Social is a new WordPress plugin that makes it easier for you to connect your WordPress site to other social web networks.
This thing is really cool, for a number of reasons. I’ll dive into those in a bit, but first head on over to the MailChimp blog to see the official release announcement. Over there you can see the plugin in action, pulling in Tweets and Facebook comments along with comments authenticated via Twitter and Facebook right there on the blog post.
This is the second opportunity my Crowd Favorite team and I have had to build a plugin with the great folks at MailChimp. They really care about putting out a stellar product for the WordPress community, and as a bonus we had the privilege of working directly with Aarron Walter (user experience guru at MailChimp) who designed the comment layout in Social.
Ok, so on to the juicy tech details. Social has a bunch of really awesome features that allow your WordPress site to interact with the social web more easily and completely than ever. After trying to write this up a few different ways, I’m going to try to tackle them in an O’Grady-style Q & A.
You mention a bunch of features, want to hit on a few to get this started?
Sure, in no particular order:
- Twitter and Facebook authentication for commentors
- Automatically pull in reactions on Facebook and Twitter as comments to your blog posts
- Optionally broadcast posts to Twitter and Facebook
- Per-user accounts for broadcasting
- Customizable broadcast format
- Easiest set-up of any Twitter/Facebook plugin for WordPress
- A base for other social integrations with WordPress
That is a bunch, how did this get started?
The MailChimp folks had some good ideas already when we first started talking about this, particularly around commenting. What you see today is very much what they had in mind, however they were also open to some of our suggestions, brought more of their own ideas along the way, and I think the result here is a great win for the WordPress community.
Let’s talk about the commenting bit, why is this a big deal? How does it work?
The state of blog comments has been constantly evolving with the social web. Conversations that used to happen exclusively in blog comment threads are now spread out across Twitter, Facebook and other social sites. In addition, comments have become targets for SPAM, trolls and other web undesirables.
Social addresses this in two ways:
- Searching Twitter and Facebook for reactions to your post, and importing those as comments on the post. This helps keep the conversation available right at the source, even if it happens elsewhere.
- By offering authentication through Twitter and Facebook, you can force commentors to attach an online identity to their words. Folks seem to be a bit more civil when they can’t be anonymous.
Aren’t there services that pull in social web reactions already?
Definitely, but Social is pretty smart about this. It searches for responses (and retweets) to your broadcasts, and also looks for mentions by URL on Twitter. It does it all on your own site, creating comments that you are in control of.
You mention that Social supports broadcasting, there are lots of plugins that do this already. How is this different?
There are a lot of plugins that do this, but Social does it in a really elegant way. I wrote Twitter Tools, one of the more popular plugins that broadcasts to Twitter. In talking with MailChimp about the feature set for Social, I outlined a bunch of enhancements that I wanted to make in the next version of Twitter Tools. Since Social needed to support broadcasting, we took all of the things I wanted to add to and improve on in Twitter Tools and instead put them right into Social.
Social has per-author broadcasting accounts. You can still authenticate sitewide Twitter and Facebook accounts that can be broadcast to by any author. And additionally each author can also authenticate their own accounts that only they can broadcast to.
A great example of this is the MailChimp blog. Social could be configured so that any author posting there can send tweets to the @mailchimp account, while Aarron can also connect his @aarron account as well. Then when he posts to the blog, he can send a tweet out to either or both accounts (on a per-post basis).
We also drastically improved the flexibility of what you send out in the broadcast. Twitter Tools had a hard-coded format:
New blog post: My Post Title http://example.com/my-post-title
Social allows you to set a default format using the title, content, etc. as desired, but also gives you the chance to customize what goes out on a per-service and per-post basis. It’s really slick. You publish a post, then you’re taken to a screen that has the broadcast items ready for you to send, and you can edit them and tell them where to go.
The biggest improvement over Twitter Tools isn’t the broadcasting though, it’s the ease of set-up.
Making things easy for users is always good, but how is Social different here?
When Twitter changed a year ago to require OAuth for authentication, I said it would be a Bad Thing for users of Open Source tools like Twitter Tools. The process of creating an app sucks, I’ve botched it myself. Facebook has the same requirements.
In discussing the features we wanted to create for Social, we kept coming back to the lousy user experience of creating apps, etc. on these sites. This is where MailChimp really stepped up to make Social a great tool for the WordPress community.
We told them what all of us WordPress developers had run into with the Open Source issues around OAuth secrets, and that the only real way to solve it would be to run an app as a service that could be used by Open Source tools like WordPress plugins. And when we were done explaining the situation, they said: let’s do it.
They have created and are hosting a secure service that connects to Twitter and Facebook on your behalf. They’ve created the app so that you don’t have to. No need to copy keys around, make sure you check the right boxes on your app set-up, etc. – all you have to do is install, add your accounts with the normal web pop-up authentication, and you’re good to go.
So MailChimp is hosting this app for all of us for free?
Yep, I think I already mentioned they are awesome… indeed they are.
How is Social, to use your words, a base for other social integrations with WordPress
Social is more than the features you see on the outside. On the inside, it is a set of libraries that can connect to the social web (via the MailChimp provided app). Other plugins can leverage this to make additional calls to these services. I previously mentioned that Social out-shines Twitter Tools for broadcasting, and it does. But Social doesn’t include the Tweet archiving, blog post from Tweet, or recent Tweets features of Twitter Tools.
We are putting the finishing touches on a new version of Twitter Tools that will piggy-back on Social. Social will handle the account authentication and broadcasting, Twitter Tools will do the Tweet archiving, recent Tweets, blog post from Tweets, etc. – it’s going to be a huge upgrade.
Anything else you’d like to add here?
We’ve already started on some new features for the next version, and we’d love to get more feedback from the community as they use the plugin. There are already some great suggestions in the comments on the MailChimp blog post that we’ll be integrating; and we’ll try to keep an eye on the WordPress support forums too.
I think we’ll see a few more services added in the near future as well. I’ve been lobbying for one that I want to build a little integration with myself.
Fellow WordPress developers, if you’d like to extend Social please stop by and say hi at WordCamp San Francisco this weekend. I look forward to hearing your ideas and seeing how we can work together to make great things for the WordPress community.
This post is part of the project: Social. View the project timeline for more context on this post.
I think some of your post is missing.
Tried to edit over a crappy net connection at the airport, looks like that had very poor results. Thank goodness for revisions!
Alex King: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social http://dlvr.it/fry3t
Alex King: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social: Social is a new WordPress plugin that makes it easier for yo… http://bit.ly/oQeagc
#wordpress : WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social http://bit.ly/oQeagc
[planet wordpress]: Alex King: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social: Social is a new WordPress plugin that ma… http://bit.ly/oQeagc
@alexkingorg Hey! New site looks good, King.
@alexkingorg The new site is WAY easier to read. Also, when did you get bought by Facebook?
Alex King: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social – Social is a new WordPress plugin that makes it easier for you t… http://ow.ly/1ecFAu
[…] para WordPress que integra Facebook y Twitter en tu blog de varias formas y del que estoy leyendo maravillas últimamente en mis feeds.El plugin ofrece las siguientes funcionalidades:Convierte […]
WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social http://t.co/o0yPgIH
RT @alexkingorg: Social is a WordPress plugin that makes it easier to connect WordPress to other social web networks… http://alexking. …
Thanks a lot! just what I need. But: are there any plans to localize the plugin to other languages? Would any help be needed for that?
@alexkingorg WOW, social is amazing, thnx so much. Seen heello twitter clone yet? not sure if api avail but would be nice addon someday
is it great?
Looking forward to taking this for a spin. Judging by the comment box I am filling out now to leave this… Looks elegant so far….
WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social – alexking.org: http://bit.ly/oQeagc
[…] plugin Social (description détaillée) est une piste intéressante pour les interactions avec Facebook et […]
You must have heard that question over and over, but I have to ask. Are you guys thinking about implementing G+ as well?
Step one in supporting Google+ will be Google+ officially releasing an API,.
that’s great!
@FlowFXx Social is internationalized using standard WordPress functions (I think/hope we caught all the strings), so any help creating localizations would be great.
What about it working with WP network sites?
Does this plugin effectively replace Twitter Tools?
From above:
@alexkingorg wow! if social does what you say it does it’ll be a killer plugin for me! just what i need atm.
El plugin "Social" funcionando recopilando las menciones de tus posts http://bit.ly/oKcvHc – Más info: http://bit.ly/n2qglx
RT: @bebetinho: RT @ebe: "Social", nuevo plugin WP integra en tu blog menciones en RRSS. Por @alexkingorg http://bit.ly/n2qglx
RT @ebe: "Social", nuevo plugin de WP que integra en tu blog las menciones de tus posts en redes. Por @alexkingorg http://bit.ly/n2qglx
is there a dark theme for this? I have a black background on my website: http://www.coloredlion.com
«Social» es nuevo plugin de WP que integra en tu blog las menciones de tus posts en redes. Por @alexkingorg http://t.co/7sK8oYK
RT @jlantunez: El otro día hablé de integrar en tu blog las menciones de tu post en redes. Ayer sacaron plugin: Social http://bit.ly/n2qglx
Muy útil lo de complementar los comentarios a un post en WP con las menciones en Twitter y Facebook… http://t.co/yjX1hSf vía @jlantunez
Muy útil lo de complementar los comentarios a un post en WP con las menciones en Twitter y Facebook http://t.co/yjX1hSf vía @jlantunez
WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social : http://t.co/P5q5tDl
[…] behind Social, has addressed a lot of the technical details and the roadmap for the plugin over on his blog.Download Social for WordPress 82 Comments […]
Je suis un peu revenu des plug-ins #Wordpress qui partagent sur Facebook ou Twitter, mais Social a l’air vachement bien: http://j.mp/n2qglx
@Alex yes. it seems to be a problem in my wordpress installation. i’ll come back to you in case i find a localization problem with the plugin.
"Social", nuevo #plugin de #WP que integra en tu blog las menciones de tus posts en redes. Por @alexkingorg http://t.co/qAVAzij via @ebe
Alex King: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social http://t.co/AlisPm2 #wordpress
Ok, "Social" already installed in my site. Looks like a great WordPress plug-in: http://j.mp/n2qglx
WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social – alexking.org http://t.co/hZEUjJo #wordpress #wp
masih kurang jelas ? baca di http://t.co/G1dLA8Z
Social WordPress plugin: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social http://t.co/vBfie7D
Super social new WordPress commenting plugin: comments + Twitter + Facebook = Social. By @alexking for @mailchimp http://t.co/tQRZeNq
is nice and helps to develop the site, but the uniqueness of the text in krossposting is zero
It’s been very interesting to see the “real world data” interaction and how it plays out in the comments. I think we definitely need to tweak the presentation of re-tweets; too much noise there.
Hello and thank you for that wonderful plugin! I was waiting for that kind of plugin for along time, tested several other but no satisfaction. This one is a gem, although in its initial version. Crowd Favorite + Mailchimp is a glorious combination!
I wonder if there will be something like official community forum for that plugin. I need to discuss issues with translation and comment from behavior…
Please use the support forums on WordPress.org: http://wordpress.org/support/
[…] WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social : alexking.org. This entry was posted in WordPress. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: […]
Another terrific #wordpress plugin from @CrowdFavorite and Mail Chimp: Social: http://t.co/f2gpW2B
How does this play with IntenseDebate? or maybe not at all?
Intense Debate and Disqus are comment replacement systems. This is an enhancement to your built-in WordPress comments.
What happens to the previous comments to the blog? Do they get imported and styled?
Nothing “happens” to them, they just show like normal.
Great article? Alex King: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social http://t.co/6koOGhm
Field Research? Alex King: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social http://t.co/MdHSq4j
You mention that nothing “happens” to the normal WordPress comments, so I’m guessing that the normal WordPress comments made whilst it is installed appear as normal if I uninstall the plugin.
Gotta say it looks great and I am seriously considering using it at http://www.ilovetrancemusic.com to see if it gets the conversation going as I was toying with using one of the other social comment plugins, but this seems to hit the nail on the head.
Installed and tested…gotta say they have done a great job. Works nicely so far 😀
[…] CreativeCG has the plugin running and it’s been quite successful so far. Recent version release of 1.0.1 has introduced some fixes to allow the aggregation cron job to run on more server setups. For more technical details on the plugin head over to the website of Alex King of Crowd Favorite, the development mastermind behind Social, and check out his blog post on the plugin. […]
I’m getting some “wonky” results when trying to activate with the P2 theme. First, the social sign-ins don’t pop up when on the main page and hitting reply inline. Second, on the page for each post, the formatting seems to be a bit off with the text boxes. I will play around with it a bit later, but just wondering if you have had similar issues with this theme?
P2 does a lot of things a bit differently, please submit a patch if you find things that could be done differently to increase compatibility with that theme. We’ll have the code on GitHub shortly so you will be able to make a pull request there: https://github.com/crowdfavorite/wp-social
[…] : alexking.org, Crowd Favorite & […]
Is it possible to call the broadcast function from outside the plugin? I post to my blog using the postie plugin (post by email alternative).. And the broadcasts are not being sent out when posting using the postie plugin. Is there a function I can call from within the postie plugin to send out the broadcasts. postie uses wp_insert_post.
Yes, under “Advanced Options” select the accounts to broadcast to – currently titled XML-RPC, e-mail, etc. We should probably re-label this feature.
I have that selected already, but it wouldn’t broadcast. I see that you guys are looking for some meta data in the broadcast function and I also see a custom field called social_notify. Do I need to set up any of these for the broadcast function to work on wp_insert_post?
I was really excited about this plugin and tried installing it on my blog, but the tabs didn’t appear on my comments form (Tarski theme). In the FAQ’s it said that this problem is usually because your theme doesn’t have the in its footer.php file, but this is not the case for me. I checked the social plugin page on the wordpress.org support forum, where there were a good handful of support requests — not one of which had been responded to by anyone from MailChimp or Crowd Favorite. Very discouraging.
That forum search URL includes a number of threads that are not related to this plugin. I see that MailChimp has replied to some already.
Crowd Favorite does not provide support for this plugin, however we do provide paid consulting services and would be happy to work with you or refer you to another consultant if needed.
That forum search URL is the one that is linked from the “See what others are saying” menu in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory, so I figured it was the right one. In any case, thanks for your reply, and your replies in the support forum – I’ll post my issues there.
Whoops – I figured it out: I had another plugin running (Socialize This) that also connects to Twitter and Facebook via oAuth(?), and it was conflicting with Social. Guess I have to decide which functionality is more important to me… in any case. I’ll look forward to that “base for future social integrations with WordPress” being built upon.
[…] Alex King: WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social […]
Great work Alex and team. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds for a great plugin.
[…] WordPress + Twitter + Facebook = Social. Alex King […]
[…] Plugin-Beschreibung des Social Plugin-Autors Alex King (auf dem Blog kannst du dir außerdem eine schöne Designanpassung des Plugins […]
Is there a way to automatically turn tweets into blog posts for my WordPress blog?…
Alex King’s Twitter Tools plugin allows you to automatically import tweets as either individual posts or daily/weekly digests. I’m not sure it can use a custom post type as-is, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to modify. (I’ve modified my installa…
nice plugin
So, the reactions pulled from twitter and facebook will be stored at the local wordpress database?
They are brought in as comments, as you can see here with the tweets and retweets.
Thanks! Any plans to include google+?
Yes, when their API is ready:
https://github.com/crowdfavorite/wp-social/issues/9
Hey there,
I am really interested in using this plugin for my blog. Is there a way to connect custom bit.ly urls to the broadcasting?
You are cordially invited to read the README, which explicitly covers this.
I really like how this plugin is set up, and I thank you for it. One question, though — what’s the easiest way to integrate Facebook previews/thumbnails when broadcasting my post? I do a number of comics/other art in my posts and would love to be able to broadcast without having to go use another process to keep the thumbnails intact.
Thanks!
Set the image as the Featured Image for the post, and it will be sent with the broadcast to Facebook.
Thanks so much 😀
nice man… thabks
thanx I will give it a try
Hi Alex, We just plugged Social into our company blog (blog.cleartrip.com) . Firstly, I’d like to really thank you for building such a great plugin. We wrote about how it was the perfect solution to the problem we wanted to solve: http://blog.cleartri[...]-now-social/
We’ve monitoring the behaviour and testing it quite thoroughly over the past few days. It works great with Twitter no complains at all.
With Facebook, I wanted to check if it’s just us or you are still working through ironing out some of the issues
– When we broadcast to Facebook, It just gets plugged is single thread update vs a content block (with a thumbnail, post title & excerpt)
– We are not able to pick up shares by others on facebook. Only likes & comments to shares that happened through a broadcast comes back to our blog.
It will be great if you could respond to these 2 queries.
Thanks once again.
Social is developed in the open on GitHub. This includes the features, bugs and milestones for upcoming releases. That’s the best place to answer these questions.
I love your plugin! Is there any way to disable the commenting feature? I only need the broadcast ability for my blog posts. I want to leave the commenting as the default…
Pull latest from GitHub.
great plugin, thanks for sharing!
What about mobile ??! – I’m evaluating various commenting options for my blog and I’m shocked that the word ‘mobile’ does not even appear on this page (neither the post nor the comments)
As much as I love this plugin lack of mobile support is a dealbreaker.
Why doesn’t this work in mobile?
Strange question, I know. But is there a way to remove the active link and the domain from which the post came from when it posts to Facebook? IN other words, some of my posts would act solely as Facebook status updates and I don’t want the link back to the original post or domain — my users would just see the same thing they just saw on Facebook in the first place.
That’s what I do.
Hey Alex, then do you know how I can alter the FB code to not include the title link and the domain — I just want to post the body content. Ideas?
“alter the FB code”? My god man, we’re not savages. There is a setting for this – choose the format you want. If that’s not enough, go custom:
https://gist.github.com/1145805