diff --git a/social/twitter/27-twitter.html b/social/twitter/27-twitter.html
index 94fd76c8..60276c84 100644
--- a/social/twitter/27-twitter.html
+++ b/social/twitter/27-twitter.html
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@
         <li>all tweets by specific users</li>
         <li>direct messages received by the authenticated user</li>
     </ul></p>
-    <p>Use space for <i>and</i> and comma , for <i>or</i> when searching for multiple terms.</p>
+    <p>Use space for <i>and</i> and comma , for <i>or</i> when searching for multiple terms.  If you want to pass in the term(s) via the <code>msg.payload</code>, leave the field blank.</p>
     <p>Sets the <code>msg.topic</code> to <i>tweets/</i> and then appends the senders screen name.</p>
     <p>Sets <code>msg.location</code> to the tweeters location if known.</p>
     <p>Sets <code>msg.tweet</code> to the full tweet object as documented by <a href="https://dev.twitter.com/overview/api/tweets">Twitter</a>.
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@
         color:"#C0DEED",
         defaults: {
             twitter: {type:"twitter-credentials",required:true},
-            tags: {value:"",validate:function(v) { return this.user == "dm" || v.length > 0;}},
+            tags: {value:""},
             user: {value:"false",required:true},
             name: {value:""},
             topic: {value:"tweets"}
@@ -184,6 +184,16 @@
 
             });
             $("#node-input-user").change();
+        },
+        oneditsave: function() {
+            if ($('#node-input-tags').val() == '' && $("#node-input-user option:selected").val() != 'dm'
+            && $("#node-input-user option:selected").val() != 'user') {
+               this.inputs=1;
+               }
+            else {
+               //set back the default state of 0 inputs
+               this.inputs=0;
+               }
         }
     });
 </script>
diff --git a/social/twitter/27-twitter.js b/social/twitter/27-twitter.js
index f0e24e04..fd7bf221 100644
--- a/social/twitter/27-twitter.js
+++ b/social/twitter/27-twitter.js
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
                 node.poll_ids = [];
                 node.since_ids = {};
                 var users = node.tags.split(",");
+                if (users == '') node.warn("User option selected but no users specified");
                 for (var i=0;i<users.length;i++) {
                     var user = users[i].replace(" ","");
                     twit.getUserTimeline({
@@ -182,7 +183,7 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
                     },120000));
                 });
 
-            } else if (this.tags !== "") {
+            } else {
                 try {
                     var thing = 'statuses/filter';
                     if (this.user === "true") { thing = 'user'; }
@@ -235,14 +236,29 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
                             });
                         }
                     }
-                    setupStream();
+                    if (this.tags == '')
+                       {
+                       this.warn("No search term(s) specified - add to node config or pass in through msg.payload");
+                       }
+                    else setupStream();
+                    node.on("input", function(msg) {
+                       if (this.tags == '') {
+                          this.warn("Now searching for: " + msg.payload);
+                          if (this.stream) this.stream.destroy();
+                          st = { track: [msg.payload] };
+                          setupStream();
+                          node.status({fill:"green",shape:"dot",text:msg.payload});
+                       }
+                       //We shouldn't get into this state, but just incase, check for it
+                       else {
+                          this.warn("msg.payload passed in, but tag config is not blank, defaulting to tag config");
+                       }
+                       });
                 }
                 catch (err) {
                     node.error(err);
                 }
-            } else {
-                this.error(RED._("twitter.errors.invalidtag"));
-            }
+            } 
         } else {
             this.error(RED._("twitter.errors.missingcredentials"));
         }