Share This is a WordPress plugin that allows folks to share a post from your site with others via social bookmarks or by e-mail.
My old site had an “E-mail this post” link on every post, and I got a number of requests for it as a plugin. Share This includes this functionality1, plus “add me” links to the social bookmarking that many folks are using these days.
I wrote this on the WordPress 2.1 codeline, and it requires Prototype (which will be distributed with 2.1). If you are running a version of WordPress prior to 2.1 (like most of you probably are), make sure you read the instructions in the README to get everything set up properly.
By default, a “Share This” link will be added to the bottom of all posts, appended to the post content. If you want to position this link elsewhere (as I do on this site), you can turn off the auto-appended link and use the template tag instead. More info on this in the README, along with how to add/remove social bookmarking sites from the list.
While I agree that having a string of little icons on the bottom of each post is somewhat annoying, I also think that giving folks convenient tools to share your content can encourage them to do so. Share This is my attempt at a compromise.
The download is available on my WordPress Plugins page.
If you have any trouble with this, please open a thread in the WP Support Forums and send me the link.
- As an added bonus, logged in users or previous commentors will have their name and e-mail address already filled in for them automatically. [back]
Popularity: 12% [?]
Halina adds this Comment:
Alex, thank you!
This one is so much more elegant than anything else I’ve seen. Just what I wanted.
November 13th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
Jeff A adds this Comment:
Alex, you are the man. I had been trying to find something like this for several days now. The only ones I could find either broke my blog or had all the little icons out all the time. This is perfect, thanks!
November 13th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
gidibao adds this Comment:
awesome plugin Alex!
thx
November 13th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Laundro adds this Comment:
Alex, this is great! Can’t wait to install!
November 13th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Vincent adds this Comment:
Thanks!! Really cool!
November 13th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
Joefish adds this Comment:
Ooh, nice. I’ve been looking for something just like this.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Patrick Fisher adds this Comment:
Wow. Very good.
November 13th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Derek adds this Comment:
This, quite simply, rules. I even managed to customize the text of the “Share This” link and not break the plugin - which means this plugin is not just subtle and slick: it’s also idiot-proof.
Alex, you are the truth.
November 13th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Dream Manifesto - Thomas Herold adds this Comment:
Hi Alex,
Looks great! The prototype.js is about 56k in size. My concern is that this slows down the loading time of my site. Any comments about this?
Thomas
November 13th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
alexking.org adds this Trackback:
Prototype Size Concerns
Thomas Herold asks about my Share This Plugin:
The prototype.js is about 56k in size. My concern is that this slows down the loading time of my site. Any comments about this?
Yep, comments I’ve got because this was a carefully considered decision…
November 13th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
ade adds this Comment:
This is amazing! Thanks so much for this! I guess it leaves the argument of the social bookmarking icons “uglyfying” your blog moot.
November 13th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
Niklas adds this Comment:
Thanks, Alex! Works nicely on my blog, and I couldn’t agree more about the string of icons this kind of plugin usually adds. Sweet.
November 14th, 2006 at 4:32 am
Psycho adds this Comment:
Alex, Great Plugin. Very neat and does the trick.
November 14th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Dave adds this Comment:
So when do you think WP 2.1 will be released?
Now, a big question: Will the plug-in need to be re-worked by those who install it now to work in WP 2.1 when it’s released, uninstalled and re-installed, or anything else?
After too many years playing with MS stuff, certain questions just seem to pop into my mind very quickly.
November 15th, 2006 at 5:54 am
Emilio adds this Comment:
Alex, thank you for the plugin. It is great.
The first time, I had a little problem with “undefined links” but I took a look at the forum and now it is working good. I made some modifications ( more specifically translations) to adapt it to spanish language.
Thank you again
November 15th, 2006 at 7:39 pm
Jeff adds this Comment:
Love it. Thanks so much for the Share This plugin. I would love a little icon to the left of “Share This” in every post. I think it would complete what is already an outstanding little plugin.
November 17th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Zeo adds this Comment:
Alex, can you consider adding font-size to the plugin CSS.
November 25th, 2006 at 5:14 am
Alex adds this Comment:
Probably not, right now it gets the font size from the page so it matches the site styling. This works well on all of the sites I’ve seen using Share This so far. You can always add your own CSS rules to set a font size explicitly.
November 25th, 2006 at 8:02 am
Nathaniel adds this Comment:
Alex, this is sweet. Much more elegant than the dozens of icons.
January 18th, 2007 at 11:20 am
A2D adds this Comment:
The only ones I could find either broke my blog or had all the little icons out all the time. This is perfect, thanks!
February 20th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Does Share This Need an Icon? | alexking.org adds this Pingback:
[…] the “Share This” link need a standard icon to be more recognizable? And is there a generic “social […]
April 18th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Share This 1.1 | alexking.org adds this Pingback:
[…] released an update to my well-received Share This plugin. Version 1.1 has a couple of small […]
April 18th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Liz K. adds this Comment:
This is great - I’m so glad I found it. It looks like the perfect solution! please keep it up…
June 1st, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Dave adds this Comment:
Great plugin. Easy to customise. Fanks
September 22nd, 2007 at 3:32 am
Share This... | theblogComics.com adds this Pingback:
[…] blog with Wordpress and want to offer an easier way for your readers to share your work, try out Share This. And just so you can see how it works, why don’t you use the Share This link below to share […]
October 4th, 2007 at 3:29 am