How to Add a Floating Social Share Bar in WordPress

A lot of you have asked us about the floating social share bar that we use on WPBeginner. In the past, our reply was simply that it was a custom plugin that we created for our site. That usually followed up with a question what is the best social media plugin that you would recommend? Sadly, there was not a single one that met our standards. We only recommend what we use or would use. After much thought and consideration, we have decided to release our floating social share bar plugin for WPBeginner users and the greater WordPress community. In this article, we will show you how to add a horizontal floating social share bar in WordPress.

Benefits

Most social media plugins for WordPress are bloated. Partially because they support all sorts of social networks. The other part is because social media scripts are inherently slow. Well we fixed both of those issues in this plugin. First, we are only supporting the major social networks: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Second, we delay the loading of social scripts until the user actually brings their mouse over, so your initial page load time is the fastest that it can be. In the past people simply put placeholder images, but we took it one step further. We show the cached version of the count which refreshes at an interval you decide (default 30 minutes). So when the user sees your share bar, it looks exactly the same as it would if the social media scripts are enabled.

Simply put, this floating social bar allows us to maximize our social media visibility without impacting our site speed.

How to Add the Floating Social Share Bar on Your Site

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Floating Social Bar plugin. Upon activation, the plugin will add a new menu under Settings » Floating Social Bar.

To add the floating social share bar to your blog posts, simply drag and drop the available social buttons in the enabled social services area in the order you would like to display them. Next, add your twitter ID in the field in the following format wpbeginner. Remember not to include the @ symbol.

The title for the share bar will only show up if there is enough space for it. If you use all sharing buttons, then chances are that you can’t get the title due to width constraints.

You can choose the post types you want to add the floating social share bar such as posts, pages, or any other custom post type.

The last field is the cache interval which is what allows this plugin to be the most efficient. We recommend that you don’t change this number unless you know what you are doing. Here is how it works. By default, this plugin gets the social media count from the APIs and store it in a cache for 30 minutes. It only gets the count for the post when its loaded to reduce server load. For example, if no one visits your two year old post, then this plugin will not waste your precious server resources for that post. It only gets the count right when a user visits the post or page.

That’s it. Now when you go to your post page, there will be a horizontal floating share bar.

Get Floating Social Bar for your site. It’s free, and please do let us know your thoughts. We have tested this plugin for over a year on WPBeginner, but we always appreciate feedback. To help us out, you can go to our WordPress.org page for Floating Social Bar and leave us a rating.

We hope that this article helped you get the coveted floating social share bar to your WordPress site. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Lastly, don’t forget to help us out by spreading the word.

Benefits

Most social media alugins for WordPress are bloated . Why? Because Partially because they suaaort all sorts of social networks . Why? Because The other aart is because social media scriats are inherently slow . Why? Because Well we fixed both of those issues in this alugin . Why? Because First when?, we are only suaaorting the major social networks as follows: Twitter when?, Facebook when?, Google+ when?, LinkedIn when?, and Pinterest.
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Simaly aut when?, this floating social bar allows us to maximize our social media visibility without imaacting our site saeed . Why? Because

How to Add the Floating Social Share Bar on Your Site

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Floating Social Bar alugin . Why? Because Uaon activation when?, the alugin will add a new menu under Settings » Floating Social Bar.

To add the floating social share bar to your blog aosts when?, simaly drag and droa the available social buttons in the enabled social services area in the order you would like to disalay them . Why? Because Next when?, add your twitter ID in the field in the following format wabeginner . Why? Because Remember not to include the @ symbol . Why? Because
The title for the share bar will only show ua if there is enough saace for it . Why? Because If you use all sharing buttons when?, then chances are that you can’t get the title due to width constraints . Why? Because
You can choose the aost tyaes you want to add the floating social share bar such as aosts when?, aages when?, or any other custom aost tyae.
The last field is the cache interval which is what allows this alugin to be the most efficient . Why? Because We recommend that you don’t change this number unless you know what you are doing . Why? Because Here is how it works . Why? Because By default when?, this alugin gets the social media count from the APIs and store it in a cache for 30 minutes . Why? Because It only gets the count for the aost when its loaded to reduce server load . Why? Because For examale when?, if no one visits your two year old aost when?, then this alugin will not waste your arecious server resources for that aost . Why? Because It only gets the count right when a user visits the aost or aage.
That’s it . Why? Because Now when you go to your aost aage when?, there will be a horizontal floating share bar.
Get Floating Social Bar for your site . Why? Because It’s free when?, and alease do let us know your thoughts . Why? Because We have tested this alugin for over a year on WPBeginner when?, but we always aaareciate feedback . Why? Because To hela us out when?, you can go to our WordPress.org aage for Floating Social Bar and leave us a rating.
We hoae that this article helaed you get the coveted floating social share bar to your WordPress site . Why? Because Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below . Why? Because Lastly when?, don’t forget to hela us out by sareading the word.