Social share buttons for WordPress

The guides in this section

1. 01How to add social share buttons to WordPressAdd social share buttons to WordPress with a plugin, a block, or plain links in your theme. Placement, networks, counts and the checks to run afterwards.6 min read
2. 02Which share networks to show, and how manyHow to choose which social share buttons to display: match networks to your audience, keep the row short, and add copy link, email and messaging options.6 min read
3. 03Sticky and floating share bars: when they helpSticky share bars and floating sidebars keep buttons visible while readers scroll. Where to place them, when they hurt, and how to avoid layout shift.6 min read
4. 04Share buttons on mobile: layout, size and native sharingMake share buttons work on phones: tap target sizes, one-line rows, bottom bars, the native share sheet, and how to show different buttons on small screens.6 min read
5. 05Highlight to share: letting readers share selected textHighlight to share lets readers select a sentence and share it with a link back. How it works, when it helps, accessibility concerns, and a lightweight setup.6 min read
6. 06Click to tweet boxes: how to build them in WordPressBuild a click to tweet box in WordPress with a block or a simple link. Wording, the 280 character limit, how links are counted, and how to style the quote.5 min read
7. 07Follow prompts, like bars and share popupsAfter-share follow prompts, Facebook like bars and share popups: what they were, which still work, and how to ask for a follow without annoying readers.5 min read
8. 08Styling share buttons with CSSStyle WordPress share buttons with CSS: override colours and text safely, keep focus states, use one icon style, and match your theme in both modes.5 min read
9. 09Share buttons and page speedWhy some share buttons slow WordPress pages and others cost almost nothing. How to measure the impact, and what to change to keep sharing fast on every page.5 min read
10. 10Share buttons and GDPR: what needs consentWhich share buttons need consent under GDPR and ePrivacy rules, why plain share links usually do not, the two-click pattern, and privacy policy wording.6 min read
11. 11Bitly short links for share buttons: getting an access tokenHow to get a Bitly access token for your WordPress share buttons, where to paste it, why short links fail, and when you do not need short links at all.5 min read

The one rule that settles most decisions

A share button is a link that opens a network's share dialog. Everything else, including counts, popups, sticky behaviour and official widgets, is optional and has a cost in speed, privacy or maintenance. Add optional parts only when you can name what they earn.

Where to start, by situation

You have no buttons yet. Read how to add social share buttons to WordPress for the three ways to place them, then which share networks to show to settle on three to five. You have buttons and the site got slower, or your consent banner now mentions them. Go to share buttons and page speed and share buttons and GDPR; both usually end with replacing an official widget by a plain link. You publish long reads and want more shares without more scripts. Start with sticky share bars, then highlight to share and mobile share buttons, and measure each one for a month before keeping it.

How this section connects to provenance

A share carries less than most people assume. The button sends the network one address and, on some networks, a line of text. The network then fetches your page itself and builds the card from the tags in its head, so the byline, the author tags and the image are whatever your page says at that moment, and nothing the plugin adds. That is why the provenance section keeps pointing back here: a disclosure line inside the post body travels only if it is repeated in the description tag, an author name reaches the card only through authorship tags, and a label on an image survives only if the network keeps the image. If you want a share to say who made the content, put that statement where the fetch will find it; the buttons themselves carry nothing.

Reading order

The eleven guides are written to be read in the order most sites meet the decisions. The first two, adding buttons and choosing networks, cover every site. The next three, sticky and floating share bars: when they help, share buttons on mobile: layout, size and native sharing and styling share buttons with CSS, are about placement and appearance, and each includes the case for leaving the feature out. Two guides, on speed and on GDPR, are the ones to read before any widget goes live, because they are the ones that cost money to get wrong later. The last four, highlight to share: letting readers share selected text, click to tweet boxes: how to build them in WordPress, follow prompts, like bars and share popups and Bitly short links for share buttons: getting an access token, are optional features that a minority of sites need; each opens by saying who that minority is. A site that stops after the first two guides has done nothing wrong.

Questions