T21 AutoTweet Competition

Explanation

 Video and Pics

Autotweet – new business requirements

Must Requirements:

1. Costs: No too expensive
2. Content: We want to new content from our blogs
3. Authors: One author per blog
4. Tweet Scheduling (image for best): Tweet must come in regular modifiable intervalls.
   Better do not tweet than tweeting too much!
5. Tweet Text (image for best) Twitter handle of the post author inside the tweet, shorten URL
6. Tweet Image: The tweet must contain the featured or first image
7. Filtering (image for best): Basis filtering: Must be able to exclude categories
8. Social Networks: Twitter, Facebook
9. Bugs: No bugs for must functionality

Nice to Have:

1. Costs: better one license for all blogs than paying per site,
   build it if too expensive
2. Content: Tweet old content
3. Authors (image for best): Multiple author tweeting, i.e. all our authors from all blogs
4. Tweet Scheduling: –
5. Tweet text: Category inside tweet
6. Tweet Image: –
7. Filtering: Detailed filtering in combination with scheduling: different schedules per category, exclude single posts (twittly can do this).
8. Network: Other
9. Bugs: no bugs for nice to have functionality

E. Image

G: Image

1. Revive Old Post
2. Tailwind
3. AccessPress Social AutoPost
4. CoSchedule
5. HYPESocial Buffer

Others:

1. Jetpack
2. Juicer
3. MailChimp Social
4. MicroBlog Poster
5. NextScripts Social Networks Auto Poster (SNAP)– v4.0
6. OnlyWire
7. Pinterest Automatic Pin WordPress Plugin
8. Social Auto Poster
9. WordPress to Buffer
10. WP to Twitter
11. Social Media Auto Publish
12. Tweetily

Quick overview of options

We tested all 15 plugins, play with them and test the options. Investigate how they do the job and in the table below you can see quick overview of the different problems. Below the table you can see more information about every different problem and personal opinion for the different plugin.

Chosen method

We tested all of the good plugins. And we choose Revive Old Post and implement on all blogs and SNBCHF. On screen in the right you can see how it looks now. If we need multi-author, then we need to implement or buy the PRO version.

Conclusion

From the tests, we had some very good plugins to use.

I suggest to set-up Revive Old Posts free version for 1 week. If it works fine, we can choose to migrate to PRO or just improve with Feature image function (it will be no more than 1 day work). Then we can distribute to all. It looks the best plugin so far.

We can use the same strategy for Buffer connector. It looks and works very good, too. We can set-up and test both on different blogs and compare the results. I already implement and test them on local environment and I think we can start a test in less than one hour now.

We have many other problems, but I think we should go with the biggest in the market.

Doing this research and test I came up on very good plugin for twitter / social network feed – Juicer. This plugin creates a feed from the social networks. We have social channels of our authors, so we can easily set-up such a feed with all their content in their profiles. This will be unique function and I think it can be achieved very easily. We definitely should try it.

Our testing results

1. Revive Old Post

If you’ve been blogging for some time, you undoubtedly have a lot of older “evergreen” content that can potentially requires little to no alteration to get it in front of a new audience to whom it would still be relevant. Searching through your archives can be time-consuming, however. Revive Old Post Pro helps to automate the process, automatically sharing old posts to your various social network accounts.

The base version is free, but there are three paid upgrades available for a one-time payment. The “personal” upgrade is usable with one site or blog and adds the ability to filter by category, shorten URLs automatically and generate hashtags based on tags. The “business” upgrade further adds the ability to schedule posts in advance and grants a license for three different sites. The “marketer” package allows unlimited use across as many sites as you would like.

Our testing result:

Free: It looks very good and professional. It has good design. I tested all major functionalities such as exclude categories, authors and big queue. Works fine. Only the image is a problem for us.

Pro: I did not do a test, but I watch videos and did serious research. Probably it is better than the free version. The free version works very smoothly, so this must be a perfect for our needs.

Multi-author / accounts function on Revive

- Click to enlarge

Settings for tweeting

Settings for tweeting old and new content - Click to enlarge

Include or exclude categories

Include or exclude categories and select image size - Click to enlarge

Post options

Post options like shorten url, title, hashtags etc. - Click to enlarge

Template format

Author handle can be added into the template format - Click to enlarge

Social networks

All needed social networks, can be added more than one from one type - Click to enlarge

2. Tailwind

Here at WPWarfare we have tried quite a few different options, including plugins and scripts on their own to promote our Pinterest account, and found that currently there isn’t a better option than Tailwind to promote both, Pinterest and Instagram. What’s worth mentioning is that this is an approved by Pinterest app, so you don’t have to worry about getting your account suspended or closed which can happen with some of the other tools out there.

Tailwind allows you to schedule the same pin to post repeatedly on different boards whenever you schedule it for. It is not a WordPress plugin but it surely is an easy to use social media scheduling tool for Bloggers, which is why we listed it on this page.

We wouldn’t be listing this tool on this page if it wouldn’t have helped us getting more traffic from other social sources, so well worth trying their FREE trial, my gut is saying that you won’t be disappointed.

Our testing result:

We use it for the SEO company. It works very good, it has own add-on and many other features. It is a powerful tool, but only for Instagram and Pinterest. If we want to go in these networks, definetly we should use it.

Pin it with Firefox

- Click to enlarge

Your Schedule

You can make a custom schedule - Click to enlarge

Different ways of schedule

- Click to enlarge

Insights, and many more different cool stuff

- Click to enlarge

Published pins

You have your history of published pins - Click to enlarge

3. AccessPress Social AutoPost

This plugin does not have a free version and requires a one-time payment to obtain, but it also allows the user to link up with an unlimited amount of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Linkedin accounts. Other social media account types are not supported, but the one-time fee of $20 asked here is lower than most plugins of this nature.

Our testing result:

Free: I tested and it looks very simple, but it works very good. But it does not have all of the main requirements which we need.

Paid: I can’t test it, but if it is like the free version, it can fit in our needs. It is only $20, so I think we should buy and test.

Twitter account

Only one twitter account - Click to enlarge

Post message format

Custom author handle, custom post message format and Shorten urls - Click to enlarge

Logs

Logs for what the plugin tweeted - Click to enlarge

Post settings options

- Click to enlarge

4. CoSchedule

CoSchedule is an all-in-one calendar that lets you take care of both social media and blog posts from one simple interface. Of course, you can cross-post as well. Rescheduling a post is easy with a convenient drag-and-drop feature, and there’s also a team management element for multiple users.

The paid versions simply add support for extra team members and extra social networks. The free version has all the basic functionality, but limits you to integration with only five different accounts.

Our testing result:

It is a very different tool. I register as trial, so I can test and see if it can be used in our sites, but no. It is a marketing planner calendar and it is manual. We need something automatically, so NO.

Social profiles

Social channels they have - Click to enlarge

WordPress Setup

It can be connected with WordPress - Click to enlarge

Marketing Calendar

They have marketing calendar, which can be used - Click to enlarge

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5. HYPESocial Buffer

This is a feature-rich panel that integrates with WordPress and lets you manage both your site/blog and all your various social media accounts from one interface. Added functionality includes custom scheduling and automated URL shortening.

The paid “personal” license is good for one year and one site. The “small business” license adds support for two more sites, and the “agency” license opens it up to an unlimited number of sites.

Our testing result:

Free: It looks very professional and good looking. I tested all major functionalities and the only problem was the limitation of the images. The exclude of category, author, schedule and tweeting old content works extremely good.

Buffer Connector – HYPESocial:

Pro: I can’t test it, but did very very big research. It looks very good and we can use one version for all of the websites. It will has many functionalities incl. images. They make updates very often.

Source of the image: WordPress PRO Team (our tests)

Post format

Formatting post for tweeting - Click to enlarge

Schedule posts

Schedule of the posts and category include / exclude - Click to enlarge

Shared content

Choose how often to be shared the content - Click to enlarge

6. Jetpack

Jetpack offers a suite of WordPress enhancement features, like improved statistics tracking and a revamped comments system. In terms of sharing to social media, the “Publicize” feature is the one you want to look at. This is a fairly standard post-to-post conversion tool, but has the benefit of extreme simplicity and accessibility. If you need to post to an API service like Pinterest or Google+, however, you’ll need to look at other plugins as that functionality is simply not available here.

Our testing result:

Doesn’t meet our minimum requirements. Missing requirements: B, C, E

I also does not like JetPack, because makes the site so so so slow. We should try to get rid of JetPack.

Jetpack share

The only option in Jetpack to share content manually - Click to enlarge

7. Juicer

Juicer is more of a public-facing social media organizer, automatically sorting all the posts from the attached social media accounts chronologically. The free version has full functionality, but requires you to display a Juicer watermark publicly and limits the feed to one update per hour. The paid version removes the watermark and updates every 10 minutes.

Our testing result:

It does not meet our requirements, but it is very very good for different purpose. With this plugin we are able to get posts and information from different social networks and make a social feed from them. We also have most of the social channels for our authors. So we can introduce a new functionality based on this plugin, which will take content from their social profiles and will add to a feed into their profiles. This will be unique function compared to our competitors.

Juicer feed

- Click to enlarge

8. MailChimp Social

MailChimp Social is a solid free plugin for those who are only looking to share to Facebook and Twitter. It actually goes a step beyond most plugins in that it also automatically converts Facebook and Twitter comments back to your original post, and you can even use multiple accounts. The only big limitation here is that it doesn’t integrate with any other social media services.

There is a premium version available that adds multiple AJAX forms, eCommerce 360 integration, email notifications, added options for styling forms and detailed statistics.

Our testing result:

The test didn’t go well. I tested it, but firstly it does not fit our minimum requirements.

Missing requirements: A, B, C, D, E, H, F

Also it has a lot of bugs. I didn’t do one proper test. After one 1 hour I gave up. It is very very shitty.

MailChimp Integration

The only integration they have - Click to enlarge

9. MicroBlog Poster

MicroBlog Poster links up with nearly every type of social media account. What’s even better is that you can connect multiple accounts for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Tumblr. It’s also possible to schedule social media posts about content that has already been published. The very best part, however, is that it’s totally free!

Our testing result:

It looks very similar to SNAP. It is not very good looking, but it has all of the requirements, which we want. I tested the major functionalities such as category exclude and include, queue, authors and multi-author feature. It works very good. Limited support probably can be an issue and not so often updates.

Options

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10. NextScripts Social Networks Auto Poster (SNAP)

SNAP allows for automated posting to just about all of the major social networks, and some of the more minor ones too. Not only that, it integrates with other blogging platforms (like Blogger and Tumblr) for added functionality or cross-posting between sites. Facebook comments can even be automatically imported as WordPress comments!
The lone downside is that only platforms that don’t require an API Library setup are supported by the free version. If you want to integrate with Google+ or Pinterest, you’ll have to pay a yearly fee for the “Pro” version.

Our testing result:

The new version looks very good, but it is still in beta. It has a lot of bugs currently and the same functionalities does not work on the new version, too. I chatted with them and they told me that the first stable version will be released at 15 October, so we should update and test again. It was one of the best plugins with great functionalities, but too many bugs.

The new version was relased on 16 October and looks very good without so many bugs.

New version of SNAP

- Click to enlarge

11. OnlyWire

OnlyWire integrates with your site’s RSS feed to automatically convert these entries to social media posts with the attached accounts. The free version of the plugin supports only four social media accounts, however; you’ll have to pay a small monthly fee to add support for 50 social media accounts and three different RSS feeds.

Our testing result:

Tested it if it can fit our needs. It is a marketing planner and I test the trial version. It looks very good, but definitely not for our needs.

Manage Network

The only way to share content is manual way - Click to enlarge

12. Pinterest Automatic Pin WordPress Plugin

This is almost a required plugin for those who regularly pin lots of images from their posts on Pinterest. When a post is published, all of the images are automatically pinned to your Pinterest account.

The downside is that there is no free version. The paid version is only a one-time payment of $16, however. It includes the ability to pin unlimited images, pin from both featured images and thumbnails, delay or schedule pins, and integrate with WooCommerce.

Our testing result:

It looks very good and has some very good functionalities. But it is only for Pinterest. I saw that many plugins are pinterest orientated, but this is very different than our field. It can be used for some other purpose, but definitely not for this case.

Pinning Queue

- Click to enlarge

13. Social Auto Poster

Social Auto Poster requires a one-time payment of $29, but this payment gets you unlimited connectivity with Facebook and Twitter accounts and the ability to connect one account each from LinkedIn, Tumblr, Delicious, FriendFeed and Buffer. It’s a fairly basic automated post creator, but does offer the ability to create social media posts from previously published entries, which not all of these plugins offer.

Our testing result:

I found it for free in some Russian websites. Gave a look at him and I was very disappointed. It looks very shitty. Many of the functionalities does not work. After 30 minutes, I skipped it without one proper test.

Post Format

- Click to enlarge

14. WordPress to Buffer

This plugin is exclusively for WordPress users who also have a Buffer account (an app that schedules social media posts for multiple accounts). WP to Buffer basically just automates the process of pushing a newly published post to the Buffer account. Most social media networks are supported with the basic free version, but if you want to publish to Pinterest you’ll have to upgrade to the paid “Pro” version.

Our testing result:

Very good marketing planner, for other purpose can be used. But nothing in common with our minimum requirements.

Buffer settings

- Click to enlarge

15. WP to Twitter

As the name indicates, this plugin is aimed at those who post to WordPress and then attach a notification about the new post to their Twitter account. This plugin simply automates the process, sending out a customizable Tweet automatically that links to the new post as soon as it is published.

The free version automatically converts post tags to hashtags, shortens URLs and has support for Google Analytics. The paid Pro version adds the ability to delay or schedule Tweets, attach images to them automatically and schedule Tweets for posts that have already been published.

Our testing result:

Free: It works only for new content and does not have time limits. It is very very basic and if we want to use it, we should improve a lot. Strange, but all of the few functionalities which contains, works perfect. No single bug.

Pro: The PRO version does not have many functionalities, too. It does not fit our minimum requirements. Missing requirements: C

Found it in Russian forums and test it. It is not something, which can be used without many programming from us.

WP to Twitter Settings

- Click to enlarge

16. Social Media Auto Publish

This plugin is about the most basic means available of automatically generating a social media post when a WordPress post is published. It’s rudimentary, but it’s also completely free and supports filtering shares by post or category type.

Our testing result:

Again a simple plugin, but it works very good. If it has the minimum requirements, we could use it.

But in this case, we should find something more professional. We should use professional tool, because this tool is missing minimal requirements: B and C.

Facebook Settings

- Click to enlarge

17. Tweetily

Tweetily, by Flavio Martins, will randomly select a post or page and tweet it automatically to drive traffic to your site. You set the time, number of tweets, and the type of content to share and Tweetily will do the rest.

Promoting and sharing your old content to your audience has never been easier. Just set it and let Tweetily do the rest!

• Easy Twitter account connection.
• Share new and old posts and pages.
• Countdown shows you the next tweet time.
• Choose the time between tweets.
• Choose the number of tweets to share.
• Use hashtags to focus on topics.
• Include links back to your site.
• Exclude categories or specific posts.

Tweetily is the RELOADED version of the Tweet Old Post plugin by Ajay Matharuajay. It’s been updated with new features, bug fixes, new Twitter connection, and is specifically designed to work with caching plugins.

Our testing result:

Surprisingly, I put it in this list. We have the main functionalities, which worked perfectly.

We do not have:

multi authors only.

Bugs: And need to be updated. Twittily is abandoned. We can take it, improve it. Write the multi-author functionality, change the name and present it as our plugin. The market is too bad, so we have place there. We can improve twittily and we can be one of the market leaders with no bugs and good functionality.

Good Idea, that’s what also thought, when reading through the page, but we only have one Niki. What about asking Ajay Matharuajay and pay him something?

Ajay Matharuajay abandoned the plugin and probably he will not want to create it. But we have team of developers and can be paid to someone once and to create it.

Next Tweet

- Click to enlarge

Feedback

AutoTweet Comparison 20171016

Autotweet

Business Requirements:

• We want to tweet content from our blogs
• With multiple authors, essentially all our authors from all blogs!!
• The author must tweet only his content!
• Preferred: Tweet old content, too.
• If not possible by technical reasons, then only new content
• Respect rules as defined in the Config of Social Autoposter.
• Better do not tweet than tweeting too much!

Options:

1. Social Autoposter (SNAP) new posts
2. Social Autoposter old posts over a period
3. SNAP without Cron
4. Social Autoposter SNAP V4
5. Twittily
6. Other?

Social Autoposter (SNAP):

a) New posts functionality

New functionality: do not use auto-reposting

It only tweets new posts. 

Advantages:

• Can authorize multiple authors
  (pro version required) –> We have pro version.
• It has many features, which we can use in the future
• It has a lot of filter options

Disadvantages

• Cannot tweet old content (It has such a functionality)
  
• Some of the filter options have bugs.
• Bug with queue for old posts option (It is fixed already)
• Complicated for fixing.

Todo: 

Verify if we can tweet only author’s content, only the post that he has written

How to Tweet only New Content: Switch off Repost existing posts

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b) Disable Crons

Maybe it helps to disable Crons and to publish immediately.

But I do not think so because our posts are loaded via Cron.

Option not to use Cron

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c) Social Autoposter: Old posts functionality (Auto-Reposting)

Advantages:

• Can authorize multiple authors

Disadvantages

• Bug with queue for old posts option (It is fixed already)
• Bug with selecting categories

Auto Reposting is the Old Functionality, it has bugs

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Auto Reposting Settings

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Social Autoposter SNAP V4

Released as beta already,
Office release coming October 1, 2017, but apparently late.

More here

It tweets old posts and has more filter possibility.

Twittily

Advantages:

• No bugs with queues, etc.
• can include, exclude categories
• Easier to tweet only the author’s content

Disadvantages:

• Cannot author
• Can’t tweet only one author content
• Twitter API does not work

problemTwittily API does not work

I put a lot of effort to update tweetily to be with a newer code, but it does not work.
We had many issues like:
– old and not compatible code
– very very old version of Twitter API

I fixed twittily and now it is opening, but the problem is that currently we can’t authorize a new account, because the twitter API is new. Probably other functionalities will stop working soon, we need a new updated software.