Share buttons
Which share networks to show, and how many
Quick answer
Show the three to five networks your readers actually use, plus copy link and email. Check your analytics referrers to see where shared traffic comes from, drop buttons nobody clicks, and resist adding every network a plugin offers: a long row lowers the chance any one button gets used.
On this page
Start from your readers, not the settings screen
Sharing plugins list dozens of networks because they can, not because you should show them. Each extra button is another choice the reader has to scan, another icon to load, and another row that wraps on a phone. The old premium network packs sold by share plugins, including the MashShare Social Networks add-on this address once sold, existed because site owners wanted everything available. Having everything available is fine; displaying everything is the mistake.
Match networks to content type
| Content | Networks that usually earn clicks | Often skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Recipes, crafts, home, travel | Pinterest, Facebook, email | |
| B2B, careers, software | LinkedIn, X, email, copy link | |
| News, commentary | Facebook, X, messaging apps, copy link | |
| Developer tutorials | Copy link, X, Reddit, Hacker News style aggregators | |
| Local business | Facebook, messaging apps, email |
Treat the table as a starting hypothesis. Your own referrer data beats any general rule. After a month, remove any button that has not been clicked.
Buttons people forget
- Copy link. A large share of sharing happens in private chats. A copy button with a clear "Link copied" confirmation serves all of them.
- Email. Still used, especially by older readers and at work. A
mailto:link costs nothing. - Messaging apps. On phones, a native share button (the Web Share API) opens the device's own share sheet, covering every messaging app the reader has installed.
Networks that went away
Share rows age. Google+ closed to consumers in 2019. Delicious stopped accepting new bookmarks years before that. Regional networks come and go. If your plugin still shows a button for a service that no longer exists, it wastes space and makes the page look abandoned. Audit the row once a year.
How many is too many
There is no universal number, but the pattern is consistent: a short row with a clear label outperforms a long row, and a long row on mobile is worse still because it wraps or scrolls. Four buttons plus copy link fits one line on almost every phone. If you need more, put the extras behind a single "More" button rather than showing them all.
Questions
How many share buttons should I show?
Three to five networks plus copy link and email is a sensible default. Remove buttons that get no clicks after a month.
Should I add a button for every network my plugin supports?
No. Supporting a network and displaying it are different decisions. Keep the rest behind a More button if you want them available.
What is the native share button?
Browsers on phones can open the device's own share sheet through the Web Share API, which covers messaging apps without separate buttons.
Hannah Voss, Editor. Checks every guide against a working WordPress install and the networks' current documentation. Last reviewed September 2026.
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