Syntax

@user /formats

Responses:

1. List of supported formats (string), or
2. URL to page with list of supported formats

Summary

The tFormats Twitterformat (e.g., @aral /formats) asks the referenced user's Twitter client for a list of supported Twitterformats. The client may return these either as a tweet (if only a few Twitter formats are supported), or (recommended) as a URL to a web page that lists the supported formats for the client.

Raison d'être

It is important for Twitterformats to be discoverable.

Due to the decentralized and community-driven nature of Twitterformats, Twitter clients will implement different subsets of Twitterformats proposals. Since Twitterformats are client-side, the vocabulary of a Twitter conversation between two people depends on which clients they are using at any given time. The tFormats Twitterformat asks a user's client for a list of the Twitterformats it supports.

Manual usage

The tFormats Twitterformat is simple enough to be authored manually by users. e.g.,

@aral /formats

In the above example, Aral's Twitter client will either reply with a tweet listing the Twitterformats it supports or with a URL to a web page that lists the same information.

Implementation guide for Twitter client authors

A. Authoring

1. (Optional) Present a button on tweets that asks for the formats list from the author of the tweet.

B. Presentation

1. (Optional) When a formats response is received that includes a URL, load and display the page/list.

License

This Twitterformat Proposal is released under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

The tFormats Twitterformat Proposal article by Aral Balkan, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK: England License.