Help and How-tos ShareThis Getting Started

Getting Started

Once you have purchased the ShareThis for Joomla! extension suite, follow the steps below to complete the installation;

  • Download the ShareThis extension suite,
  • Unzip the ShareThis extension suite to your computer. ShareThis for Joomla! is now bundled with both 1.5 and 1.6 compatible versions. Extract the version that meets your requirements,
  • Install the plugins, modules and/or component you wish to use via the Joomla! administratior's Extension Manager.
You should avoid using the ShareThis module and the ShareThis content plugin on the same page is it may lead to inconsistent button and widget functionality. Which you use will depend on your requirements.

ShareThis for Joomla! Module

The easiest way to enable ShareThis on your web site is to use the ShareThis for Joomla! module.

  • Install the ShareThis module using the Joomla! administratior's Extension Manager,
  • Enable the ShareThis module using the Joomla! administrator's Plugin Manager,
  • Configure the ShareThis module as you would any other Joomla! module. Define the module's position, which pages it should up on and who can access it. You can also configure the ShareThis module's button and widget settings, including style, layout and whether the title and summary should be retrieved via an associated article.

Module Parameters

The following parameters are available for managing/customizing the ShareThis module;

  • ShareThis Label:
  • Custom label for the ShareThis button. Can be static text or a language constant,
  • Publisher Id:
  • A link between a ShareThis button and your ShareThis account for monitoring button usage. A publisher id can be obtained from your ShareThis account, or, if you do not have a ShareThis account, you can create one by registering at http://sharethis.com/publisher?type=stapi. You sould specify a publisher id if you wish to collect information and statistics about your ShareThis plugin's usage.
  • Share Article:
  • The title and meta description of a Joomla! article will be used to populate the ShareThis button's title and summary values. Will only work if the module is displayed as part of a Joomla! content page,
  • Custom Title:
  • The ShareThis title parameter,

You can also specify advanced parameters for changing the colour scheme of the ShareThis widget and for customizing Javascript based features;

  • Enable Popup:
  • Launch the widget in a new window rather than an iFrame.
  • Enable Embeds:
  • Allow embedded elements such as Flash to be seen while iFrame is loading.
  • Open widget on hover:
  • Open the widget when the mouse hovers over the ShareThis button or when the button is clicked.
  • Google Analytics tracking:
  • Analyze button usage via a Google Analytics account. Requires you integrate your ShareThis account with your Analytics account.
  • Button Class Suffix:
  • Specify a custom style for the ShareThis button.
  • Button Class Suffix:
  • Specify a custom style for the ShareThis button.
  • Header Background:
  • Hexadecimal colour of the Widget's header background.
  • Header Text Colour:
  • Hexadecimal colour of the Widget's header text.
  • Header Title:
  • An optional title for your widget.
  • Offset Left:
  • Change the horizontal positioning of the ShareThis widget in relation to the button link.
  • Offset Top:
  • Change the vertical positioning of the ShareThis widget in relation to the button link.

ShareThis for Joomla! Plugins

An alternative method for configuring ShareThis within your Joomla! content is via the ShareThis for Joomla! content plugin. Using the content plugin means you can embed multiple ShareThis buttons at any position in your article. You'll also need the ShareThis for Joomla! content plugin if you manage your article sharing using the ShareThis component.

  • Install the ShareThis content and editor plugins using the Joomla! administratior's Extension Manager,
  • Enable the ShareThis plugins using the Joomla! administrator's Plugin Manager,
  • Configure the ShareThis plugins as you would any other Joomla! plugin. The content plugin allows you to configure the ShareThis plugin's button and widget settings, including the button label and icon as well as widget styles and layout.

Content Plugin Parameters

The following parameters are available for managing/customizing the ShareThis content plugin;

  • ShareThis Label:
  • Custom label for the ShareThis button. Can be static text or a language constant,
  • Publisher Id:
  • A link between a ShareThis button and your ShareThis account for monitoring button usage. A publisher id can be obtained from your ShareThis account, or, if you do not have a ShareThis account, you can create one by registering at http://sharethis.com/publisher?type=stapi. You sould specify a publisher id if you wish to collect information and statistics about your ShareThis plugin's usage.

You can also specify advanced parameters for changing the colour scheme of the ShareThis widget and for customizing Javascript based features;

  • Enable Popup:
  • Launch the widget in a new window rather than an iFrame.
  • Enable Embeds:
  • Allow embedded elements such as Flash to be seen while iFrame is loading.
  • Open widget on hover:
  • Open the widget when the mouse hovers over the ShareThis button or when the button is clicked.
  • Google Analytics tracking:
  • Analyze button usage via a Google Analytics account. Requires you integrate your ShareThis account with your Analytics account.
  • Button Class Suffix:
  • Specify a custom style for the ShareThis button.
  • Button Class Suffix:
  • Specify a custom style for the ShareThis button.
  • Header Background:
  • Hexadecimal colour of the Widget's header background.
  • Header Text Colour:
  • Hexadecimal colour of the Widget's header text.
  • Header Title:
  • An optional title for your widget.
  • Offset Left:
  • Change the horizontal positioning of the ShareThis widget in relation to the button link.
  • Offset Top:
  • Change the vertical positioning of the ShareThis widget in relation to the button link.

Embedding a ShareThis button into an Article

To embed a ShareThis button in an article, either select the ShareThis editor button at the bottom of the wysiwyg editor or specify {sharethis} in your article.

The ShareThis plugin will automatically populate the ShareThis button's parameters using the article's information and the default values you set when you enabled the ShareThis content plugin. Alternatively, you can override many of the parameters directly in the {sharethis} call.

You can override the following parameters:

  • title
  • popup: 1 for true and 0 for false (E.g. {sharethis popup=1})
  • embeds: 1 for true and 0 for false (E.g. {sharethis embeds=1})
  • offsetLeft
  • offsetTop
  • headerTitle
  • headerfg
  • headerbg

E.g. {sharethis title=Sharing via Wijiti|offsetLeft=30|offsetTop=30}

Centralized Sharing using ShareThis for Joomla!

The ShareThis suite includes the ShareThis component, which allows management of the ShareThis button across multiple articles.

  • Install the ShareThis component using the Joomla! administratior's Extension Manager,
  • Navigate to the ShareThis management control panel by select Components->ShareThis from the main navigation menu.
The ShareThis content plugin must be also be installed and enabled if you intend to manage your shared articles using the ShareThis component.

How the Component Works

A ShareThis button is bound to an article as soon as you share or configure and save it via the ShareThis control panel.

Additionally, you can set global parameters which will be used across all articles that are designated for sharing.

Sharing

You can share and unshare multiple articles by selecting the checkbox associated with each of the content items from the list then clicking the Share or Don't Share buttons.

Additionally, you can manage all articles using global preferences. The following global preferences are available:

  • Button Position:
  • The position of the button. The custom position is used by the onDisplayCustomSTButton event.
  • Button Assignment:
  • Override the default condition that only shared articles can display the ShareThis widget.
  • Label:
  • A default label for the ShareThis button. Only applies to classic button, classic link and small multi-channel.
  • Button Class Suffix:
  • Define a default CSS class override.

Configuring ShareThis in an Article

You can configure ShareThis buttons on a per-article basis as well, allowing you to define the button's position, custom title and summary and whether a Javascript event should be attached to the button when it is clicked.

Select an article's title or tick the checkbox associated with the article you wish to configure and click on the "Configure" button.

Once you have configured the share to your liking, click on "Apply" or "Save" to complete your changes. If you have enabled the button, it will now show up within your article's content.

Cleaning Out Orphaned ShareThis Buttons

Joomla! currently has no method for extending its delete functionality. Therefore, if your content management system experiences a high rate of article removals, you will have to clean out the orphaned ShareThis records that no longer have an associated article.

To remove these orphaned records, click the "Clean" button. You will see a counter as part of the button label; this is a count of the number of orphaned ShareThis records that need to be removed.