Shortly after launching our sharing & bookmarking button inserter for WordPress.com hosted blogs, many of you expressed interest in choosing your own button image.  Good news: now you can!

On this page, just fill in a new URL for the button, click Change Button., and grab your inserter bookmarklet.

Get your Share Button Inserter now!

If you would like to use your own hosted button image (see others’ on Flickr), you can upload it to your WordPress.com blog then have the button inserter use that one.  Just go to Settings > Media > Add New. Upload the image, copy the File URL, and replace/paste the URL into the Button URL box on our Wordpress.com inserter page.

Let us know what you think!

Today AddToAny is thrilled to announce the release of two new plugins for the IntenseDebate commenting system.

The AddToAny Share Button for Posts plugin lets any IntenseDebate-enabled blog install AddToAny’s sharing widget in a single click.

The AddToAny Share Button for Comments plugin enables comment sharing within IntenseDebate comments.

Enable the AddToAny plugins on IntenseDebate!

The latter plugin above comes with a cool, unique twist.  Instead of helping visitors share just web pages as they’ve been accustomed to, visitors can now share comments!  Comments are uncharted territory for sharing buttons, but it’s our official opinion that they deserve some love.  Some of the best content comes from comments and comment threads, and with this plugin sharing those comments using any service (email, social bookmarking, etc.) is a breeze.  This should lead to even better conversations.

Both plugins were created using IntenseDebate’s new plugin authoring API, which totally rocks by the way.  We’re very tight with WordPress/Automattic products, so when the opportunity arose to develop for a comment system based on the WordPress Plugin API we were all over it.  How was the process?  Wonderful; highly recommended for other developers and services out there.  Jon, co-founder of ID and fellow JavaScript wizard, reached out to offer some advice and polishing.  The idea for the Posts plugin?  All him.  (Thank you, Jon!)

To enable either plugin (or both) simply go to your IntenseDebate plugins page and click Activate alongside the plugin listings.

Now let the IntenseDebate page/comment sharing and saving begin!

For years WordPress.com publishers have been clamoring to get a social bookmarking button properly integrated on their blogs.  We’re very aware that people have gone to great lengths to get AddToAny’s share button inserted below their posts. Minh of Digital Citizen wrote a fantastically thorough post recently on how to place AddToAny in WordPress.com posts.  We’ve since shared Minh’s guide with inquiring WordPressers from all over the world.  As Minh acknowledges, the process is pretty involved, and not to detract from his great tutorial (thank you again, Minh!), but we thought about ways to make it easier. Today we are officially sharing the easiest option yet: a share button inserter for WordPress.com.

Get your Share Button Inserter bookmarklet now!

With Share button integration, your readers and visitors have access to every relevant sharing and bookmarking service (including email) and you never have to worry about maintenance, upgrades, etc.  Here’s an example share button that was actually inserted into this post with the WP.com Share Button inserter!:

Doing this yourself is a breeze.  If you happen to have the WordPress “Press It” button, you’ll feel right on home installing your inserter.  In most browsers (sans Internet Explorer), you’ll simply drag the “bookmarklet” (so it’s called) onto your browser’s link toolbar. (Internet Explorer’s just a little different though directions are available.) From there, the process is simple. You’ll publish a post, press the WP.com Share Button you installed and bam — Share button is inserted and you have successfully enabled social bookmarking on your post!  Save changes and you’re done.

Get your AddToAny inserter here.

WordPressers, we hope you like this.  Please do let us know what you think!

Update: Choose your own WordPress.com share button! Thanks to everyone for the request!