With the explosion of social media, networking, and bookmarking services, there are a zillion ways to add “Share This Post” functionality to your WordPress-powered sites. In addition to the myriad services and plugins, we can also add these links directly, using nothing more than a little markup and a few choice PHP snippets. Such individual links provide full control over the selection, layout, and styling of each link without requiring the installation of yet another WordPress plugin.
This article shares SEO-friendly code snippets for ten of the most popular social media sites using completely valid XHMTL-Strict markup. All of the following code snippets feature:
Duetopopulardemand, I am proud to announce the release of a new widgetized version of the free AddMySite (AMS) plugin for WordPress. The new version (0.88) is compatible with all versions of WordPress (including all WP 2.3+), and is easily integrated into any widget-capable area (e.g., sidebars, footers, etc.) of any widget-friendly WordPress theme. Simply activate, drag & drop into place, and enjoy! Once the widget has been activated, AMS enables site visitors to easily and quickly add your site or feed to as many as 40 social-bookmarking and/or feed aggregation services.
By default, version 0.88 of AMS automatically uses the information specified in your WP Admin for your blog name, blog address, and feed URL. Thus, manual code editing is no longer required for the plugin to work as intended. However, if you would like to customize any of the predefined variables, simply use the nifty popup menu provided on the AMS widget icon. Everything is completely widgetized, automated, and customizable! For more information about AddMySite, or to download yourself a fresh copy, visit the official AMS information page »
For those of you still hiding your bookmarks within the dark confines of your browser’s “favorites” menu, may I suggest stepping into the “here and now” with a fresh new approach: social bookmarking. Hopefully, most of my readers are already familiar with the many wonders of managing and sharing your bookmarks online, but for those who may still be questioning the whole idea, allow me to expound briefly on several of the immediate benefits:
Universal access to your bookmarked sites
Forget about time-wasting browser extensions that fumble to synchronize your business; manage your collection online at a great site such as del.icio.us and enjoy quick access to a definitive set of bookmarks from virtually anywhere in the world.
Better organization of your bookmarks
Drop the resource-hogging browser extensions that supposedly enhance the organizational efficiency of your collection; many social bookmarking sites employ user-defined tagging architecture to provide unlimited flexibility for organizing your bookmarks.
Don’t be tight with your bookmarks
Sharing information is the wave of the future! Help others locate the information they need by sharing your favorite sites with others. Social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us provide a simple way to keep select sites private, so get over yourself and get sharing!
One-click backups of your entire collection
Last but not least is the drop-dead simple method that most social-bookmarking sites provide for backing up or exporting your entire bookmark collection. For example, with a single click, del.icio.us exports your entire collection via a nice little html file. Fresh. Delivered.
Ahh.. so much better. If you still don’t believe me, then just stop reading here and go home. However, if you are totally feeling the whole social bookmarking movement, then read on, my friend — I have a few sweet little tips that I would like to share with you..
..Or something. Frankly, I just needed an excuse to post these steaming little beauties online. Please note that I don’t lay claim 1 to most of these browser bookmarklet/favelet tricks, but I do find them extremely useful. They are posted here for the sake of convenience and for reference purposes, so use at your own risk (i.e., I am not responsible if they crash your browser). Although I use most of these bad boys with Firefox, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if they also functioned properly in other modern browsers. Nonetheless, along with each bookmarklet/favelet thing, I try to provide as much relevant information as possible, because sometimes you just feel like you’re from another planet. Happy head-scratching!
What are these things?
“Bookmarklets,” “Favelets,” “Browser Enhancement Things” — whatever you want to call them — help increase productivity and simplify tasks executed from within your browser window. Basically, these things are stored as bookmarks and perform some task — such as resize the browser window — when they are clicked. Hmm, perhaps I should check Wikipedia for the “Official” definition .. — nah.
How do I install them?
Installation of these lil’ miracles could not be easier. In most modern browsers, simply drag and drop the bookmarklet link onto your shortcut toolbar (Firefox, Safari, et al) or right-click and “Add to Favorites” (Internet Explorer). Pretty easy. There is a more complicated method as well. Create an empty bookmark or Favorite and copy & paste the bookmarklet source code into the URL field. Either way, these things are pretty common and you shouldn’t have too much trouble. So, without further ado..
Announcing an easy way to export and automatically format your WordPress Blogroll for import into your del.icio.us social bookmarking account!
The Export Blogroll plugin for del.icio.us simplifies the process of transferring your WordPress Blogroll to your del.icio.us account. del.icio.us now provides a way to import multiple links with a single file, however the file must emulate a specific (browser bookmark) format. The Export Blogroll plugin automatically formats your exported Blogroll content according to del.icio.us batch-upload specifications, making it super-easy to import and share your links. The Export Blogroll for del.icio.us plugin provides several export options:
After our recent WordPress-2.1 blogroll debacle, we concluded that the WordPress Links Manager (aka the Blogroll) is no longer a viable, long-term solution for managing bookmark collections containing large numbers of links. A far better solution, in the eyes of many savvy web users, is the free social bookmarking service del.icio.us. Using del.icio.us for over a year now, we have found it to be highly flexible, always reliable, and infinitely extensible. Plus, as a social bookmark service, everyone benefits from everyone and quality resources are much easier to find. The dec.isio.n to switching from the Blogroll to del.icio.us is, in our opinion, a no-brainer.
Here at Perishable Press, we like to stay current by running the latest version of WordPress. The site launched in 2005 with WordPress 1.5 (Strayhorn), eventually made the jump to version 2.0 (Duke), recently stepped up to 2.0.1 (Still Duke), and currently enjoys 2.0.5 (Ronan). Although each of these upgrades have required various file edits, plugin tweaks, and theme modifications, the process is always educational and remains an important aspect of this site. Much of our content revolves around using and customizing WordPress, and so staying current with new versions is critical if we are to continue operating as a relevant, contemporary resource.
Needless to say, with the release of WordPress 2.1 (Ella) in January of 2007, we were excited about upgrading. In fact, we were so enthusiastic about diving into ‘Ella’ that we went ahead and upgraded only hours after its release (mistake #1). I recall thinking something to the effect of “..every other WordPress upgrade has gone so well..” and, after skimming over the list of changes, “Wow, look at all that WordPress goodness — surely this will be a fantastic upgrade!” (mistake #2). As if that weren’t enough, by not waiting a few days before jumping aboard, it was impossible to follow the sage advice of “Google first, upgrade second” (mistake #3).
The AddMySite (AMS) plugin for WordPress makes it easy for your visitors to add your site to all of their favorite social-bookmarking services. With a few clicks, users may easily bookmark or add your site to any number of popular social bookmarking services, which are concisely presented via drop-down menu or as a customizable list. One file. Simple installation. Easy to use. Clean output and XHTML strict.
New! — Widgetized AMS version 0.88 now available! The new widgetized version of AddMySite makes it easier than ever to add your site and feed to 40 sites! AMS version 0.88 features 25 social-bookmarking sites to which visitors may add your site. Even better, the new version of AMS also enables visitors to add your site’s syndicated feed to 15 feed-related/aggregator sites. That’s 40 ways to expand your online empire!
Super-easy installation instructions
Upload plugin to plugins directory and activate.
Drag and drop the AMS widget into your sidebar.
Enjoy! ;)
Demonstration
To see AddMySite (AMS) in action, look here (located near the middle of the page).
Thanks to some valuable feedback, several inconsistencies were discovered in our Category LiveBookmarks plugin for WordPress. If you are using CLB+ version 1.1.1, check carefully your feed links — you may discover that your feed links are being written twice in both the document head and (if applicable) the document body. Further, it was requested that the plugin produce a complete set of links for various WP page views, such as category views and archive views, rather than creating links merely for the categories of whichever post appears first in the sequence..
In addition fixing the “double-link” bug, we decided to rewrite completely the CLB+ plugin. Several functions have been consolidated and streamlined. New features providing greater flexibility and control have been added, thereby enabling users to specify where, when, and how their feed links are generated. We even posted a nice collection of RSS feed icons for users to enjoy, use, and share. Overall, the CLB+ plugin is better than ever. If you haven’t yet upgraded to 1.3.3, now is definitely the time!
CLB+ New version of Category LiveBookmarks Plus now available! CLB+ 2.3.0b enables WordPress 2.3+ users to configure and customize the ultimate set of autodetection feeds, category feeds, category links, and feed links. Features include completely rewritten, optimized code, optional category post counts, and custom RSS-icon links for all category and/or feed links. Overall, the new version is faster and more flexible than ever!
Category LiveBookmarks Plus is the easy way to provide complete “Live Bookmark” functionality and "Post Smart" feed links to your WordPress-powered website. Simply install the plugin, and users with Firefox, Opera, Navigator, or any other modern browser, will enjoy a selection of your RSS feed links at their fingertips. CLB Plus seamlessly integrates the code necessary for modern browsers to automatically detect and update any RSS feed available from the current page, enabling readers to stay current with important news and updates.
Category LiveBookmarks Plus also makes it easy to add category feed links to posts, comments, pages, or anywhere else within your site. Simply add the <? clb_plus(); ?> function to the desired location within your blog, and there enjoy a contextually relevant selection of completely customizable RSS feed links. There are also options to include RSS feed links for “all posts” and “all comments”, as well as settings to customize markup, icons, and feed links. Plus, as of version 1.7.7, there are options to configure a custom set of category links next to corresponding feed links, which may include comment counts and RSS-icon links.
With CLB+, you may customize category feeds for the various WordPress view types (e.g., category views, page views). CLB automatically omits feeds with zero posts, and also excludes subcategory feeds. Further, this plugin produces strictly valid XHTML markup.
Installation and Usage:
Unzip php file and add to wp-content/plugins directory.
Open php file and adjust any of the "CLB OPTIONS", if desired.
Add the following function call to your sidebar or any other location: <?php if (function_exists('clb_plus')) { clb_plus(); } ?>
Feed links will be added to the <head> automatically. No further action required.
Feed links will be added to the <body> wherever the function call (from step 3) is located.
Enthusiastic Firefox users enjoy the luxury of Live Bookmarks, a feature of Firefox that automatically discovers and updates RSS feeds. Web pages with available feeds are indicated by the orange feed icon located in the browser’s address bar. Clicking the feed icon presents a list of all available feeds for that particular webpage. Users then select which feeds they would like Firefox to bookmark, track, and automatically update. Very handy indeed.
Providing these Live Bookmark feeds to your readers is as easy as adding “link” tags for each feed to the head section of each webpage. Then, simply set the “type” attribute to application/atom+xml or application/rss+xml, and away you go. Not so bad, but a bit tedious, perhaps.
WordPress users typically transmit RSS feeds for both comments and posts, and frequently provide individual category feeds. Further, each feeds may be provided via a variety of formats, including RSS 0.92, RSS 2.0, and Atom. Manually adding the feed links to the header.php file works if you don’t care about context sensitivity, because the same links would appear for all pages, whether the feeds were actually available from there or not. Fortunately, there is a more sophisticated method for managing your Live Bookmark feeds…
Introducing Category LiveBookmarks, a WordPress plugin designed to simplify the process of adding complete Live Bookmark functionality to your website. Category LiveBookmarks (CLB) seamlessly generates “Live-Bookmark” feed links for each of your WordPress blog categories. It will generate feed links for all categories on your main blog page, and only relevant feeds on single-post-view pages. Also, CLB automatically omits feeds with zero posts, and excludes subcategory feeds. CLB is designed for Firefox’s Live Bookmarks and Opera’s Livemarks. Generates strictly valid XHTML markup. Tested and verified with WordPress 2.0+. Should work with WP 1.5+ as well (no guarantees).
This plugin has been adapted from ArunRocks plugin, Livemarks. Many important modifications have been made to the original, such as are summarized here.
Installation and Usage:
Unzip file, add to wp-content/plugins directory, upload, activate, and enjoy! There are also two options within the PHP file itself that you will probably want to customize: Comment feed links and blog title.
![[ ~{*}~ ]](http://perishablepress.com/press/wp-content/images/2008/misc-chunks/social-media-deco.gif)
With the explosion of social media, networking, and bookmarking services, there are a zillion ways to add “Share This Post” functionality to your WordPress-powered sites. In addition to the myriad services and plugins, we can also add these links directly, using nothing more than a little markup and a few choice PHP snippets. Such individual links provide full control over the selection, layout, and styling of each link without requiring the installation of yet another WordPress plugin.![[ Image: Fabulous Shot of Immortal's Abbath and Horgh ]](http://perishablepress.com/press/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/absolutely-fabulous.jpg)
..Or something. Frankly, I just needed an excuse to post these steaming little beauties online. Please note that I don’t lay claim ![[ Image: Export Blogroll Icon ]](http://perishablepress.com/press/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/export-blogroll.gif)
The Export Blogroll plugin for ![[ Image: del.icio.us Icon ]](http://perishablepress.com/press/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/delicious-icon.gif){kind=icon}
After our recent ![[ Image: Nightmarish Rotting Corpse Head ]](http://perishablepress.com/press/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/blogroll-nightmare.gif "Another WordPress Nightmare: Burned by the Blogroll")
Here at Perishable Press, we like to stay current by running the latest version of WordPress. The site launched in 2005 with WordPress 1.5 (Strayhorn), eventually made the jump to version 2.0 (Duke), recently stepped up to 2.0.1 (Still Duke), and currently enjoys 2.0.5 (Ronan). Although each of these upgrades have required various file edits, plugin tweaks, and theme modifications, the process is always educational and remains an important aspect of this site. Much of our content revolves around using and customizing WordPress, and so staying current with new versions is critical if we are to continue operating as a relevant, contemporary resource.