The Best "How To"

Twitter’s very real-time functionality is obviously the main attraction of the service. But it can also be a downside — if you want to send a tweet at a specific time, you usually have to be poised over a keyboard or phone.

But there are some great solutions. The ability to post-date a tweet is useful for event promotion (where you may be busy at said event), to reach an audience in a different time zone, to space out your messages, or to keep your account nice and lively while you are away.

While some popular Twitter clients offer scheduling options built-in, others don’t. For those in need, here are five great, free online services you can use to queue up tweets for future broadcasting.

To narrow down the vast number of services out there, criteria for this list includes: 1) That it’s free; 2) That it offers OAuth “sign in with Twitter” access, or OpenID sign-in; and 3) That it does what it says on the proverbial packaging.

These five hand-picked options are our favorites, but as always, please do let us know your top choices in the comments below.

1. Twuffer: Best For Minimalists

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Twuffer (Twitter buffer, get it?) is a super-simple example of a Twitter post-dating service. Using your Twitter log-in info, you can set your timezone and select how you’d prefer the time and date to appear. Scheduling a tweet is easy — just type what you’re going to say into the box, set the time and date you want it to go live, and hit the “set status!” button.

Queued tweets can be viewed via a tab on the dashboard, but cannot be edited, so if you’ve made a mistake, it’s a matter of deleting to start again. A record of tweets sent via the service is also viewable. Our scheduled tweet made it out the door as timed, so this simple solution gets a big thumbs up.

2. Later Bro: Best for Facebook Fans

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In addition to Twitter, Later Bro also works with Facebook (), and both options are offered right from the sign-in page. Once you’ve logged in with your Twitter account, you can change your timezone via the settings, enter your tweet, set the date and time (the latter of which is a little quirky) when you want it to go live, and hit the schedule button.

Scheduled tweets are listed below the main box, and can be edited, while sent tweets can be viewed. Another simple service that works well, Later Bro’s amusing name and contemporary looks might give it an edge with a hipper crowd.

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3. Twaitter (): Best for International Reach

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Twaitter (soon to be renamed “gremln” — vowels cost more, don’t you know) is actually a business-aimed Twitter client and scheduling platform, but for the purpose of this exercise, we’re just focusing on the tweet-scheduling aspects.

Twaitter offers some advanced options, including a nifty built-in URL shortener. There’s also the ability to translate your tweets, which, along with the drop-down timezone menu (included in the scheduler), makes this a great option for anyone indulging in some international Twitter action. Other highlights include the option to save drafts, copy tweets, and search and edit queued messages.

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4. FutureTweets: Best for Anyone Up To No Good

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Offering OpenID sign in (but no Twitter OAuth, for some reason), you have to validate your Twitter account before you can get going with FutureTweets. Once you’re in, this service offers a few cunning tricks that might make it worthwhile.

There’s an analog clock face to set the time of scheduled tweets (great for the numerically challenged among us), as well as some novelty options, like the ability to add icons to your tweet or flip the text backwards. Why you’d want to do any of those things is, of course, a matter for you to consider.

However, the really big selling point for FutureTweets over rivals is that you can choose for your update to appear as coming “via web,” rather than from the service. If you are trying to make it appear as if you are tweeting live (for whatever dastardly reason), this feature is certainly handy.

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5. tweetsqueue: Best for Chatterboxes

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Currently in closed beta (with the option to ask nicely for an invite), tweetsqueue offers yet another take on scheduling tweets with, as the name might suggest, a queue-based solution.

This system could work really well as a way of jotting down thoughts and sharing links in a timely manner without spamming your followers with a ton of tweets all at once. It could also serve more creative uses, such as the dialogue or dramatic recreations and experiments we’ve seen in the past. After a Twitter sign-in, you simply select your timezone and the frequency at which you’d like your tweets to be issued (e.g, every 30 minutes). Then, start getting them queued up.

Although in beta, tweetsqueue worked perfectly for us, and we think with a bit of refinement in terms of timing options, it could really become a must-use tweet scheduling tool.

About the Author :

Amy-Mae Elliott
Before joining Mashable as a staff writer, Amy-Mae Elliott covered all things gadget, tech and online news for Pocket-lint.com. Previous to that she worked in magazine publishing for lad's gadget mag "Boys Toys" and the more sedate secretarial title "The PA". Amy-Mae studied photography at The Arts University College at Bournemouth, where she gained her love of the sea-side, now residing near the beach in Devon.