

You can also add a filter from the Tweetfilter dropdown menu to the Exclusions by holding shift while clicking on a filter from the list.

Edge cases

• If it happens you want to filter a term which Tweetfilter sees as special filter, prefix it with a ' (single quote): '-keyword. If you enter anything in the filter prefixed with single quote, it will always be a simple text filter even if it has a special syntax.
• if you want to filter anything beginning with a single quote, prefix it with another one: ''neverhappens' will filter anything containing 'neverhappens' (with the quotes).

Exclusive/Search filter

You can click every filter in Filters, Exclusions and on the right of the Tweetfilter logo with the middle mouse button or while holding Ctrl to exclusively show only Tweets matching this filters. The filter will be underlined (or dark colored in case of the top filters). Clicking another filter this way will add it to the exclusive filter set. Middle/Ctrl-clicking it another time will remove it from the set. Scroll down (or click the Tweetfilter down arrow) to load more tweets, only those matching the filters will appear. Press passed or filtered to exit exclusive filter mode.

Another way to instantly search for a term/phrase is to write it in the "Add to Tweetfilter" input and pressing Ctrl+Enter. This will add the new filter and set it as exclusive filter immediately. You can add more terms the same way, they will be added to the exclusive filter set.

Notes

• All filters are case insensitive.
• Tweets mentioning you will not be added to "filtered" unless you uncheck don't hide mentioning me in the Filter-options (except when in @Mentions or in exclusive mode).
• Your own Tweets will not be filtered unless you uncheck the option skip my posts in the "Filter" options (except when in timelines showing only your Tweets, like in "Your Tweets" or "Your Tweets, retweeted", or in exclusive mode)
• Simple text filters also match text contained in @mentions (appearing as @username-link). If setting a filter tweetfilter, a Tweet mentioning @tweetfilterjs will be filtered. Use exact search ("tweetfilter") or exclusions (-@tweetfilterjs) to refine the filter process.
• Text filters also scan the text within expanded links (the url). It can occur that Tweets will be moved to filtered or back to passed (in case of exclusion) as soon as the Twitter-API expands a link in the Tweet containing a filter keyword. The option expand links doesn't need to be active for this to work, links are expanded in the background by the twitter.com application itself, not Tweetfilter. This way Tweetfilter can match links pointing to certain domains even if they appear shortened.

Advanced usage

If you know how to write Regular Expressions, Tweetfilter 2.0 offers you the possibility to transform any filter to a regular expression:

• from:@/^[ab]/ will filter all usernames beginning with "A", "a", "B" or "b" (the "i" flag is added to the expression)
• via:noisy sources=/123$/ will filter all Tweets via sources ending with 123, the filter title will be "noisy sources".
• you can also add regular filters to the exclusion list prefixing them with - (hyphen).
• The short (but also less comprehensive) syntax still works (and even has been extended)
  • @@ is equivalent to from:@
  • :@ is equivalent to via:
  • ?@ is equivalent to by:
  Like the corresponding long syntax explained earlier, this can be combined with exclusion, exact word match or regular expression:
  • @@buddies=/^(user1|user2|user3)$/ filter all tweets (and retweets) from user1,user2 and user3 and name the filter "buddies".
  • ?@"Bob" filter all tweets from users which have the exact word "Bob" in their bio name

Options

Filter

• don't hide mentioning me will avoid tweets containg an @mention of your username to be hidden from your timeline, even if matching other filters in use. This option is disabled in @Mentions.
• don't hide my posts will always show tweets written by you, even if matching other active filters you set. This option is disabled in timelines which show only your own Tweets.
• add selection to filter enables you to quickly add select text within your Tweets by clicking the Tweet again afterwards. If you want do deselect, click left or right outside the timeline. Use the mousewheel/Ctrl-click (middle click) to add the selection to the exclusion list.
• highlight mentioning me adds some color to Tweets containing an @Mention of you (disabled and inactive in @Mentions).
• highlight my tweets adds color to Tweets written by you.
• highlight excluded adds color gradient to Tweets which match a filter from the Exclusions-tab.

Timeline

• show friend status shows with an icon near the name of tweeting (and retweeting) user in Tweets and friend lists who follows you (white star), who you follow (gray star), and who is a mutual friend (yellow star), refreshed automatically after half an hour.
• show line breaks shows the line breaks in Tweets (like most desktop clients do)
• show Tweet's local time displays the original time of the tweet (posting user's timezone)
• expand new tweets immediately shows new tweets instead of new new tweets bar
• expand links expands shortened urls in Tweets
• small links shrinks link size in Tweets saving vertical space (especially when "expand links" is enabled)

Dashboard

• fixed dashboard keeps the dashboard in position while scrolling down.
• compact activities hides your last tweet, followings and followers and replaces it with a compact dashboard component showing you extended overview. If this option is activated, the information on the dashboard component is updated every two minutes.
• hide who to follow hides the "Who To Follow" and the "Similar To" box.
• hide trends hides the "Trends"-box
• hide advertising hides the advertising-box
• hide invite friends prevents the "invite friends" prompt from showing randomly
• minify menu shows only essential menu links
• hide last tweet removes "Your Tweets" from your dashboard (Home only)
• expand last tweet shows the full text of your last Tweet in your dashboard, instead of cutting it off after the first line

Global

• auto hide top bar shows the top bar only when the mouse is over it or when the search-field is focused
• hide question hides "Whats happening?"
• hide main tweet box hides the tweet box on top of the timeline. You can still press "N" for new Tweet.
• alert new dm displays a message through Twitters notification system when you have new messages
• sound on new dm plays a sound on new messages
• alert new mentions displays a message through Twitters notification system when someone mentioned you (@Mentions)
• sound on new mentions plays a sound when you have new @Mentions
• default search to "all" forces all searches defaulting to "All Tweets" instead of "Top Tweets". This option affects the top black bar search, clicks on hashtags in timeline and the selection of saved searches.
• disable copy link shortener suppresses the t.co link shortener when copying a Tweet's text in your timeline. This is especially useful together with the option expand links when you want to copy the real link instead of a t.co-link.

More

• disable timeline cache causes a reload of the timeline on switch. On older/slower browser versions like Firefox 3.6.x this solves lags when switching back to a stream which has many loaded (and cached) Tweets.
• fill page with Tweets causes loading more tweets if less than 10 visible Tweets are in timeline. This option is disabled per default, use it wisely, it will continue loading Tweets and making API calls if less Tweets are visible. Please note that API calls are hourly limited by Twitter. If you hit the API limit, don't panic - your Twitter will very soon deliver new Tweets again - but make sure you know why this happened to prevent it in the future.
• expand link targets makes links in timeline point directly to the expanded link target instead of the t.co-link. This works independently from the option expand links.
• enable twee+ support expands tweeplus.com shortened Tweets in the details pane (click the Tweet).
• export Tweetfilter settings by dragging the "Tweetfilter settings" bookmarklet to your favorites bar (or, alternatively right click > add to bookmarks or similar). After you click it (while on twitter.com with Tweetfilter running), your settings from the moment of adding the bookmarklet will be reloaded. This triggers one page refresh. Your current settings will be overwritten, export them to another bookmarklet before reloading the settings, if you still need them.

Tweetfilter Updates

Bugs, your ideas and feature suggestions

Found a bug? Great, let's kill it. Have an idea on how to improve Tweetfilter? Even better! You can post potential bugs, ideas and/or feature suggestions in the Github Tweetfilter Issues Tracker, thanks! If you are a developer and fixed a bug, please file a pull request.

Thanks for using Tweetfilter!

No installation or authorization process is required in order to use Tweetfilter. You need to add the bookmarklet only once and you will always get the latest version. After you pressed the bookmarklet Tweetfilter will stay loaded on all pages which have timelines and the top black bar, until you fully refresh the page (F5) or switch away to another page, outside twitter.com or without a user stream, timeline or the black bar.

Though it is still compatible, Greasemonkey won't tell you when a new version of Tweetfilter is available. Please follow/list @tweetfilterjs for update notifications, check this site for updates or switch from Greasemonkey to Scriptish.

Permanent installation with Opera through Javascript settings is not supported anymore. Please use the bookmarklet instead, which also has other advantages, or send your suggestions @tweetfilterjs if you know an alternative permanent installation method for Opera or any browsers not mentioned.

Thanks for all the mentions!

Tweetfilter is awesome and free, thanks to you

Tweetfilter is free open source software released under GPL v3 license, inspired and supported by the Twitter community. Tweetfilter is not associated in any way with Twitter Inc.

Tweetfilter started in 2009 ("old" Twitter times) as project on the well known userscripts.org, where the (minified) bookmarklet is still hosted. Since 2011 Tweetfilter 2.0+ is maintained on the fabulous github.com, where also this site you're viewing is currently stored.

Support Tweetfilter

Everything you donate goes to support the Tweetfilter project, for the work already done and for new nice features to come. Thank you very much!

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