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Share buttons with counts for main page URL in sidebar widget

  1. s0upy
    Member

    Without the ability to add javascript to a text widget, I am finding it impossible to add share buttons into my sidebar which allow sharing of my main page URL (http://undividedblog.wordpress.com/) to Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

    After a few hours of work, I've managed to get a Tweet button with a count into my sidebar, but unfortunately this share and counts only the current page/post URL, not the main page URL as desired. How can I get a Tweet button in my sidebar which always tweets my main page URL no matter which post/page I am on?

    I have also managed to create Facebook share and Google+ share buttons using HTML only code. The are not ideal since, although they always share the main page URL as desired, they don't display counts, and they also pop up in a new tab in my browser rather than following the standard behaviour of the standard Facebook and Google+ buttons. How can I get standard Facebook and Google+ buttons in my sidebar, both of which share only the main page URL no matter which post/page I'm on?

    Thanks for you time.
    Blog url: http://undividedblog.wordpress.com/

  2. pcrumm
    Staff

    Hey there,

    You'll want to add the appropriate share functionality via text widget to your blog. The share options you choose will have to be Javascript-free; fortunately, most of the large social media providers have the functionality you're after in a Javascript-less package.

    Here's some widgets I suggest:

  3. s0upy
    Member

    Hi. Thanks for your pointers.

    Unfortunately, though, this doesn't solve my problem at all.

    There are two problems with widget you suggest for the Facebook button:
    1) It is a 'Like' button; whereas I need to put a 'Share' button on my main page so people can actually share the main page URL rather than just liking it. This would give it a lot higher profile on their wall, including an image and snippet of post text rather than just a single line saying they like it. I already have a 'Like' button installed via the 'Facebook Like Box' widget, but I need a 'Share' button too.
    2) When I obtain the iframe code you suggest, paste it into a text widget and click 'Save', it clears all the code, which means it looks like WordPress doesn't allow iframe code in widgets anyway.

    And there are two problems with widget you suggest for the Twitter button:
    3) It is a 'Follow' button; whereas I need to put a 'Tweet' button on my main page so people can actually share the main page URL rather than just following me on Twitter.
    4) The same as 2) above: it looks like WordPress doesn't allow iframe code in widgets anyway.

    It is a big shame that the +1 button for sharing the main page URL is not supported by WordPress at all.

    It's also a big shame that the 'Tweet' and 'Facebook Share' buttons for sharing the main page URL are not supported by WordPress (by the looks of it). Is that true?

    (If so, I would suggest that three new short codes are needed for the text widget: Tweet, Share and +1. Since this is a really basic social networking need, it should be standard functionality.)

  4. raincoaster
    Member

    WordPress.com indeed doesnt' allow iframes anywhere.

  5. s0upy
    Member

    Two questions then:

    Is there any way to do what I'm trying to do?

    How can I formally request/suggest this functionality?

  6. raincoaster
    Member

    It's easy if you don't want the counts too. Counts for main page social media shares tend to be depressingly low anyway.

    You can try adapting something from here, but I'm not sure it will work: http://ryanmarkel.com/2010/08/26/adding-a-custom-sharing-service-to-wordpress-com/

  7. s0upy
    Member

    Thanks for the link but it looks like stuff for adding share buttons to the bottom of posts, not into widgets. Cheers anyway.

    Is there a way to formally request/suggest this functionality?

  8. raincoaster
    Member

    Not as far as I know.

  9. pcrumm
    Staff

    Hey there,

    I've gone ahead and logged your suggestion in the appropriate location. Thanks for the idea!

    Best,
    P.

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