Add Social Bookmarking Links To Your Blog

I set out early today to add a few social bookmarking links to my blog, but then decided that I'd take this task one step further and create an extension for BlogEngine.NET.  I also created a generic version that will allow you to plug this code (via a UserControl) into your blog as long as you have control over the source code.  The extension is very configurable and allows you to choose between several different ways to display them.  The image included in the full post shows an example of each of the display types.  Another nice feature with the extension is that you can decide which links to display and the order they appear - all which can be configured with the new Extension Manager featured in version 1.3.  All images are obviously included in the download.

[Images Provided by FastIcon]

Display Styles
 imgPreviewSocialBookmarks

Extension Settings
 imgSocialBookmarksSettings

SocialBookmarks Extension.zip (91.86 kb)
SocialBookmarks (Generic).zip (90.63 kb)

Installation Steps for the BlogEngine.NET Extension

  1. Add the SocialBookmarks.cs file to your App_Code/Extensions directory
  2. Add the SocialBookmarks Image Directory to your website
    Note: You can place this directory anywhere in your website, however you must leave the "circle" and "square" directories inside of the "socialbookmarks" directory for the paths to properly map.  You can configure the path to the "socialbookmarks" image directory in the extension settings.
  3. Done!  Check out your blog and see your changes. =]

Installation Steps for the Generic Version

  1. Copy/Move the "SocialBookmarks" folder into your images directory
  2. Copy/Move the "socialbookmarks.ascx" user control into your project
  3. Copy the code from the "Add to Post File.txt" file into your project (Configure the "src" property)
  4. Configure the 3 values in your "socialbookmarks.ascx" file (Image Path, Website URL, Post Title)
  5. Done!  Check out your blog and see your changes. =]

Kick It!

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Comments

Posted on 01.16.2008 00:59 AM #

Jesse Foster | jf26028

Jesse Foster | jf26028 us
Looks good. Cant wait to give it a try.

Jesse Foster | jf26028

Posted on 01.16.2008 07:37 AM #

Danny

Danny us
Note: I did not include the DotNetKicks button in this release since there is already an extension that puts that link directly into your blogposts over at Flawlesscode (www.flawlesscode.com/post.aspx

Posted on 01.16.2008 11:18 AM #

Brett Gardner

Brett Gardner us
Great work, once again man. I can't wait to include this in future projects.

Posted on 01.16.2008 15:50 PM #

René Kuss

René Kuss de
Very good. I'll try it asap Smile

Posted on 01.17.2008 08:17 AM #

René Kuss

René Kuss de
If found a little bug, but it isn't yours. IE6 has a problem to render png 24 bit images with transparency. The background isn't shown transparent like you can see in this screenshot browsershots.org/.../...60f936c9eace645ca1c12b.png

Just save the images as png 8 bit and ie6 users are happy too Smile

Posted on 01.17.2008 10:21 AM #

Danny

Danny us
@René - Thanks for the update on the incompatibility with IE6. I'll update the images today and update the download link.

Posted on 01.17.2008 14:28 PM #

pingback

virtual-generations.com
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SharePoint Link Love: 01-17-2008 at Virtual Generations

Posted on 01.18.2008 01:26 AM #

Jesse Foster | jf26028

Jesse Foster | jf26028 us
I finally got a few minutes to install it on my blog. It works great. The only suggestion I have, and I dont even know if its possible, but to enable the reddit submission to go to the programming subreddit section, instead of the main section. Other than that, it was easy to install, and everything seems to be working quite well. Thanks for taking the time.

Jesse Foster | jf26028

Posted on 01.18.2008 15:32 PM #

Danny

Danny us
@Jesse - Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you are liking the extension. Keep an eye out for my resource center which will be out soon!

As far as your reddit submission suggestions...you cannot specify the "subreddit" section via the query string. More details can be found at http://reddit.com/help/submitting.

Posted on 02.4.2008 16:55 PM #

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thomasfreudenberg.com
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Sharing Extension for Graffiti - Thomas Freudenberg

Posted on 02.9.2008 18:02 PM #

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tumelty.com
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toolbox

Posted on 02.15.2008 07:42 AM #

Stefan

Stefan se
Great extension!
Using it on my blog!

Posted on 02.21.2008 20:06 PM #

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robinsonweb.org.uk
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Robinsonweb has moved again

Posted on 02.23.2008 01:02 AM #

ck

ck us
Great job! Found a bug though.

The "Image Path" section says to leave it blank if it is on the root, but if you leave it blank it throws an error!

Will give you a post bragging about your extension some time tomorrow (err... today).

Posted on 02.23.2008 18:17 PM #

Ian Suttle

Ian Suttle us
@ck - I ran into the same. I used "/" and had no troubles though.

Posted on 02.23.2008 19:15 PM #

ck

ck us
Yeah, thats what I did to fix it as well.

Posted on 02.24.2008 18:04 PM #

Danny

Danny us
@ck/Ian - Thanks for alerting me to that bug. I have fixed that issue and uploaded the new version.

Example Path Settings: /themes/mytheme/images

Posted on 02.27.2008 12:37 PM #

Ellias McMunny

Ellias McMunny us
very nice info. I also use a bookmarking link widget. but i prefer Sharethis for its simplicity and space usage. and actually i wrote a review for it on my newest post today.

mcmunny.blogspot.com/.../...-bookmark-plugins.html

Though, your have way better look. Smile

Anyway, Thanx dude..

Posted on 03.11.2008 00:07 AM #

Spoiled Techie

Spoiled Techie us
Danny,

I went ahead and upgraded your social bookmarks a big bit and posted the upgrade to my blog. I hope you enjoy the upgrade as much as I do.

www.spoiledtechie.com/.../...dotnetblogengine.aspx

Posted on 03.11.2008 09:06 AM #

Danny

Danny us
@Spoiled Techie,
Thanks for the update! I took a look at the changes you made - good ideas. I actually thought about doing that myself, however I wanted a more fluid UI experience so I left that static icons as part of the extension. I can definitely see the value added with counts easily displayed though.

Cheers!

Posted on 03.14.2008 02:07 AM #

Garry McGlennon

Garry McGlennon us
Thanks for the Extension - though I preferred if the extension just added it at the end of each post each time (ie not just for new posts). If you've got a few (ok I don't) then you'd have to go back and edit all your previous posts (maybe you don't want those kicked anyway?). Anyway, modified it to suit... thanks for the post...

Posted on 03.19.2008 10:41 AM #

91smw

91smw cn
very nice info. I also use a bookmarking link widget. but i prefer Sharethis for its simplicity and space usage. and actually i wrote a review for it on my newest post today.

Posted on 03.19.2008 20:24 PM #

Jay Borseth

Jay Borseth us
Just a note that if you're embedding the BookMarks.ascx in a MasterPage, you'll need to add a ResolveClientUrl() to make valid image links:

strImagePath = "~/images/SocialBookmarks/Square/";
...
<%= strDiggLink %><img src="<%=ResolveClientUrl(strImagePath) %>digg_<%=ImageSize.ToString() %>.png" style="border: 0;" alt="Add to Digg" /></a>

Posted on 04.4.2008 12:56 PM #

Mehfuz Hossain

Mehfuz Hossain
Didnt noticed it earlier , but really cool!!!

Posted on 04.20.2008 17:10 PM #

srr

srr gb
Silly question but what do I need to put in the strWebsiteURL and strPostTitle sections?

Posted on 04.20.2008 19:15 PM #

Danny

Danny us
@srr - are you trying to alter the extension code or just use what I built? If you are just using what I built you will not need to mess with the code at all, just the extension settings.

Posted on 04.21.2008 11:38 AM #

srr

srr gb
I am using the "Generic Version" and step 4 says to Configure the 3 values i.e. Image Path, Website URL and Post Title. I have done the image path but I am not sure what should go in the other two.

I would have used the extension version but I couldn't work out how to change the placement of the bookmarks.

Thanks in advance.

Posted on 04.21.2008 14:04 PM #

Jason Bridgewater

Jason Bridgewater gb
Looks good, i'm going to trial it on my site and see how well it works. I've had a few problems with others I have tried.

Posted on 04.22.2008 00:30 AM #

Danny

Danny us
@srr - The website URL is where the post will be sent to, and the Post Title is the title of your blog post. So for this post the variable values would be...

Website URL: dannydouglass.com/.../...g-Links-To-Your-Blog.aspx
Post Title: Add Social Bookmarking Links To Your Blog

Let me know if that doesn't answer your question.

Posted on 05.19.2008 19:40 PM #

Val

Val
Take a look at http://www.entopica.com/, a new social bookmarking website. It is an online system that allows you to easily access, categorize, share and store your bookmarks online. Entopica offers a free registration and it is both quick and easy. Register now and discover a whole new world of social bookmarking

Posted on 05.21.2008 05:45 AM #

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barbaraling.com
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21 Days to a more profitable blog - Day 2! Enhance your blog to compel word-of-mouth » Barbara Ling

Posted on 05.25.2008 05:25 AM #

David

David
Wonderful and informative web site.I used information from that site its great.

Posted on 06.13.2008 19:50 PM #

Social D.

Social D. us
Sounds cool, I will let you know how the installation goes. Thanks!

Posted on 06.16.2008 08:59 AM #

Kirsten

Kirsten us
Hello - I'm trying to implement this widget on BlogEngine.NET and can't see the Settings for this Extension in the Admin. There simply isn't a link there that says 'Edit'. Could it be that I'm running it through IIS and I have to push it live for it to work?

Thanks.

Posted on 06.17.2008 00:11 AM #

Danny

Danny us
@Kristen - Hmmmm, simply adding it to your extensions folder should provide the link in your admin section. Make sure you recompile and re-initiate any instance of local web server instances. If that doesn't work send an email to ddouglass@gmail.com with the steps you have taken to implement this extension and I'll be glad to help you troubleshoot.

Cheers,
--
Danny

Posted on 06.17.2008 12:33 PM #

Kirsten

Kirsten us
Thanks for the tip but I got another social bookmarking service working in the meantime. Thanks though - I don't know what was wrong!

Posted on 06.20.2008 03:28 AM #

web Master

web Master gb
SocialBookmarks Extension.zip (91.86 kb)
SocialBookmarks (Generic).zip (90.63 kb)

none of both are being able to download in zip file

Posted on 06.21.2008 15:35 PM #

Ketan Patel

Ketan Patel gb
Danny, this is an excellent extension. Many thanks.

"web master" I had the same problem, just add the .zip extension to it and it'll open.

Posted on 07.5.2008 19:14 PM #

Luciano Blancato

Luciano Blancato it
Very good!!! tnk's!

Posted on 07.17.2008 22:18 PM #

Dave gore

Dave gore us
Great work, once again man.

Dave,
http://www.ezedir.com

Posted on 08.1.2008 15:49 PM #

Mick York

Mick York gb
have to say this is very cool indeed. Great work

Posted on 08.6.2008 12:50 PM #

Bright Chen

Bright Chen cn
good

Posted on 08.8.2008 17:17 PM #

Flama

Flama us
Very cool... I was looking for this!!!
Now I'm in doubt if I should go for the extention or add this? hehehe...

Posted on 08.15.2008 17:01 PM #

Andrew Westgarth

Andrew Westgarth gb
Hi,
I've been taking a look at your great extension to add into the new design of my blog. However is there a way I can get the extension to render in the footer element of each post (i.e. where the category list and actions options are?

I like the way it renders at the mo, but having that ability would really let the icons fit into my new design really cleanly.

Posted on 08.18.2008 07:46 AM #

Danny

Danny us
Hi Andrew - of course there is a way to add the links to the footer of each post. Are you using BlogEngine.NET or some other blogging application?

Posted on 08.20.2008 12:10 PM #

Andrew Westgarth

Andrew Westgarth gb
Hi Danny,
I'm using BlogEngine.Net 1.4.5

Posted on 08.22.2008 10:59 AM #

Hanabi

Hanabi gb
Hi Danny,
I'm using a .Net application that has been developed in house. I have followed your instructions, but the square images & links do not appear on the page. Frown

I have uploaded everything and i'm using a MasterPage, so I have registered the control at the top of the MasterPage and added the sb:SocialBookmarks control reference to the MasterPage also. I have also used Jay Borseth's approach with the ResolveClientUrl().

One thing I will need to do is configure the PostTitle so that this pulls the title dynamically from the news articles database.

Posted on 08.27.2008 23:52 PM #

Chad

Chad us
@Kirsten

I had the same problem that you were having with the Extension. I found out that the extension will not work if you have a code behind file for your PostView.ascx page.

Get rid of that and it will work.

Posted on 09.10.2008 07:36 AM #

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msmvps.com
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New Blog Design and Updated Content - Andrew Westgarth - MSMVPS.COM

Posted on 09.13.2008 17:45 PM #

SirDarquan

SirDarquan us
Great job with the extension. It inspired me to write my own.

Posted on 09.13.2008 22:44 PM #

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zone.org
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Posted on 09.15.2008 15:20 PM #

şarkı sözleri

şarkı sözleri nz
I found out that the extension will not work if you have a code behind file for your PostView.ascx page.

Posted on 09.30.2008 12:47 PM #

Joshua

Joshua us
Thank you!

Posted on 10.11.2008 20:23 PM #

gece kahvesi

gece kahvesi tw
Pingback from msmvps.com

New Blog Design and Updated Content

Posted on 10.12.2008 09:02 AM #

Judd Dunagan

Judd Dunagan us
Hello,

GREAT TOOL. I had a quick question. I am using feedburner to display info from my blog. When I display as html the images do not show. The path is blog///socialbookmarks/square/delicious_24.png. Is there a way for me to assign a direct path?

Thanks,
Judd

Posted on 10.15.2008 11:15 AM #

Todd - CahabaWeb

Todd - CahabaWeb us
Very cool tool - working it into our new site - thanks.

Posted on 10.16.2008 17:41 PM #

Chris Leone

Chris Leone us
Danny,

I really like the plugin and have had success with it on one blog, however it's giving me some strange results with another. When I follow the instructions above for the BlogEngine.NET Extension and then go into the control panel on the blog, the bookmark extension is not listed and other extensions that were previously listed no longer are. When I remove the .cs file and refresh, the other extensions appear again. I'm assuming this has something to do with the template I'm using, but I was wondering if you had any ideas as to what could be going on.

Thanks!

Posted on 10.21.2008 07:19 AM #

Mark Asquith

Mark Asquith gb
Hi Danny, awesome extenion first of all!

It works brilliantly when I test locally but I get the same issue as Chris Leone above does when I publish to the server. If it helps, I sometimes get an error saying that access to the App_Data/extensions/SocialBookmarks.xml is denied, however I've checked folder permissions and it has full access.

I assume this file gets created dynamically on the invocation of the extension, as it seemed to do locally?

Thanks
Mark

Posted on 10.28.2008 10:22 AM #

Kunal Mehta

Kunal Mehta us
Hi Danny,

Really have done great job. U have added power in BlogEngine.NET by making this extension.

I am also using this extension, on my website blog: http://elevatesoftsolutions.in/default.aspx - been using it for a few months now.


Kunal Mehta
---
CMS (Content Management System)
www.elevatesoftsolutions.in/.../...nt-System).aspx

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