Updated for Version 1.5
http://politicoTracker.com/guideTE

Quick Start

The icon at the top left (multiple heads & twitter birds) opens the "favs" page. The favs page will be empty until you add some favorites, and you do so by selecting a twit feed to read, then tapping the + at the top right.

The buttons next to the filter text box are for choosing the list you want to see (elected officials, candidates, or your own list) and for sorting the lists (by name, twitter id, or state).

The small "i" icon at the top right takes you to the info page, where you can set your "Launch to Favs" preference.

To add tweeps to your personal list, tap the list chooser, choose "My List", tap the Edit button on the top right, then tap the + button.

You can easily leave a short review of the app in iTunes by using the "Review" button in the info page.

Tap on any heading in this guide below to expand that section.

If you are viewing this guide from within the app, you can rotate the screen 90 deg for a wider view. You can also double-tap and pinch the page to zoom in and out.

General Purpose

politicoTracker TE is a Twitter Reader app. It is pre-configured to follow the tweeterings of US political figures and candidates for office. And while you can also add any twitter accounts you want, this will not affect your "Followers" list on Twitter. This app is not intended to be used to update your own Twitter account.

You cannot use this app to perform any task that requires you to have a Twitter account. For example, you cannot reply to a tweet, re-tweet, add people to your Twitter Followers list, or upload your status. There are plenty of free and paid apps that do that, and do it well. This app serves a different purpose.

However, if you do want to retweet or reply, you have the option of sending a specific tweet to your Safari browser. This will open on Twitter's web site, so you can log in there and have full control.

Working with the politico Lists

You can read a politician's last 50 tweets by tapping on the person's name in any of the politico lists, or in your favorites list.

There are 3 lists of tweeps in the app. The first list is exclusively for politicians currently in office. The second list has candidates running for office. The third list is empty, and is for you to add any twitter account you want, and to let me know of anyone missing from the first 2 lists (see the section "Maintaining your Personal List" below). You switch between the lists by tapping on the left-most button to the right of the filter text box, then tapping on the appropriate list button.

The elected officials and candidates lists are maintained on a periodic basis outside of the app. Initially the lists in the app will be empty, and upon first use, the app will download the current lists. The app will check for updates each time it is started, and you will see an indication if any accounts have been added or removed. Please note that on multi-tasking devices (iPod 3rd gen, 3G-S iPhones, and higher, with iOS 4), quitting the app normally just puts it in the background, where it remains until you launch it again. However, when you relaunch the app from the background state, it is not "starting up", so the app will not check for list updates. In these cases, you can shake the device to force a list check.

The politico lists are, by default, sorted alphabetically by name. You can re-sort the lists by twitter id or state by tapping on the right-most button next to the filter box, then tapping on the button with the sort you want. The sort selection stays constant as you move from list to list. When you sort a list by state, an entry is added at the top of each state group, with the name "All tweets from [state abbreviation]". Tapping on this row will let you see an aggregated stream of tweets from all people in that group (i.e.: of the same type; Elected, Candidate, or Personal). See the "Viewing all Tweets from a State" section below.

You can scroll down the lists to find someone in particular, or you can use the filter box at the top. Typing text in the filter box will limit the list to those names that have that text in it. You can type any portion of the name, case insensitive, or a title. So if you type "john", you will get all politicos with a first name of "John", or with a last name of "Johnson", or anyone named "Dejohns", for example. If you type "us rep" you get all the United States Representatives. The filter will also remain effective as you move from list to list.

You can sort and filter at the same time, in any order. Both settings remain in effect as you change lists.

To get back the full list, you clear the filter by tapping the small X inside the filter box on the right, and tapping on "Cancel".

Handling Tweets

A politico's tweet feed displays as a series of boxes containing the text of the tweet, along with the date and time it was posted, and the method used. The times are in the UTC, or Greenwich Mean Time zone. The top of the feed contains a box with the politician's icon, name, twitterId, location, and web site address (if any).

Next to each tweet is a small box with an "open" symbol. Tapping on this box will open it to reveal action icons, that allow you to email the tweet or send the tweet to Safari. You can tap the box again to close it.

The process of emailing tweets depends on the OS version of your device. If you have OS 3.0 or higher, the email will be sent directly from inside the app, so once you're done you can continue using the app where you left off. If your device is running OS 2.X, the app will close and the email program will open, with the email ready to be addressed and sent. However, once you're done you have to start over using the app.

Sending the tweet to Safari is handy if you have a twitter account, as you can then retweet the message and/or follow the politician in your timeline. Doing this will close the app, however.

Any link embedded in a tweet is clickable, including shortened urls, links to web sites, and pics. All links will open within the app, saving you the hassle of unexpectedly jumping to Safari.

In the case of YouTube links, the link will first show you the video still-frame with a "Play" button. You can press play to view the video, and when it's done you will return to the app.

Saving Tweet Links for Off-line Viewing

You have a number of options for how to save web pages linked from a tweet:

Email Page URL
Bookmark URL
Download Full Page
Open Page in Safari, to bookmark or email from there

These options are accessed by tapping the upper right icon when viewing a web page.

Bookmarking or Downloading pages will add them to your Tweet Links Favorites list in alphabetical order by the Twitter's name, then by when they were saved. The difference is that when you bookmark a URL, you must be connected to the intenet to see the page when you use that bookmark. If you download (save) the full page, it will be saved to your device and will be viewable without an internet connection.

Note that a downloaded "full page" includes only the full text of the story, and not external formatting files, images, or other objects on the page, to cut down on data transfer and the amount of space each page takes on your device. If you later view the saved page while connected to the internet, those objects will be reloaded. If you are not connected, you can still read the text, but if the page relied on external formatting it may not look right. This will vary depending on how the web page was constructed.

In rare cases, a downloaded page may not re-load at all due to missing objects. If this happens, tap the Options icon at the top right, and open the page in the Safari web browser.

Viewing all Tweets from a State

Each state grouping in the politico lists have an "All tweets from [state abbreviation]" item you can choose. When you do so, you will see the latest 50 tweets by all politicos in that state's grouping in one list.

When viewing the aggregate timeline, you can tap on any person's name to collapse the tweetstream to only see posts by that person. Tapping on the flag or icon at the top will re-expand all tweets.

Expand and collapse tweets in aggregate view.

Maintaining your Personal List

You may add any twitter account to your personal list. This is a great way to let us know of any elected officials or candidates that are missing from the public lists. When you add someone to your list, we will check it to see if that account meets the criteria for the elected officials or candidates list. If it does, we will add it, but even if not, that account will still remain in your personal list.

You must view the new twitter's tweets at least once for us to be aware that it has been added. We will not know or care who added the account, just that it is a potential addition to the public lists. No one else will see the addition if it is not an elected official or candidate.

This app will only display tweets from public twitter streams, so adding a private account will not be beneficial. Your personal list is stored on your device, so adding or deleting accounts will not have any effect on your "Following" list on Twitter.

To add a new account:

Ensure you are viewing your personal list: Tap the list chooser button, then the "My List" button.
Tap the "Edit" button, then the + button that slides into view.
On the next screen, type the twitter id (without the @ symbol) and select the state they represent. If you are adding a non-politician, just pick a state of your choice.
Tap on the "Verify ID" button to search Twitter for that account.
If the account is valid, the "Save" button at the upper right will become enabled. Tap it to save the account to your list.
If the account is not found at Twitter, try again or tap the "Back" button at the upper left.

Account Add/Edit screen

To edit an existing account:

Tap the blue > (chevron) button next to the account id in the list.
On the next screen, change the twitter id or the state. If you change the id, you will have to verify the account again. If you only change the state, you can save your change without verifying.

To delete an account:

Tap the "Edit" button at the upper right when viewing your list.
Tap the red - (minus) button to the left of the name of the account you want to delete. Confirm the deletion by tapping the "Delete" button the appears on the right side. To cancel the deletion: tap anywhere else on the screen.
Press "Done" at the upper right when you are done.

Managing Favorites

Besides saving pages, you may also keep a list of "Favorite" politicos, to make it easier to get to their tweets in the future. You do so by tapping the plus (+) icon at the top right of the news results list. When a politico is added to your favorites list, the text <favorite> will appear next to the person's name at the top, and the plus (+) icon will turn into the Delete (trash) icon, so you can remove that person from your list.

You access the favorites list page by tapping the multiple-head-and-twittie bird icon at the top left of the politico lists view.

You can remove politicos and pages directly from the favorites list by tapping the Edit button at the top right of that page. Then, tap the red circle next to an item you want to remove, and confirm the deletion by tapping the Delete button. Cancel a deletion by tapping anywhere else on the screen. Click the Done button at the top right when you are done editing the page.

Alternatively, you can delete items from either list by swiping your finger across the row in either direction, and confirming with the Delete button. Cancel the removal by tapping anywhere else on the screen.

Miscellaneous

You can access the app info page to view this Users Guide (or just to gaze upon the excellent artwork) at any time by tapping the small <i> icon at the top right of the politico lists view. The info page also has buttons to visit the politicoTracker web site, send us an email, and see our other apps for sale. When viewing one of these pages, you can rotate your device to get a wider view of the text. You'll need to rotate back to get the dismissal icon.

Thank You !!

We thank you for your interest in or download of politicoTracker Twitter Edition, and we welcome your feedback. There is also a contact form on the web site at

http://politicoTracker.com/contact

where you can report an issue, request a new feature, or just wish us a nice day!

Don't forget to submit an app review in the iTunes App Store!!