The Daily UserScript: Twitter Find People Search Command

Today I wrote a simple time saving UserScript for Twitter. Often I find myself wanting to look up person's name on Twitter to see if the specific person I am looking for has an account, but the trouble is it has been a process that has always been a few steps too much for much fast past needs.

The Unpleasantry:

Take a look at the current process of searching for someone on twitter.com:

1. First, we have to click the link in the top navigation bar to go to the page that has the search form we want. If you think about this, you can break it down even finer, first you likely have to scroll up the page, and if you want to perform the search in a new tab (as I prefer) you have to right click the link and select "Open in new tab"..
2. Now you must wait for the search page to load and once you are on the search page, and you will have to click on the form field, then type your query, then hit enter or click 'search'.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "Twitter Find People Search Command" UserScript you have two new and better options to perform a search for a person on Twitter. They are:

Greasemonkey Menu Command Method

1. If you are on the Twitter.com site, then right click on the Greasemonkey icon in your status bar, goto "User Script Commands...", and select "Find People".
2. You will get a javascript prompt asking "Who are you searching for?" answer the question and hit enter, and your search will be opened in a new tab.

Greasemonkey Ubiquity Command Method

Yesterday I released a greasemonkey command I was working on, and you can use this userscript in combination with the greasemonkey Ubiquity command.

1. If you are on the Twitter.com site, then start Ubiquity with your hotkey, and type "gm find people with Tom Green" and hit enter. There will be a new tab opened with your search.

Notice that you eliminate the need for one page load under both methods, and you can completely forget about using the mouse which I always find productive.