Trendsmap FAQs

Trendsmap FAQs

FAQ Categories : Plus - General - Billing - Analytics - Visualisations - Alerts

Plus

Can I see what was trending yesterday?

On the Home Page you will see our 7 Day History sliding scale. This scale allows you to see what was trending in your location (or any location) over the past 7 days. You can then access images, tweets and videos from the right hand side of the page.

Please allow a little time for these tweets to load because depending on your internet connection they may take a little while.

How can I see and move the map with all the topics everywhere?

Sometimes the topics take over most of the screen and it can be difficult to scroll. If this happens simply use the plus/minus icons to zoom in/out a bit and give yourself a chance to see where you are and scroll by dragging a piece of the map that isn’t covered by a topic. You can also go to your current location, your area, and the global view by using the other icons next to the zoom.

Can Trendsmap process tweets written in different languages?

Trendsmap currently processes tweets in all languages and completes enhanced processing for Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish

How many locations and topics are you tracking?

We have over 1300 cities from 240 countries that have their own page on the site (eg Melbourne). You can view all locations here. However we generate trends wherever there is sufficient activity, so even it we don't specifically have a page for a city or location, if there is enough activity there it will come up on the Home page.

The number of topics changes depending on what people are currently tweeting about.

Are these official Twitter trends?

No. Trends on Trendsmap are calculated through our own algorithm, and therefore will differ from official Twitter trends. When we first launched in September 2009, Twitter only provided global trends, (Twitter did not introduce local trends until January 2010), so one of our main objectives was to provide local trends for as many locations as we could. We have a sister service called iTrended, which provides reports on where something officially trended, at what positions, and for how long.

When are the topics on the map from?

Trendsmap is continuously tracking twitter trends, right down to the second. New trends should appear within minutes, and they may gradually increase or decrease in prominence as they become more or less popular. Trendsmap only shows topic trends for up to one week, less if the trend is weaker. If you watch the topics on the map you will often see them adjusting real-time.

What are all the words on the map?

The words on the map are taken from recent tweets (from Twitter). We track the words, or topics, as they become more or less popular in overall tweets, and only show the important ones.

Why are the topics in my area so light?

Stronger trends are represented by larger, darker topics. In order to stay consistent, if your area is not showing strong trends compared to the rest of the world, they will be naturally lighter. We are always looking for ways to make Trendsmap more useable, but in the mean time you can mouse over the trends to highlight them and read them more easily.

Are people really tweeting about that in the middle of the water or desert?

Probably not. It may appear like this for two reasons:

  • While topics are organised around a location, in order to display them sometimes they will appear to be some distance away, or
  • sometimes the location users give twitter isn’t accurate, or they may be tweeting from another location and forgot to update their profile

What can I do to get more tweets from my area on Trendsmap?

Trendsmap uses the location set in your user profile on twitter.com to determine your location. The more accurate that is, the better Trendsmap can use your tweets. For example, ‘California’ is not specific enough for Trendsmap to use when calculating local trends, but if you specify your location to be ‘San Francisco, USA’ it will be able to gain sufficient information to use your tweet to help generate localised trends.

Why are there no words from my town?

Trendsmap uses a large volume of tweets and various algorithms to determine what is trending for a given location. While it is true that the tweets from your town may be trending to a particular topic, your area may not generate enough for them to show compared to other, larger areas.

How can I get alerted when something trends in my city?

We have set up Twitter accounts that send out alerts of new trends for 328 different locations. These are all listed here, and organised by continent here. The most popular is Trends South Africa, with over 160,000 followers!

How can I filter out words from the map?

You can set any words that would like to filter out from the map on your account page.

If you add some terms then these will apply from the time you next load the map, and will apply until you change them.

FAQ Categories : Plus - General - Billing - Analytics - Visualisations - Alerts

General

Can you help me to "trend"?

Trendsmap is not a tool for ‘making’ trends. It has no ability to increase your user or hashtag followers etc. Our trends are created through complex algorithms relating to volume of tweets within geographical boundaries. They are also dependant upon what else is trending within the same area. So if you are looking for a tool to help make your hashtag or user account ‘trend’, Trendsmap is not the tool for you.

What technology has been used to build Trendsmap?

This site has only been possible due to a number of different components. A list of many of the components & services we use are listed below. If you have any queries regarding the development, you can contact lead developer, John Barratt via Twitter.

System Components

Javascript libraries

Services

How can we report bugs or suggest new features?

We are always grateful for any feedback on this site, be it a feature suggestion, bug report, or whatever.

Do you have any cool videos from Trendsmap showing events unfold over time?

Yes we do! Below you can see videos of some noteable events as they unfolded and were played out on Trendsmap.

You can see all Trendsmap videos on our YouTube channel and subscribe to be updated when new ones are added.

We also share a lot of visualisations on our Twitter account

10th – 25th June, 2010 – FIFA World Cup Visualisation – Group Stage

13th December, 2009 – The XFactor Finals unfolding over the UK

30th September, 2009 – Samoa Earthquake & Tsunami

When did Trendsmap first launch

The development of Trendsmap commenced in June 2009 and the site was launched in September 2009. When we first launched, Twitter only provided global trends, (Twitter did not introduce local trends until January 2010), so one of our main objectives was to provide local trends for as many locations as we could. Trendsmap continues to evolve as more cities, languages and features are added.

Why do I need to authorize Trendsmap to login with my Twitter account?

The reason Trendsmap needs permission for posting is so you can use retweet, favorite and reply to tweets you find within the Trendsmap interface. We understand any concerns you may have, and appreciate there have been some unscrupulous websites that have done things like send out promotional materials on user accounts. Trendsmap would never post content to your account without your explicit request to do so, such as you retweeting a tweet from within Trendsmap, like you would from your normal Twitter client. We would never update your profile, send tweets on your behalf or follow new people.

FAQ Categories : Plus - General - Billing - Analytics - Visualisations - Alerts

Billing

Can I get copies of my invoices?

You can download pdf’s of all your invoices. Please go to your Accounts Page which can be located by clicking on your Twitter Username in the top navigation bar or following this link.

Here you can cancel, see your subscription dates, change your primary contact or Organisation address/details, change your credit card details or send us a message.

What are my payment options?

Payments can be made with Visa and Mastercard credit cards, or through PayPal account you can also pay with PayPal, American Express and Discover.

We can offer invoicing, and other billing options for organisations wishing to purchase multiple subscriptions, or purchase Pro or Premium annual subscriptions a year in advance. Please contact us to arrange this.

Can I share a Trendsmap subscription with a colleague?

Trendsmap subscriptions are designed to be used by an individual signing in through their Twitter, Facebook or Instagram account.

If you require multiple subscriptions for your organisation, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss our multiple subscription discounts with you.

Is there a minimum contract period?

No. We want to make it very flexible for you. Your subscription to Trendsmap is automatically billed monthly or annually. You can cancel at any time. If you cancel before the end of a billing period, you’ll retain access until that billing period is over. Unfortunately we can not offer partial refunds for cancellation part way through a billing cycle.

How do I change from a monthly to an annual subscription?

We will be making this automated but in the changeover period, please contact us and we will organise this for you.

Can you invoice me for a subscription?

We are happy to invoice for annual Pro and Premium subscriptions. For Annual Plus subscriptions we will need to add a $30US bank/admin fee to cover the cost of manual invoicing. We can accept payment via Paypal or Master/Visa card. We do not accept payment via Check

How can I cancel my Trendsmap subscription?

You can cancel by clicking on your Twitter username in the top right navigation bar. This will take you to your accounts page.

Follow the links to cancel. If you cancel mid subscription, you will continue to have access until the end of your payment period.

Alternatively, if you contact us, we are happy to assist.

FAQ Categories : Plus - General - Billing - Analytics - Visualisations - Alerts

Analytics

Can I save a search in Analytics?

Yes. All the parameters for your search are included in the url, so to save a search you can simply copy or bookmark the url of any search you have made. You can also share these with any colleagues that have access.

What boolean operators can be used in queries?

All boolean operators are listed below.
Operator Example Description
AND bacon eggs Finds tweets that mention both bacon and eggs. Please note that AND is implied so should not be entered.
OR bacon OR eggs Finds tweets that mention either bacon or eggs.
NOT bacon NOT eggs Finds tweets that mention bacon, but not eggs.
Quotes “bacon sandwich” Finds tweets that mention the exact phrase bacon sandwich. Note that these should be straight (not curly) quotes, and that these can often become corrupted when copied from email or messaging software.
Brackets (bacon OR sausage) eggs Finds tweets that mention both bacon and eggs, or both sausage and eggs.
Proximity “bacon eggs”~3 Finds tweets that mention both bacon and eggs within 3 words of each other. This operator (~) is called a tilde.
Near bacon NEAR/2 eggs Finds tweets that mention bacon within 2 words of eggs.
Wildcard bacon cook* Finds tweets that mention bacon and words that start with cook (eg cook, cooking, cooks). Note that wildcards can also be used on their own in place of whole words.
Country bacon country:au Finds tweets that mention bacon from people in Australia. This uses ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes, eg gb,us,ca,es.
Language bacon language:en Finds tweets that mention bacon which are written in English. This uses ISO 639-1 language codes, eg en,es,de,fr,pt.
Field-start ^bacon Finds tweets that mention bacon as the first word of the tweet.
Field end bacon$ Finds tweets that mention bacon as the last word of the tweet.
Quorum matching “I love bacon in the morning”/2 Finds tweets that mention at least 2 of the words within that phrase.
Strict order bacon << eggs Finds tweets that mention bacon and eggs, and where bacon appears before eggs.

Other notes:

  • Queries are not case sensitive. For example Bacon will return the same results as bacon.
  • Always ensure you have the same amount of open and close brackets and that there are not any trailing OR or NOT at the end of queries, or just prior to a parenthesis, as this will cause the query to fail.
  • Words with a ‘-‘ in them must have a double quotes around them
  • Hashtags and usernames can be entered as is, eg #trending and @trendsmap
  • Example will not also match #example and @example. These need to be entered individually.

What does H1, H2 etc mean?

The H icon stands for Hotness, (also known as Recency).

This is a score (1 being lowest, 10 being highest) which indicates how much that element is being discussed in the recent past, rather than further back in time.

  • If something has a score of H10 this means it is mostly being mentioned more recently
  • If something has a score of H1 this means it was mostly being mentioned longer ago.

This graph to further illustrate the differences :

FAQ Categories : Plus - General - Billing - Analytics - Visualisations - Alerts

Visualisations

What boolean operators can be used in queries?

All boolean operators are listed below.
Operator Example Description
AND bacon eggs Finds tweets that mention both bacon and eggs. Please note that AND is implied so should not be entered.
OR bacon OR eggs Finds tweets that mention either bacon or eggs.
NOT bacon NOT eggs Finds tweets that mention bacon, but not eggs.
Quotes “bacon sandwich” Finds tweets that mention the exact phrase bacon sandwich. Note that these should be straight (not curly) quotes, and that these can often become corrupted when copied from email or messaging software.
Brackets (bacon OR sausage) eggs Finds tweets that mention both bacon and eggs, or both sausage and eggs.
Proximity “bacon eggs”~3 Finds tweets that mention both bacon and eggs within 3 words of each other. This operator (~) is called a tilde.
Near bacon NEAR/2 eggs Finds tweets that mention bacon within 2 words of eggs.
Wildcard bacon cook* Finds tweets that mention bacon and words that start with cook (eg cook, cooking, cooks). Note that wildcards can also be used on their own in place of whole words.
Country bacon country:au Finds tweets that mention bacon from people in Australia. This uses ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes, eg gb,us,ca,es.
Language bacon language:en Finds tweets that mention bacon which are written in English. This uses ISO 639-1 language codes, eg en,es,de,fr,pt.
Field-start ^bacon Finds tweets that mention bacon as the first word of the tweet.
Field end bacon$ Finds tweets that mention bacon as the last word of the tweet.
Quorum matching “I love bacon in the morning”/2 Finds tweets that mention at least 2 of the words within that phrase.
Strict order bacon << eggs Finds tweets that mention bacon and eggs, and where bacon appears before eggs.

Other notes:

  • Queries are not case sensitive. For example Bacon will return the same results as bacon.
  • Always ensure you have the same amount of open and close brackets and that there are not any trailing OR or NOT at the end of queries, or just prior to a parenthesis, as this will cause the query to fail.
  • Words with a ‘-‘ in them must have a double quotes around them
  • Hashtags and usernames can be entered as is, eg #trending and @trendsmap
  • Example will not also match #example and @example. These need to be entered individually.

I get an error message and the visualisation doesn’t load

If you get an error message that says “Sorry, there was a problem loading the data, please try again later”, this could mean that the query or queries you have entered are too large.

This means that the data that needs to be processed takes longer than your web browser waits by default, and effectively causes it to “time out”. We are continually working to increase the speed of our systems, but it also depends on an individual’s browser and network settings.

In the first step, please save the visualisation you are having issues with, and contact us (support@trendsmap.com), including the url of the visualisation, so that we can better understand the issue and recommend a solution.

In the meantime you can also try to reduce the volume of data that is processed. Some options include:

  • Reduce the timeframe
  • Change the query or queries
  • Limit to a particular country or state
  • Increase minimum tweets from 1

How can I embed a visualisation in my website?

Visualisations created with our visualisation tool can be embedded with standard iframe code.

Note: You will need to change the url in the src= section, and you can change the width and height to fit in your page. You should also set your visualisation to be the same dimensions in the visualisation creator tool.

<iframe style="overflow: hidden; width: 600px; height: 300px;border: none; scrolling: no;" src="https://www.trendsmap.com/v/LgL8" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"></iframe>

How can I create an animated GIF of a visualisation?

To create an animated GIF, such as the one below, this is the process we use, using programs on a Mac.

Part 1 – Using Quicktime

a) File > New Screen Recording.
b) Click the red record button
c) Click to record full screen, or drag to choose a certain area
d) Escape, then press stop to stop the recording
e) Edit > Trim to cut out anything from the start or end
f) Save file (saves as .MOV)

Part 2 – Using GIF Brewery

a) Open the .MOV file you have just created in GIF Brewery
b) Click GIF Properties
c) Select Automatically Calculate Count & Delay
d) Select Reduce the number of colors in GIF, then select 256 colors from dropdown
e) Click Create GIF
f) Note the file size if you plan to share the file on Twitter. Twitter's file size limit for GIFs is 5MB. If you need to reduce the size then you can Discard and trim the start (yellow triangle) and end (red triangle) points below the preview
g) If you are happy with the file size then Save file.

FAQ Categories : Plus - General - Billing - Analytics - Visualisations - Alerts

Alerts

How do I get an API token from Slack

  1. Go to https://my.slack.com/services/new/bot (Login if needed)
  2. Give your bot a username (eg trendsmap, trendsmapbot etc.)
  3. Click ‘Add bot integration’
  4. You will then be given an API Token

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