This FAQ will help you customize your ShareThis integration and get the most out of your sharing practices. Please also visit our Best Practices page and our blog post about publisher integrations.
What things can I configure with the new widget?
Publishers are able to customize the order of the social web services and link colors. Publishers may also add a Text Header to personalize the widget, as well as create custom text next to the ShareThis icon.
How do I make the ShareThis widget appear in a popup window?
This is achieved by adding “&popup=true” at the end of the ShareThis widget code. For example:
<script= “http://w.sharethis.com …&popup=true”></script>
You can also check the “Enable Popup” box in the widget configurator when you are generating your code.
How do I allow embedded objects to be visible while the ShareThis widget is loaded?
In order to allow embedded elements to be visible, the “embeds” JavaScript element must be set to true. This JavaScript element (embeds) defaults to false due to possible display problems where flash will sometimes display through the widget. If you set “embeds” to true but encounter problems with Flash, another alternative is to use the the “popup” JavaScript element where the ShareThis widget will instead display in a new popup window. This is done by adding “&embeds=true” to the end of the ShareThis widget code:
<script=”http://w.sharethis.com …&embeds=true”></script>
This may also be done in the Button Configurator. Under the button tab, check the box “Enable Embeds.”
How do I change the positioning of the ShareThis widget in relation to the ShareThis button link?
The ShareThis widget is defaulted to appear at the bottom-right of the ShareThis button link. This positioning can be changed by assigning integer values to the “offsetLeft” and “offsetTop” JavaScript Elements. The integer values assigned to these JavaScript Elements are relative to the default location of the top-left corner of the ShareThis widget. For example, for the widget to appear at the bottom-left of the ShareThis button link, assign the following values within the widget code:
<script language=”javascript” type=”text/javascript”>
//Create your sharelet with desired properties
SHARETHIS.addEntry({
title:’share’,
summary: ‘Sharing is good for the soul.’},
//Assign integer values specifying the desired positioning of the ShareThis widget
{offsetLeft: -349, offsetTop: 10});
</script>
*The width of the ShareThis button link is dependent on the font styling of the label so this example may not work for your site.
What are the options I can configure for my ShareThis button?
When you create your ShareThis button or configure your plugin, you will be given the option to customize it to fit the needs and style of your site. Here are the currently customizable options:
- The button icon — you have a choice between several button styles: static, multi-icon, share counter and more.
- Social Web sites — you can choose which default social web services will be shown on your ShareThis widget.
How do I add/remove social web sites?
Once you’ve added the button script on your site, you’ll have to modify that script to add or remove social web sites. The easiest way to do that is to generate a new button that has the options you want on our button configuration page and replace the script on your site with it. These steps will also work if you are using the ShareThis WordPress plugin. Just replace your current button code in the Options > ShareThis admin menu in WordPress.
How do I define and even automate what I want to be shared on my page?
The ShareThis button will automatically choose what to share on your web pages, but you can override those defaults if you’d like. The ShareThis API (STAPI) will help you with that task. Please browse our Developers FAQ on those APIs and which one is right for your uses.