Automatically Tweet an Announcement for WordPress Plugin Version Updates

photo credit: MACSwriter – cc

Here’s a quick tip for WordPress.org plugin authors and users, courtesy of Paul de Wouters: With the help of a task automation service like Zapier or IFTTT, you can automatically send out a tweet every time an updated version of your plugin is available. Simply set up an RSS -> Twitter action, like this one with Zapier:

Users of IFTTT can do the same by creating an RSS to Twitter recipe. You’ll want to use the development log feed on the developers tab of the plugin page. Connecting RSS to Twitter via a service will automate the little tasks involved in promoting your plugin and keeping users up-to-date.

Get Notified When a Plugin is Updated

Plugin users can also harness the same feed URL to send themselves updates via email. Let’s say you’ve got a few specific plugins that you are watching intently for an update. Perhaps you’ve notified the plugin author of a bug and are waiting for a fix or a new feature that’s in development. Instead of checking your site or the plugin’s page on WordPress.org for updates, you can set up an RSS to Email automated task to pull from the plugin’s development log feed and shoot a notice to your inbox.