Twitter

[arthwollipot]

Did I mention "Clueless Newbie"?

I can't work out how to send a Twitter update from my phone. I've tried sending an SMS to the number provided, but it doesn't appear on the site. The SMS was sent successfully from my phone - I didn't get an error sending.

I turn now to the 100% reliable source of assistance, the good people at the JREF Forums. What am I doing wrong?

[wafonso]

Assuming you registered your phone with Twitter (to associate your number with your account), that's it. You should send the SMS to their UK number (starts with +44).

[arthwollipot]

Do you add the "+" to the front of the number? Or do you need an international dialling prefix. I'm not going to use it if I need to send to an international number - I don't even know if my plan can do that.

[wafonso]

From a mobile, you usually add the + in lieu of an international prefix.

I think for most plans international SMS costs the same as domestic... that's the case for me, at least, and I'm on the cheapest I could get.

[arthwollipot]

Okay, let's give it a go.

[arthwollipot]

I've sent the verification code - now that I've worked out how to do the "+"...

How long does it take to verify my device?

[wafonso]

Should be immediate, I guess.. it's been a while since I did this.

[arthwollipot]

Well, it's a little short of 24 hours, and it has not receieved the update from my phone. As far as I can tell, I'm doing everything right.

This is looking a LOT like too much effort.

[arthwollipot]

Seriously - is wafonso really the only person here who is willing to help?

[Soapy Sam]

I'd love to.

What in the Sam Hell are you talking about?

[joobie]

i would like to help you, but i'm in the US, use the short number, and everything has always just worked for me.

[arthwollipot]

Yeah. I've given up. Twitter is clearly not for me. Not yet. I'll keep checking back now and again to see if they have a local number set up, but it's just not practical for me at this time.

[Worm]

FWIW, it worked fine for me, and verification was instant, as far as I can tell.

I assume you read the Help stuff about international numbers? (I'm sure you will have..but always best to start with the easy stuff :) )

How do I add my international number?

Twitter accesses international numbers from the US. This means that it's important to include '+' and your country code with your complete number in order for us to recognize it properly. Our international number is a good example; it's formatted like this: +44 7624 801423. Note: when adding a country code to your number in some countries, you must drop the leading zero.

[arthwollipot]

I'm pretty sure international dialling is blocked on my plan anyway.

I'll give it another go, I suppose. Not tonight.

[Worm]

When I look at the SMS devices register to my Twitter account, my phone number shows up as :

+447968xxxxxx (obviously the real numbers are there..not xxxxxx :) )

[arthwollipot]

That doesn't seem to be my problem. The Register Devices page tells me to send a certain code to a certain number. Even when I enter that number exactly, it never seems to register my device. My device number has the + and the country code at the beginning, as I believe it should. But it just doesn't do it.

[Worm]

The one advantage I may have is that their international number is in the UK (+44) and so am I.

Not sure what to suggest. I've put out a Tweet to see if any antipodeans have it working ... not sure if any will respond :)

[arthwollipot]

Thanks Worm. (Wow, it feels weird saying that). Everyone downunder I've spoken to posts via the website. I can't see the point in that since I've got an LJ and a Facebook, so I was interested in posting updates by mobile phone, from wherever I am. That avenue seems to be blocked at this time.