Adding Floating Social Share Buttons to WordPress Posts

Enhancing your website’s social sharing capabilities can significantly boost your site’s visibility and traffic. In this guide, we will explore two methods to add floating social share buttons to WordPress posts: using a plugin or adding custom code. Whether you are an experienced developer or a beginner, we have got you covered.

Selecting the Best Method for You

For those who are familiar with coding and development, creating a custom plugin can be an effective solution. It allows you to choose specific social media platforms and customize the appearance and functionality of the share buttons precisely. On the other hand, if you are not comfortable with coding or prefer a simpler approach, utilizing a well-known plugin is the way to go.

Using a Plugin: The Easy Way

If you choose to use a plugin, here is a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Step-by-Step Guide: Using Social Count Plugin

Go to the Plugins section in your WordPress Dashboard. To do this, hover over the word 'Plugins' and click on 'Add New' at the top. Search for 'Social Count' Install and activate the plugin. Once the plugin is activated, it will appear on the left-hand side of your dashboard. Hover over it and click on 'Settings' near the bottom. Go into the plugin settings and configure the share buttons to your liking. You can choose the size, position, and social media platforms you want to show. To enable the floating feature, navigate to the plugin's 'Kit' section or go to 'Floating' settings. Here, you can select the floating position (e.g., right, left, top, etc.) and other customizations to fit your design.

Adding Custom Social Share Code: The Advanced Approach

If you are an experienced programmer, you might want to develop your own plugin or add custom code. Here is a basic example of how you might insert custom social share buttons using the HTML and PHP languages. Note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adapt it to your specific requirements.

Sample Custom Social Share Code

?php if ( is_single() ) : ?! Dynamic social share buttons for a post div class"social-share-buttons"    !-- Facebook Share Button --    a href"" target"_blank" rel"noopener"Share on Facebook/a    !-- Twitter Share Button --    a href"" target"_blank" rel"noopener"Tweet/a    !-- LinkedIn Share Button --    a href"" target"_blank" rel"noopener"Share on LinkedIn/a/div?php endif; ?

Note that you can customize the URL and text parameters to fit your needs. This code should be inserted into your theme's template file where you want the share buttons to appear.

Conclusion

Whether you choose to use a plugin or add custom code, adding floating social share buttons can greatly enhance user engagement and drive more traffic to your WordPress posts. Experiment with different configurations and find the ideal solution that fits your website’s unique needs.