dynacover
A PHP GD + TwitterOAuth demo to dynamically generate Twitter header images and upload them via the API. This enables you to build cool little tricks, like showing your latest followers or sponsors, latest content creted, a qrcode to something, a progress bar for some goal, and whathever you can think of.
The demo is explained in detail in this guide: How to Dynamically Update Twitter Cover Image to Show Latest Followers Using PHP GD and TwitterOAuth.
Requirements
- PHP (cli only) 7.4+
- GD / PHP-GD
- Curl
- Composer
You also need to register an application within the Twitter Developers Portal and obtain 4 tokens:
- Consumer / App Token
- Consumer / App Secret
- User / Access Token
- User / Access Token Secret
Additionally, you can set up a Personal GitHub API key to fetch your sponsors, in case you are enrolled in the GitHub Sponsors program ,and you want to use the included cover_sponsors.json template. This is optional.
Installation
Installation is done in a few steps: clone, install dependencies, set up credentials, and you are ready to go.
1. Clone this repository
Start by cloning this repository to your local PHP dev environment or remote PHP server:
git clone https://github.com/erikaheidi/dynacover.git
cd dynacover
2. Install Composer Dependencies
composer install
This will install a few dependencies and generate a credentials.php file in the root folder of your application.
3. Set Up Twitter Credentials
Open the generated credentials.php file and set up your credentials:
#credentials.php
return [
'twitter_consumer_key' => 'APP_CONSUMER_KEY',
'twitter_consumer_secret' => 'APP_CONSUMER_SECRET',
'twitter_user_token' => 'USER_ACCESS_TOKEN',
'twitter_token_secret' => 'USER_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET',
'github_api_bearer' => 'GITHUB_API_BEARER_TOKEN'
];
The github_api_bearer token is optional, only in case you want to use the GitHub API to fetch Sponsors.
Replace the keys accordingly and save the file.
4. Test Twitter Connection
To test that your credentials are valid, you can list your latest followers with:
php dynacover fetch followers
If everything is set up correctly, you will see a list with your 10 latest followers.
5. Choose a Template and Preview your Cover
To preview your cover without uploading it to Twitter, run:
php dynacover generate twitter
This will use the default cover_basic.json template. You can specify a template with the template=template_path parameter:
php dynacover generate twitter template=app/Resources/templates/cover_neon.json
Built-in templates are located in the app/Resources/templates directory. You can also create your own templates in any preferred location and pass the template json path as parameter, relative to the application root folder. Check the included templates to see how it works. Ideally, you should choose a default template and set it up within the dynacover script configuration.
Covers are generated in the root of the application folder, with the name latest_header.png. Check the generated image before uploading it to Twitter to confirm it has your latest followers, and it looks like you expect.
Available Templates
cover_basic.json
The default template shows latest 5 Twitter followers.
cover_colorful.json
Similar to the basic cover, but with a more colorful background. Shows latest 5 Twitter followers.
cover_neon.json
This template shows your latest 5 Twitter followers in smaller size, in a blue-neon style header.
cover_sponsors.json
This template uses the Github image source to obtain sponsors and include them in the banner. Make sure you have set up your GH token on the credentials.php file.
6. Upload to Twitter
To upload the latest generated cover to twitter, run:
php dynacover cover upload
To generate and update your cover using the template that is configured as default in the app config, run:
php dynacover cover update
7. Set Up Crontab (Optional)
For this to be completely dynamic and update frequently, you'll need to include the script to your Crontab or equivalent. First make sure you set up the default_template config parameter in the dynacover script to your preferred template. By default, this is app/Resources/templates/cover_basic.json.
To open the current user's crontab, run:
crontab -e
This will open up a text editor. You should include the full paths to both the php executable and the dynacover script, like in this example which will update the cover every 5 minutes:
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/php /home/erika/dynacover/dynacover cover update > /dev/null 2>&1
2k Jan 9, 2023
7 Dec 30, 2022
10 May 13, 2022
958 Dec 29, 2022
708 Dec 22, 2022
1.1k Jan 3, 2023
24 Oct 23, 2021
320 Dec 15, 2022
4 May 30, 2022
144 Sep 7, 2022
374 Dec 30, 2022
53 Oct 17, 2022
106 Aug 17, 2022
6 May 30, 2022
6 Jul 12, 2022
8 Aug 17, 2022
59 Oct 5, 2022
53 Dec 28, 2022