Experiment
As most of you know I have een running the Share This plugin here on mephistos.com for some time now. There are some options about it that I really like, including the ability that it has to do some limited customization of the links that show up. However, I have more then a few social network/link share types of sites that I would like to also push it out to that it does not support. So, I decided to do a little bit of experimenting. Welcome the new plugin call AddtoAny.
The biggest limitation I see with Share This is that the number of options for it can be shared are fairly limited. And while the option there seem to serve most of my needs, the updates that have been promised on a regular basis to the different options for sharing seem to be coming very slowly (case in point, there has been update in the about three to four months that I have been using it).
So a little searching through the various options available and I came up with AddtoAny. I am really pleased with the number of options available on this plugin for different sites that it can be shared with. A casual look into it and I have the total capabilities to customize how things are shown and the order of how they are displayed through some simple settings which are easy enough to handle for anyone with minimum abilities.
They do appear to be regularly making updates and have even included the button as a toolbar option in some browsers as a java link that can simply be drug there. The more recent updates include several additiona sites and even support for sites that like wordpress.com (where you don’t typically get such options).
Probably the coolest thing though, from at least a skim on the service it seems to be implied that that the back end is open source – which is always a plus in my book. The very button of two simple hands wrapped around the dot is an open source logo for open source share.
Almost completely forgot the experiment… Before I have do any customization or remove the Share This button, I am wondering if any of you all have any comments about the functional capabilities, style, look, or anything else of the two sharing function plugins. I am especially interesting if anyone has a preference for one over the other. Leave me a comment is the sure way to get back in touch with me.
** I bet some of you have been wondering when I would get back to posting, eh? **
April 21st, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Hi Ray, Pat from AddToAny here. Thanks for checking out our Sharing widget, and for the post!
You’re right, the widget is constantly updated, and has been since early 2006. Also I’m glad that you found the customization options favorable.
Regarding button style, you chose probably the most recognizable button. The average user doesn’t yet immediately understand either of the green icons, but they understand “Share” and “Save” well. Showing Facebook, etc. icons also clue the user in as to what the button does.
If you ever have any thoughts or questions about AddToAny, feel free to get in touch.
Cheers,
Pat