Posting to twitter from a PHP application

In this article you can learn how to post a status update to twitter from a PHP application.

First you have to create a app in twitter. For that go to https://dev.twitter.com/apps and sign in with your twitter account.

Go to “My applications” and use “Create a new application” option to create a new twitter application. Keep the application access level to “Read and write”. So that we can write to twitter by using this app.

[ Note: Twitter app do not allow you to use localhost as domain or call back URL. In this example i have used www.detailsinn.com. ]

There are several PHP libraries available for twitter integration. You can find here : https://dev.twitter.com/docs/twitter-libraries#php

In this article i have used Abraham Williams API Library. You can download it here : https://github.com/abraham/twitteroauth

Download the library and grab “twitteroauth” folder and place it in your project folder. Now create index.php and place following code. Replace CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET, CALLBACK_URL with your twitter app details.

<?php
    session_start();
    include_once 'twitteroauth/twitteroauth.php';
    $consumerkey = 'CONSUMER_KEY';
    $consumersecret = 'CONSUMER_SECRET';
    $callbackurl = 'CALLBACK_URL';
    if(isset($_SESSION['accesstoken']) and $_SESSION['accesstoken']!=''){
        if(isset($_POST['msg']) and $_POST['msg']!=''){
            $tw = new TwitterOAuth($consumerkey, $consumersecret,$_SESSION['accesstoken']['oauth_token'],$_SESSION['accesstoken']['oauth_token_secret']);
            $tw->post('statuses/update',array('status'=>$_POST['msg'], 'in_reply_to_status_id' => $_SESSION['id']));
            echo 'Posted to twitter.';
        }
        ?>
        <form action="" method="post">
            Message<br /><textarea name="msg"></textarea><br />
            <input type="submit" value="Post to Twitter" />
        </form>
        <?php
    }else{        
        if(isset($_REQUEST['oauth_token'])){
            $tw = new TwitterOAuth($consumerkey, $consumersecret, $_SESSION['oauth_token'], $_SESSION['oauth_token_secret']);
            $accesstoken = $tw->getAccessToken($_REQUEST['oauth_verifier']);
            if($tw->http_code == 200){
                $content = $tw->get('account/verify_credentials');
                $id = $content->user->id;
                $_SESSION['accesstoken'] = $accesstoken;
                $_SESSION['id'] = $id;
                header('Location: index.php');
                exit;
            }elseif($tw->http_code == 401){
                header('Location: index.php');
                exit;
            }else{
                echo 'Oops! Twitter connection failed!!';
                session_destroy();
                exit;
            }
        }else{
            $tw = new TwitterOAuth($consumerkey, $consumersecret);
            $requesttoken = $tw->getRequestToken($callbackurl);
            $_SESSION['oauth_token'] = $requesttoken['oauth_token'];
            $_SESSION['oauth_token_secret'] = $requesttoken['oauth_token_secret'];
            if($tw->http_code == 200){
                $authorizationurl = $tw->getAuthorizeURL($_SESSION['oauth_token']);
                header('Location: '.$authorizationurl);
            }else{
                echo 'Unable to connect with twitter.';
                exit;
            }
        }
    }
?>

<?php

session_start();

include_once 'twitteroauth/twitteroauth.php';

$consumerkey = 'CONSUMER_KEY';

$consumersecret = 'CONSUMER_SECRET';

$callbackurl = 'CALLBACK_URL';

if(isset($_SESSION['accesstoken']) and $_SESSION['accesstoken']!=''){

if(isset($_POST['msg']) and $_POST['msg']!=''){

$tw = new TwitterOAuth($consumerkey, $consumersecret,$_SESSION['accesstoken']['oauth_token'],$_SESSION['accesstoken']['oauth_token_secret']);

$tw->post('statuses/update',array('status'=>$_POST['msg'], 'in_reply_to_status_id' => $_SESSION['id']));

echo 'Posted to twitter.';

}

Message<br /><textarea name="msg"></textarea><br />

</form>

<?php

}else{

if(isset($_REQUEST['oauth_token'])){

$tw = new TwitterOAuth($consumerkey, $consumersecret, $_SESSION['oauth_token'], $_SESSION['oauth_token_secret']);

$accesstoken = $tw->getAccessToken($_REQUEST['oauth_verifier']);

if($tw->http_code == 200){

$content = $tw->get('account/verify_credentials');

$id = $content->user->id;

$_SESSION['accesstoken'] = $accesstoken;

$_SESSION['id'] = $id;

header('Location: index.php');

exit;

}elseif($tw->http_code == 401){

header('Location: index.php');

exit;

}else{

echo 'Oops! Twitter connection failed!!';

session_destroy();

exit;

}

}else{

$tw = new TwitterOAuth($consumerkey, $consumersecret);

$requesttoken = $tw->getRequestToken($callbackurl);

$_SESSION['oauth_token'] = $requesttoken['oauth_token'];

$_SESSION['oauth_token_secret'] = $requesttoken['oauth_token_secret'];

if($tw->http_code == 200){

$authorizationurl = $tw->getAuthorizeURL($_SESSION['oauth_token']);

header('Location: '.$authorizationurl);

}else{

echo 'Unable to connect with twitter.';

exit;

}

Now execute the URL. You will be redirected to twitter to authenticate.

Once you done it you can see the form by which you can post to twitter.