--- title: "How to Add Social Sharing Buttons in WordPress?" url: https://nexterwp.com/docs/add-social-sharing-buttons-in-wordpress/ date: 2024-12-06 modified: 2026-09-27 lang: en author: "Aditya Sharma" description: "Share buttons are one of those things that look trivial and quietly go wrong — pointing at the wrong page, or showing counts that were never real. The Social Sharing..." image: https://nexterwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/How-to-Add-Social-Sharing-Buttons-in-WordPress_-1024x519.jpg word_count: 705 --- # How to Add Social Sharing Buttons in WordPress? ## Key Takeaways - Social Sharing block construye cada enlace desde la página donde se coloca, usando la dirección y el título de esa página, sin configurar una URL por página. - Nexter Blocks Pro activa Social Sharing bajo Nexter > Blocks, y con Nexter Blocks Pro desactivado el bloque no renderiza nada. - Veintidós redes tienen enlaces reales para compartir, entre ellas Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Telegram, Reddit, Pinterest, Pocket, Tumblr, VK, Weibo, Xing, Skype, Viber y email. - Instagram y YouTube no tienen dirección pública para compartir y devuelven un enlace a #; el contador total no aparece en el diseño Toggle y solo se muestra en Horizontal y Vertical. Share buttons are one of those things that look trivial and quietly go wrong — pointing at the wrong page, or showing counts that were never real. The Social Sharing block builds each button's link from the page it sits on, and gives you three layouts to place them in. [LIVE BLOCK LINK](https://nexterwp.com/nexter-blocks/blocks/wordpress-social-sharing-icons/) ## Before You Start - **Edition:** **Pro** — the Social Sharing block needs Nexter Blocks Pro.- **Block to enable:** Social Sharing, switched on under **Nexter > Blocks** in your WordPress dashboard. ## Video Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x3njQELuMk ## Steps - Add the **Social Sharing** block to your page or template. ![Adding the Social Sharing block](https://nexterwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ss-select-block.webp) - Add the networks you want in the list, choosing an icon for each. ![Choosing the networks to show](https://nexterwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ss-networks.webp) - Pick a **Layout** — Horizontal, Vertical or Toggle — and a style for it. ![Choosing the layout and style](https://nexterwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ss-layout-picker.webp) - Choose what each button shows under **View Type**: icon, text, or icon and text. - Style the buttons, then publish and click a button to check where it goes. ![Styling the share buttons](https://nexterwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ss-fe-horizontal.webp) > ***The share counts are numbers you type, not real ones.** Measured on a published page: the counter showed 9.9 K and every network showed 109 — the block's own placeholder text. Nothing is fetched from Facebook, X or anyone else, and the figures never change. Treat them as decoration, or leave them off rather than show a visitor a number that is not true.* ## How It Behaves The Social Sharing block puts share buttons on a page. It builds each button's link from the page it sits on — that page's address and title — so there is nothing to configure per page. - **Each button shares the page it is on.** Measured: the Facebook link carried that page's address and the Twitter link carried its address and title. You do not enter a URL anywhere.- **Twenty-two networks have real share links** — among them Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Telegram, Reddit, Pinterest, Pocket, Tumblr, VK, Weibo, Xing, Skype, Viber and email.- **Some networks cannot be shared to, and fail quietly.** Measured: choosing Instagram or YouTube produced a link to `#` that goes nowhere, while Facebook on the same page produced a real share URL. Those platforms have no public share-a-link address. The button still looks normal, so check any network you add actually goes somewhere — and use the block's **Custom URL** field if you need it to lead elsewhere.- **View Type does what it says** — measured, *icon* rendered no titles and *text* rendered no icons.- **Custom URL overrides the generated link.** Measured: a network given a custom address linked there instead of to a share window, and the open-in-new-tab setting was honoured. ## Limitations - **The share counts are numbers you type, not real ones.** Measured on a published page: the counter showed `9.9 K` and every network showed `109` — the block's own placeholder text. Nothing is fetched from Facebook, X or anyone else, and the figures never change. Treat them as decoration, or leave them off rather than show a visitor a number that is not true.- **Instagram and YouTube cannot be shared to** — measured, they produce a link to `#`. Neither platform offers a share-a-link address.- **The total counter is not shown in the Toggle layout** — measured, it appears only in the Horizontal and Vertical layouts.- Measured with Nexter Blocks Pro deactivated: the block renders nothing at all. ## Troubleshooting ### A button does nothing when clicked It is probably a network with no share address, such as Instagram or YouTube. Measured: those render a link to `#`. Remove them, or give them a **Custom URL**. ### The share counts never change They are not real counts. Measured: they are the text you type, shown exactly as entered. Switch the counter off if you do not want to display an invented figure. ### The button shares the wrong page Each button shares the page the block is on. If the block is in a template, it shares whichever page is being viewed — which is usually what you want. ### The counter is missing Measured: the total counter is not rendered in the Toggle layout. Switch to Horizontal or Vertical if you need it. ### Nothing renders at all Measured with Nexter Blocks Pro deactivated: the block renders nothing at all. Check Nexter Blocks Pro is active. ## Related Docs - [Add sticky social icons in WordPress](https://nexterwp.com/docs/add-sticky-social-icons-in-wordpress/)- [Add a social share toggle button in WordPress](https://nexterwp.com/docs/add-social-share-toggle-button-in-wordpress/)- [Advanced tab settings](https://nexterwp.com/docs/use-advanced-tab-in-nexter-blocks/) ## Frequently Asked Questions **Q: Why do social share counts show fake numbers in WordPress?** A: The Social Sharing block uses placeholder counts, not live data. On a published page, the counter showed 9.9 K and each network showed 109, and nothing is fetched from Facebook, X, or anyone else. That means the numbers never change, so they are best treated as decoration. If you want a cleaner result, switch the counter off instead of showing a number that looks real but is not. **Q: Why does a social sharing button open nowhere or do nothing?** A: That usually happens with networks that do not have a public share-a-link address. The page measured Instagram and YouTube as links to #, which goes nowhere. Nexter Blocks Pro still renders the button normally, so the fix is to remove that network or give it a Custom URL if you want it to lead somewhere else. **Q: How do social sharing buttons decide which page to share?** A: Each button shares the page it sits on. The block builds the link from that page’s address and title, so there is no URL field to fill in for normal sharing. In a template, that means the button follows whichever page is being viewed, which is usually what you want for posts and pages built with Nexter Blocks. **Q: Which social networks work with the Social Sharing block?** A: The block has real share links for 22 networks, including Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Telegram, Reddit, Pinterest, Pocket, Tumblr, VK, Weibo, Xing, Skype, Viber and email. Instagram and YouTube are the main exceptions called out on the page because they cannot be shared to and return # instead. **Q: What is the best layout for social share counts in WordPress?** A: Horizontal or Vertical is the better choice if you want the total counter visible. The Toggle layout hides the total counter entirely on this block. That matters because the count display is already placeholder text rather than live data, so if you keep it on at all, Horizontal or Vertical gives you more control over how much of that decoration appears. **Q: What do I need before adding social sharing buttons in Nexter Blocks?** A: Nexter Blocks Pro has to be active first. The Social Sharing block is a Pro feature and must be switched on under Nexter > Blocks in your WordPress dashboard before it will render anything. If Pro is deactivated, measured behavior was simple: the block renders nothing at all.