Step-by-Step Guide: Building a Twitter/X Clone with Adalo

This comprehensive tutorial will guide you through creating a fully functional Twitter-style social media app using Adalo's no-code platform. You'll build core features including user authentication, tweet posting, timeline feeds, following systems, and real-time interactions.

Prerequisites and Initial Setup

Step 1: Create Your Adalo Account

1. Visit Adalo.com and create your account
2. Click "Create New App"
3. Select "Responsive App (Adalo 2.0)"  
4. Name your project (e.g., "TwitterClone")
5. Choose "Start from Template"
6. Select the Social Media Feed template

Step 2: Configure Initial App Settings

1. Set primary brand color (Twitter blue: #1DA1F2)
2. Choose light theme for authentic Twitter feel
3. Select clean, modern font (Helvetica or similar)
4. Configure app icons and splash screen
5. Click "Continue" to access the editor

Setting Up the Database Architecture

Step 3: Enhance the Users Collection

1. Navigate to Database in the left sidebar
2. Select the existing "Users" collection
3. Add these essential properties:
   
   • Profile Picture (Image)
   • Display Name (Text)
   • Bio (Text - enable "Multiline")
   • Username (Text — enforce uniqueness by validating on submit with a “Does not exist” check)  
   • Location (Text)
   • Website (Text)
   • Join Date (Date & Time - Automatic)
   • Verified Badge (True/False - default: false)
   • Follower Count (Number - default: 0)
   • Following Count (Number - default: 0)
   • Tweet Count (Number - default: 0)

Learn about Users collection

Step 4: Modify the Posts Collection for Tweets

1. Rename "Posts" to "Tweets"
2. Add/modify these properties:
   
   • Tweet Text (Text - limit 280 characters)
   • Media (Image)
   • Created At (Date & Time - Automatic)
   • Like Count (Number - default: 0)
   • Retweet Count (Number - default: 0)
   • Reply Count (Number - default: 0)
   • Is Retweet (True/False - default: false)
   • Is Reply (True/False - default: false)
   • Thread Position (Number)

Step 5: Create Followers Collection

1. Click "+ Add Collection"
2. Name it "Followers"
3. Add properties:
   
   • Created At (Date & Time - Automatic)
   • Is Mutual (True/False - calculated)
   • Notification Enabled (True/False - default: true)

Step 6: Create Likes Collection

1. Click "+ Add Collection"
2. Name it "Likes"
3. Add properties:
   
   • Liked At (Date & Time - Automatic)
   • Is Active (True/False - default: true)

Step 7: Create Retweets Collection

1. Click "+ Add Collection"
2. Name it "Retweets"
3. Add properties:
   
   • Retweeted At (Date & Time - Automatic)
   • Quote Text (Text - for quote retweets)
   • Is Quote Retweet (True/False)

Step 8: Set Up Database Relationships

1. In Tweets:
   
   • Add "Author" → Users (Many to One)
   • Add "Original Tweet" → Tweets (Many to One) for retweets
   • Add "Reply To Tweet" → Tweets (Many to One)
   • Add "Reply To User" → Users (Many to One)
2. In Followers:
   
   • Add "Follower" → Users (Many to One)
   • Add "Following" → Users (Many to One)
3. In Likes:
   
   • Add "User" → Users (Many to One)
   • Add "Tweet" → Tweets (Many to One)
4. In Retweets:
   
   • Add "User" → Users (Many to One)
   • Add "Original Tweet" → Tweets (Many to One)

Database relationships guide

Building the Main Timeline Feed

Step 9: Customize the Home Screen

1. Navigate to the existing "Home" screen from template
2. Replace the list component with Custom List
3. Set data source to "Tweets"
4. Configure sorting: Created At (Most Recent First)
5. Add filters: Author = Logged In User OR Logged In User > Following contains Current Tweet > Author  
6. Enable "Load Items as User Scrolls" for infinite scroll

Step 10: Design Tweet Components

1. In the Custom List, add:
   
   • Image component for profile picture (left side)
   • Text component for display name (bold styling)
   • Text component for @username (gray color)
   • Text component for timestamp (small, gray)
   • Text component for tweet content (multiline)
   • Image component for tweet media (conditional visibility)
2. Style the layout:
   
   • Set profile image to 48x48 pixels, circular
   • Use Custom Layout rows & columns for alignment  
   • Add proper spacing between elements

Component styling basics

Step 11: Add Tweet Interaction Buttons

1. Add bottom row with icon buttons:
   
   • Reply icon (speech bubble)
   • Retweet icon (arrows)
   • Like icon (heart)
   • Share icon (upload arrow)
2. Configure actions for each button:
   
   • Reply → Navigate to "Reply Screen"
   • Retweet → Create Retweet record
   • Like → Toggle Like record
   • Share → Use the Share action (opens the device share sheet)  

Step 12: Implement Real-time Updates

1. Turn on Auto-refresh in the list’s Advanced Options (lists re-query automatically for near-realtime updates)  
2. Sort by Created At (Most Recent First) and enable Load items as user scrolls  
3. (Optional) Add a Refresh button if you want a manual reload action  

Creating Tweet Composition

Step 13: Build Tweet Compose Screen

1. Add new screen "Compose Tweet"
2. Add Text Input component:
   
   • Set to multiline
   • Character limit: 280
   • Placeholder: "What's happening?"
3. Add character counter using Text component
4. Add media upload button using Image Picker

Step 14: Configure Tweet Posting

1. Add "Tweet" button with actions:
   
   • Create new Tweet record
   • Set Author to Logged In User
   • Increment user's Tweet Count
   • Clear input fields
   • Navigate back to timeline
2. Add validation for empty tweets
3. Disable button when at character limit

Step 15: Add Tweet Scheduling

1. Include Date & Time Picker component
2. Add "Schedule" toggle option
3. Save a Publish At (Date & Time) on each tweet; on the timeline list, add a filter Publish At ≤ Current Time so scheduled tweets appear at the right time  
4. (Optional) Add a “Scheduled” screen filtered by Publish At > Current Time for drafts.  

Custom actions tutorial

Building User Profiles

Step 16: Create Profile Screen Template

1. Add new screen "User Profile"
2. Add header section:
   
   • Cover photo (Image component)
   • Profile picture (Image, overlapping cover)
   • Display name (Text, bold)
   • Username (Text, gray)
   • Bio (Text, multiline)
   • Location and website (Text with icons)

Step 17: Add Profile Statistics

1. Create stats row with:
   
   • Following count (linked to Following screen)
   • Followers count (linked to Followers screen)
   • Tweet count (display only)
2. Add Follow/Unfollow button (conditional visibility)
3. Style buttons with Twitter-like appearance

Step 18: Display User's Tweets

1. Add Custom List below profile info
2. Filter: Author = Current Profile User
3. Sort: Created At (Most Recent)
4. Use same tweet layout from timeline
5. Add tab navigation for Tweets/Replies/Media

Implementing Follow System

Step 19: Create Following Logic

1. On Follow button press:
   
   • Create Followers record
   • Increment target user's Follower Count
   • Increment current user's Following Count
   • Change button to "Following" state
2. On Unfollow button press:
   
   • Delete Followers record
   • Decrement both user counts
   • Change button back to "Follow" state

Step 20: Build Followers/Following Lists

1. Add "Followers List" screen
2. Add Custom List with data from Followers
3. Filter: Following = Current User
4. Display follower profiles with Follow/Unfollow buttons
5. Duplicate for "Following List" screen

Step 21: Create Mutual Follow Detection

1. Add logic to check mutual follows
2. Update Is Mutual property automatically
3. Display mutual follow indicator in profiles
4. Prioritize mutual follows in suggestions

Adding Search and Discovery

Step 22: Build Search Functionality

1. Add "Search" screen to bottom navigation
2. Add a Search input above your Custom List  
3. Configure to search across:
   
   • User display names
   • Usernames
   • Tweet content
4. Bind the list’s filter to the Search input using Contains on username/display name/tweet text  

Step 23: Implement Trending Topics

1. Create Hashtags collection
2. Extract hashtags from tweets (manual tagging)
3. Display trending hashtags list
4. Link to hashtag-specific tweet feeds
5. Track hashtag usage counts

Step 24: Add User Suggestions

1. Create "Suggested Users" screen
2. Filter users not currently followed
3. Implement basic recommendation logic
4. Add "Follow" buttons for quick actions

List filtering guide

Building Notification System

Step 25: Configure Push Notifications

1. Add Request Notification Permission at onboarding (required on iOS and Android 13+)  
2. Use Trigger Push Notifications actions on follow/like/mention/retweet events  
3. Configure titles & bodies (e.g., “{User} liked your tweet”)  

Learn more about trigger push notification

Step 26: Create In-App Notifications

1. Add "Notifications" collection with properties:
   
   • Type (follow, like, mention, retweet)
   • Message (Text)
   • Is Read (True/False)
   • Created At (Date & Time)
2. Link to Users and Tweets collections
3. Build notifications timeline screen

Step 27: Implement Notification Triggers

1. Add notification creation actions to:
   
   • Follow/unfollow events
   • Like/unlike events
   • Retweet actions
   • Reply/mention actions
2. Set up push notification triggers
3. Add notification badges to tab navigation

Advanced Features Implementation

Step 28: Add Reply Threading

1. Create "Reply Screen" with:
   
   • Original tweet display (read-only)
   • Reply composition area
   • Character counter
2. Configure reply creation:
   
   • Set Is Reply = true
   • Link to original tweet and author
   • Increment original tweet's reply count

Step 29: Implement Quote Retweets

1. Add "Quote Retweet" option to retweet menu
2. Create composition screen with:
   
   • Original tweet preview
   • Comment text area
3. Create retweet record with quote text
4. Display quoted tweets in timeline

Step 30: Build Media Handling

1. Add an Image Picker to the tweet composer and save the uploaded file to a property on the Tweet (e.g., `Image`)  
2. Optimize thumbnails using Imgix params (e.g., append `?w=400&q=30` to image URLs); add `h=` only if you want cropping  
3. Add a full-screen viewer: on tap of a thumbnail, navigate to a Media Detail screen with a full-width Image component bound to the same record  
4. Implement galleries: create a Tweet Media collection (Many-to-One → Tweet) for multi-image posts; show a Horizontal List of related media on the Tweet detail screen  
5. Add video support using the Video component (Responsive apps): videos should be <50 MB; uploads > ~40 MB may time out. For hosted files, bind a direct .mp4 URL to a `Video URL` property; for YouTube content, use the YouTube component  
6. Sorting & performance: sort media by Created At (Most Recent First), enable Load items as user scrolls, and keep list items lightweight

Learn more about image optimization

Step 31: Create Lists Feature

1. Add Lists collection
2. Build list creation and management screens
3. Allow users to add others to lists
4. Create curated timeline feeds by list
5. Add privacy settings for lists

Optimizing Performance

Step 32: Implement Caching Strategy

1. Configure list loading limits (20-30 items)
2. Enable progressive loading for all feeds
3. Optimize image sizes using URL parameters
4. Store calculated counts as properties

Step 33: Database Optimization

1. Avoid lists within lists for better performance
2. Use actions to maintain count properties
3. Implement efficient filtering strategies
4. Regular cleanup of inactive records

Step 34: UI/UX Improvements

1. Add loading states for all actions
2. Implement error handling and retry logic
3. Add empty states for timelines
4. Optimize for different screen sizes

Performance optimization tips

Working with Platform Limitations

Step 35: Handle Missing Features

Cannot Implement Natively:

• True real-time (websocket) message/list subscriptions
• In-app, socket-driven live notifications (push is supported; no server-pushed in-app toasts) 
• Live streaming (on-demand video playback is supported; live is not)
• Built-in scheduled background jobs / automatic record expiration (no native cron)
• Advanced recommendation/trending algorithms at scale (requires external services)

Available Workarounds:

• Use Auto-refresh on lists for near real-time updates 
• Implement basic trending via usage counts
• External automation via Zapier / Make for advanced features
• Install components from the Marketplace

Step 36: Scale Considerations

1. For larger datasets, use External Collections to read/write via your API; on Team+, use the Collections API for server-side access.  
2. Optimize performance with list limits, Load items as user scrolls, and pre-computed counts.  
3. Use a hybrid approach: store metadata in Adalo; host large media externally and bind direct file URLs to components.  
4. Add moderation tools (Reports/Blocks) and an Admin screen to review flagged content.

Testing and Quality Assurance

Step 37: Comprehensive Testing

1. Create multiple test accounts
2. Test all user flows:
   
   • Registration and profile setup
   • Tweet posting and interactions
   • Following/unfollowing mechanics
   • Search and discovery features
3. Test across iOS, Android, and web platforms
4. Verify notification delivery

Step 38: Performance Testing

1. Test with large amounts of sample data
2. Verify loading speeds on different devices
3. Check memory usage and app stability
4. Test on slow or unreliable networks; ensure graceful error states (Adalo apps are online-connected; no offline sync)

Step 39: Content Moderation Setup

1. Implement reporting system
2. Add user blocking functionality
3. Create admin moderation interface
4. Set up content filtering rules

Launch Preparation

Step 40: App Store Optimization

1. Upgrade to a paid plan — Starter supports publishing (monthly $45; lower on annual)
2. Configure app store metadata
3. Create compelling screenshots
4. Write engaging app descriptions
5. Set up analytics tracking via Mixpanel

Step 41: Legal Requirements

1. Create comprehensive privacy policy
2. Add terms of service
3. Implement GDPR compliance features
4. Set up user data export/deletion
5. Configure age verification systems

Step 42: Marketing Integration

1. Add social sharing capabilities
2. Implement referral systems
3. Set up email marketing integration
4. Create onboarding tutorial screens
5. Add feedback collection system

Additional Resources

• Adalo App Academy
• Component Documentation
• Social Media Template
• YouTube Tutorials
• Custom Actions Guide

Important Considerations

Cost Breakdown:

• Starter — $45/mo (includes publishing)
• Professional — $65/mo (adds Custom Actions & External Collections)
• Team — $200/mo (adds Collections API, higher limits, collaborators)
• Business — $250/mo (highest limits) 

Annual prices are lower; see pricing

Marketplace Components:

Some components are free; others are paid — pricing varies per listing in the Marketplace. Here are some popular ones:

• Social Share Kit: $29 (external sharing)
• Advanced Search: $39 (enhanced search capabilities)
• User Verification: $19 (verified badges system)
• Analytics Dashboard: $49 (usage tracking)

Performance Tips:

Use list limits (≈20–30), enable progressive loading, keep list items light, pre-compute counts, and optimize thumbnails.

Note: This Twitter/X clone will deliver core social media functionality with professional polish. While certain advanced features require workarounds, the result provides a solid foundation for social networking apps that can validate concepts and serve growing communities within Adalo's optimal performance range.

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