Update: This version will not be released on Micosoft AppSource. A new version that is based on Power Automate Twitter connector is planned for release on AppSource soon.
Have you always wondered how to measure the performance of different brands, persons, or organizations on Twitter? Now, you can. I have built a Power BI Template App for users with Twitter developer accounts, that analyzes the last 7-day activity of ANY three handles. The app is already available to install as a Power BI Template outside of AppSource. You can obtain the installation link here.
For each of the handles (presented as “Accounts” in the dashboard), the app analyzes up to 5000 tweets made by users who mentioned the relevant handle. The results can be amazing since you can practically analyze up to 3 handles. Any handles. Take a look at this online version that analyzes the 3 main products of Microsoft Power Platform: @MSPowerBI, @MSPowerApps & @MSPowerAutomate. You can view the report on full screen here.
Requirements
To install the app, you need to have a Power BI Pro license and permissions to install Power BI apps on the Microsoft Power BI service in your organization. Learn more about Power BI apps here.
If you would like to refresh the app and change the 3 accounts, you would also need a free Twitter developer account. Otherwise, the app can only be used for demo or learning purposes as it will only show the Twitter data of the three Microsoft Power Platform products.
Instructions
In this section, you will learn how to configure the app after you install.
Before you start, you need to have a Twitter developer account. If you don’t have one, it is relatively simple to apply for a developer account for free here. You will go through an approval process that may take about a day or more. Once you are approved, you will need to create a new project as shown in this screenshot.
Obtaining the API Keys
NOTE: To refresh the app, or run it on any 3 Twitter handles, the app requires Twitter API keys. Once you obtain the keys, you will provide these keys as paramaters of the Power BI Dataset. Only you and the member of the Power BI workspace will be able to get access to these keys. The keys or the data you will collect are not accessible by DataChant. Make sure you limit access to the Power BI Workspace, so only the developers of the project will have access to the keys. Your report consumers will access the project via the Apps section of the Power BI portal.
Once you created the project on the Twitter Developer Portal, go to its Keys and tokens tab, and click Regenerate to get the API key and secret in the Consumer Keys section.
Click the + icon to copy the API key, and paste it to a secured document. You will need this key as the Twitter API Key parameter for the app.
Click the second + icon to copy the API key secret, and paste it to a secured document. You will need this key as the Twitter API Key Secret parameter for the app.
Setting up the Power BI app
After you install the Twitter Dashboard, you will find it in two locations of the Power BI portal. For your consumers, the Twitter Dashboard will be available under the Apps section.
When you access the app for the first time, you will notice the Connect your data link. Don’t use it. The app cannot be connected this way.
To connect the app, go the the Twitter Dashboard under the Workspaces section of the Power BI portal. Select the vertical elipsis of the Twitter Dashboard dataset entry and then select Settings in the shortcut menu.
Expand the Data source credentials section, and click Edit credentials. In the Configure Twitter Dashboard dialog box, select Anonymous, Public and check the Skip test connection. Without turning on the Skip test connection, the app cannot be refreshed.
Expand the Parameters section and enter up to three Twitter handles as the first three parameters. You can leave Twitter Account #3 blank if you want to analyze only the two Twitter handles. You can leave both Twitter Account #2 and Twitter Account #3 blank if you want to analyze only one handle. The Twitter accounts must not contain the leading @.
Make sure you keep the case in these parameters. For example: If you wish to analyze the last 7 days of activity for McDonald’s, you must enter McDonalds as the parameter. If you use mcdonalds or @McDonalds, as the parameter, the dataset will refresh properly.
Enter the Twitter API Key and Secret from your project on the Twitter Developer portal and click Apply.
You can now schedule the refresh of the Twitter Dashboard, as shown below.
To trigger the first refresh of the report, select the Twitter Dashboard under Workspaces on the left sidebar and click the refresh button of the dataset.
After the dataset is refreshed, you can click the Twitter Dashboard report. If you still see the Microsoft Power Platform products instead of your own 3 accounts, you can click the refresh button on the top right corner of the report. If you wish, you can now edit the report to customize it (Click the Edit button on the ribbon). After you make changes to the report, you can go back to the workspace view to update the app.
If you have any questions about the Twitter Dashboard, you can contact me here.
