In this post we will find how to add your very own wordpress social buttons without the use of any plugin. After this you will learn how to embed them in any wordpress post or sidebar. The functionality is that you download or create your very own buttons in Photoshop or gimp and I will teach you how to insert them in your theme.

This is one of the basic theme customization hacks, but it`s also a valuable one. Think of it like this, you could use any social plugin to embed the buttons in your wordpress blog. The fact is that not every plugin works or looks right in your blog depending on your blog installation and theme. So let`s get right to the point and learn how to embed the buttons.

First off, create or get the buttons

There are plenty of resources out there to help you manage, create and even download your social buttons. If you like to Photoshop your buttons then this article might help you out to create the perfect social button.

If you are the lazy tipe then you can download the social icon sets. Here is a place where you can download some nice ready made icon sets.

Now we need to code our buttons

First off, create a images folder inside your theme folder so it would look like this /public_html/wp-content/themes/images/ (presuming you have your blog installed on the root of your web space).

Next step is to copy your desired social buttons to the images folder inside your theme file. When you are ready with the images head over and create a blank html file to code our buttons. Start by pasting in these chunks of code:

For Twitter

<a href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=<?php the_title(); ?> : <?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="Tweet this!"><img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/images/twitter.png" alt="Tweet this!" /></a>

For Stumbleupon

<a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=<?php the_permalink(); ?>&amp;amp;title=<?php the_title(); ?>" title="StumbleUpon."><img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/images/stumbleupon.png" alt="StumbleUpon" /></a>

For Reedit

<a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=<?php the_permalink(); ?>&amp;amp;title=<?php the_title(); ?>" title="Vote on Reddit."><img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/images/reddit.png" alt="Reddit" /></a>

For Digg

<a href="http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&amp;amp;url=<?php the_permalink(); ?>&amp;amp;title=<?php the_title(); ?>" title="Digg this!"><img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/images/digg.png" alt="Digg This!" /></a>

For delicious

<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=<?php the_permalink(); ?>&amp;amp;title=<?php the_title(); ?>" title="Bookmark on Delicious."><img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/images/delicious.png" alt="Bookmark on Delicious" /></a>

For Facebook

<a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=<?php the_permalink();?>&amp;amp;t=<?php the_title(); ?>" title="Share on Facebook."><img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/images/facebook.png" alt="Share on Facebook" id="sharethis-last" /></a>

Note that the

<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>

tag is used to call up your theme folder without having you to type it normally. The /images/button-name.png is the location of your button image inside your theme.

Now your code is done (if you specified the buttons correctly) and ready to go inside your theme. The next thing to do is to paste the code inside your theme at a location desired by you.

I often paste the buttons code after my posts has ended (after the wordpress loop ends). Like in the image below:

You can make the same thing by opening up single.php inside your theme file and right after

<?php the_content(__('Read more &raquo;')); ?>

and the closing div paste in your button code.

And TADA, home-made social wordpress plugin that show up at the end of your every post so that users can spread the word about your articles.

The world of social networking is expanding so having a very good profile with a lot of friends can make a difference between a well read blog/website and a mediocre one. So here is how you can create a very very good social networking website based on user submitted stories completely free.

Pligg the Digg clone – Download | Demo

If you are a website developer you may have heard about Pligg (the open source Content Management System (CMS) that you can download and use for free). Pligg provides a open source social networking resource that allows people to register, set up profiles, submit stories and connect with each other. Pligg is based on open source PHP and MySQL technologies that allow it to be installed on most web hosts with no additional costs. You can download Pligg here.

Installation

Here is how you can install pligg on your web host very easy using this step by step video guide. Also you can follow up on these tips on how to install Pligg on this very nice tutorial: Pligg IIS install (basics).

Pligg Theme system

As of most CMS`s Pligg comes with a variety of templates to customize your newly installed social networking and bookmarking resource. These themes are developed by Pligg users within the Pligg community. Here is a list of the themes you can download and use on you resource, also there are more free themes on the pligg homepage.

Joontz free Pligg template

Classic Template for Pligg 1.0

Blue news 1.0

Motivate Template for Pligg 1.0

Other Pligg CMS resources

• Pligg inspirational gallery
• Pligg wiki documentation
• Pligg theme and module store

Drigg – the Drupal social networking resource – Download | Demo

Drigg is a Drupal powered module developed by Tony Mobily that allows stories to be submitted and voted by interconnecting registered users. Here are some nice Drigg features: Flexible voting, easy theme system, improved drupal compatibility, distinct code, very flexible. You can download Drigg here.

Installation

To have a fully working Drigg website you need to install drupal first, these steps are covered in the Download and Install section of the Drigg support site.

Support

You can find support about Drigg issues you encounter on the Drigg forum section. The forums provides help for installation, configuration, theming and more so be shure to check it out if you have problems.

Showcase

You can get inspired by visiting the website`s showcasing section where you can find the best Drigg powered websites on the web. Some of the websites that are Drigg powered that I use and are very popular are: DesignMoo, DesignBump and WPScoop.

PHPMotion the Youtube clone – Download | Demo

PHPMotion is the world famous YouTube clone, a free video sharing software and a free audio and picture media sharing software. Here are some of PHPMotion`s features like 100% free software, template based design, fully featured admin area, full support for mp3 audio and play lists and many more. You can download PHPMotion here.

Installation

You can follow these tips about installing PHPMotion on the website`s forum here.

Documentation

The documentation about PHPMotion is available on the official wiki pages of the website. Be sure to check them out if you have any questions about the software.

Templates

With a fully functional template design system, you can find phpmotion powered templates here. The templates are free and match any versions of the software.

Alex G. who is a web developer a student and a part time blogger from Romania. He writes about WordPress and other CMS platforms on Design Strike, a blog where you can find a lot of things about WordPress. Also you can follow him on Twitter.