New Updates with Social Media Widget ShareThis

Updated ShareThis (http://sharethis.com/)

People know that I love ShareThis widget because it’s so easy to add to your blog and the many links they provide lightning fast.

They have been growing increasingly popular with all the awards they have been recently receiving and growing a stronger base more and more everyday.

Today ShareThis announced the latest release of the ShareThis widget. The biggest and most exciting change that I saw was that they are going Tab-Free which was the biggest complaint of most ShareThis users. Simplicity is key and they simplified the tabs to one section making it more convenient for us bloggers.

The other updated changes focus more on the Social Media content of improving ways to share your links and importing contacts. These are also great simplified changes that improve performance time and time consumption.

Below is the official press release of the update…

Here is what you can expect:

No tabs! We listened to your feedback and redesigned the widget to be tab-free. We have merged the Social Web and Post tabs into one section, making the experience more intuitive and manageable for the user.

Smarter Widget. Whenever registered ShareThis users share content to their contacts, we will display the last three addresses used. Reducing time searching for most used contacts encourages users to share more frequently.

ShareBox v2.0. Users can now save content directly to their ShareBox through a link in the widget. We had several requests for this feature so we are excited to announce it is now available!

Contact Manager. ShareThis users will now be able to access and import their contacts from within the widget. This allows your users to gain access to their address books without leaving your site.

Common questions:

Q. Do I need to make any changes to my existing code?
No, we will automatically push the new design to your site as well as maintain your current customization, such as link colors and the order/selection of the social web services.

Q. When is the new design going to go live on my site?
We plan on doing a full release across all publishers starting later this week.

Q. Will my reporting still work after the new design is released?
Yes, all data will be intact and viewable from your ShareThis Reporting Dashboard.

Q. Can I change the customization of the new widget?
Yes, in order to change the look and feel as well as reorder the services, you can do so by using the new ShareThis Widget Configurator (available when the new widget is on your site). You will find some new customization options, such as the ability to allow the widget to open on click or on hover.

Q. Will my offset settings migrate over to the new widget?
Yes, your offset parameters will migrate, however, since the new widget is much smaller, please check your settings to make sure the widget appears in the right location on the page.