Widgets are one of the easiest solutions to bloggers who don’t have an extensive background adding codes or following API packages from Twitter and Facebook. It has recently been brought to my attention that as WordPress is updated, some of our favorite widgets fall behind. A particular element that bloggers rely on to get their content and word out there are known as the share widgets. In the past I made it clear that you only need one set of share widgets, but if your widget fails that defeats its purpose. This list will continue to grow as they are tested. If you have a particular widget you enjoy using, feel free to let me know in the comments so that I may test it. Note: The more widgets and plugins you have, the slower your site will be. Limit to essentials.
Several areas of concern are raised that may require you to have more than one share widget, but does not necessarily mean you need to display more than one. The issues in particular are:
- No share widget does everything you need.
- The widget doesn’t allow you to customize meta text or add your Twitter name.
- It doesn’t function well.
- It’s to large or does not format against text.
- It doesn’t create hovercards.
- It just looks ugly.
- Slows down my site.
The following is a collection of share widgets that have been tested on a WordPress domain running version 3.0.5, and appear to be suitable options:
Twitter @Anywhere Plus
This is one of the best Twitter share widgets around, however as noted it’s only used for Twitter. Setting up the widget may also be slightly more challenging to those who have not yet created a twitter application (How-to video). This application will allow you to place @thejournalizer into almost any theme and a hovercard appears, no linking needed. You can also add a simple retweet button that allows you to customize the text that appears in the tweet. [Plugin Page]
Add to Any
A popular widget that allows you to easily customize what share sites you think your audience would like to add your content with. This widget allows you to just plug and play, and only has a few options as to where you would like the share bar to appear. Unfortunately with this widget you can’t customize text, and if you want to redesign it you need CSS experience. [Plugin Page]
SexyBookmarks
This is by far the easiest plugin that incorporates almost every social site around. It doesn’t slow down page load time, it looks fantastic and it’s customizable. The only thing this plugin does not have are the hovercards when you insert a twitter username. Using this and Twitter Anywhere makes a mean combination. It’s not intrusive, and works well. [Plugin Page]
ShareBar
If you have been to Mashable, Sharebar is probably something you have seen before. This particular widget is highly customizable, it remains on screen, and is generally an effective tool. There are a few negative issues though, the largest concern is the added time it takes to load a page that displays the ShareBar. Another issue is that there is a small amount of available default options, and it takes some technical know-how to add more. This is becoming the most common widget on blogs [Plugin Page]
Social Slider
Social Slider works a lot like ShareBar, but it’s slightly less stressful on your page load times. It has all of the same tools included in ShareBar, and it has a few dozen more social options by default. The icons are also a lot smaller, which means they are less invasive. [Plugin Page]
Don’t use these:
Wibiya Toolbar
The Wibiya toolbar is everything that is wrong with social share widgets. It drags page load times, you have to login to the wibiya site just to alter anything on the bar, by default it appears on the bottom of the page, and it often gets negative comments from users. While this may look cool, keep in mind that sites need to be designed with the user in mind, and keeping fast load times.
Share This
Adds a basic set of share buttons, and provides no customization at all. Avoid this one as well.
