These are instructions for installing and using Tweet Highlighter, a tiny Chrome extension that will style the background color of tweets according to rules you specify. I use it to help me welcome newcomers to a particular hashtag.

1. Download the Chrome extension.
2. Double click the file to expand the archive into a folder.
3. Go to chrome://extensions in your URL bar.
4. Click “Developer Mode.”
5. Click “Load unpacked extension.”
6. Locate the folder you expanded and select it.
7. Decide if you want to allow the extension to change webpages you visit. This is necessary for the extension to change the background of tweets on Twitter and in Tweetdeck.

That’s it. You’ve installed Tweet Highlighter.

1. Click the little “H” that just appeared in your extensions bar.
2. Click “Add New Rule.”
3. Title it, define the rule, and select the color. In the example above, I have styled tweets from people with fewer than 100 followers or 100 tweets with yellow.
4. Head to Twitter or Tweetdeck and enjoy.

Questions or comments or clarification? Leave ’em below.

Release Notes

This is Version 1.0 of an extension that is unwarrantied and won’t be updated. I’m releasing this code into the public domain. Do whatever you want with it.

2018 Mar 20: Hey! I did update it. Twitter & TweetDeck changed their page structure, which broke the highlighting. It’s fixed now.