Installation

Installing Thurly is a snap. Download the DMG file and mount the disk image by double-clicking the downloaded file titled Thurly.dmg. Once the disk image mounts you'll be presented with a window with the installer. Double-click the installer and follow the simple on-screen prompts and you'll be shortening and sharing URLs in no time!'

Calling upon Thurly

Invoking Thurly is even easier than installing it. Hard to believe, huh? Open up Safari and surf the web. When you come across a site you want to share with the Twitter Universe simply press Command-Control-T. Thurly will automatically shorten the URL of the site you are visiting present it to you. It will also populate the Twitter Status field with your shortened URL. From here just type away your message and click the Tweet button (or press Command-Enter).

Not happy with Command-Control-T as your shortcut to Thurly? Using that key combo for something else? You can configure your own shortcut key combination within Thurly's preferences.

Shortening URLs

Not only does Thurly shorten the URL of the page you are on when you initiate the plug-in, but you can also choose to shorten a different URL. It is as simple as typing it in the 'Shorten a Different URL' field and clicking the Shrink button. The URL will be shortened and placed in the Twitter Status window automatically.

Posting to Twitter

Posting shortened URLs is simple enough. But say you just want to post to your Twitter account quickly without a shortened URL. Just pull Thurly, highlight the shortened URL in the Twitter Status field and type your post over the URL. Then click the Tweet button, and swoosh, your message is out on the web.

Extra bells and whistles

Registering Thurly is not required. You can use the base features of the plug-in, shortening URLs and posting to Twitter, for free until the cows come home. We have added some bells and whistles to Thurly to make your life easier. Registering allows you to use multiple Twitter accounts, letting you post from different accounts on the fly from the main interface. We have also built in the option to use a Twitter post template. The template let's you set a default message that appears in your Twitter Status field each time your open Thurly.

Template variables

Thurly's template system, located in the preferences, allows you to set a default message to be automatically inserted into you Twitter Status field each time you shorten a URL. This template system allows you to have variables inserted each time as well. When you click a variable name (located just below the template field in the preferences) it is added to your template. You can have Thurly insert the current date and or time, the shortened URL or the full length URL.

You can insert a variable directly into the Twitter Status field on the main Thurly interface whether you are a registered user or not. Right-click (or ctrl-click) in the Twitter Status field and select the variable of your choice from the pop-up menu. You can also do this in the Template field in Thurly's preferences.

You're welcome to type variables in manually as well. The variable names are listed below:

• Shortened URL: %shortURL%
• Long URL: %URL%
• Current time: %time%
• Current date: %date%
• Site's title: %title%

Uninstalling Thurly

Uninstalling Thurly is as easy as installing it. Run the installer that you downloaded when you installed Thurly. The installer will present you with the option to remove Thurly. Just click the Remove button and the plug-in is removed from Safari. Restart Safari and you'll find it has disappeared. If you don't still have the installer hanging around on your hard drive, download the installer again and follow the above instructions.

Requirements

We love Safari and the Macintosh. Thurly uses some of the latest technologies in Apple's version 4 of Safari. Thurly is only on the Mac platform and does not run under the Window's version of Safari. It is also required that you have an account with Twitter in order to use the Twitter Status updates. You can get an account on Twitter here.

What kind of name is Thurly?

When looking for a short, unique name for our URL shortening service (http://thurly.net) we stumbled across the word Thurl. One of its definitions is: "To cut through." With the thurl already looking much like the abbreviation URL we stuck a fancy little "y" on the end and voila: Thurly.