Easy ReTweet is a WordPress Plugin, which let’s you add retweet or Tweet this buttons for your WordPress posts, together with the retweet count.
Easy ReTweet uses easy retweet JavaScript library created by John Resig and is based on Bit.ly JavaScript API.
Download
You can download the Plugin as a zip file from the official WordPress Plugin repository.
Installation
Extract the zip file and just drop the contents in the wp-content/plugins/ directory of your WordPress installation and then activate the Plugin from Plugins page.
Screenshot
Usage
There are three ways you can add the retweet button. Automatic way, manual way and using short codes
Automatic way
Install the Plugin and choose the type and position of the button from the Plugin’s settings page.
Manual way
If you want more control over the way the button should be positioned, then you can manually call the button using the following code.
if (function_exists('easy_retweet_button')) echo easy_retweet_button();
Using Shortcodes
You can also place the shortcode [ easy-retweet ] anywhere in your post. This shortcode will be replaced by the button when the post is rendered.
Translation
- Belorussian (Thanks FatCow)
The pot file is available with the Plugin. If you are willing to do translation for the Plugin, use the pot file to create the .po files for your language and let me know. I will add it to the Plugin after giving credit to you.
Feedback
If you have any comments or if you want to report any bugs, please leave a comment below or contact me.
Stay updated
I would be posting updates about this Plugin in my blog and in Twitter. If you want to be informed when new version of this Plugin is released, then you can either subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed or follow me in Twitter.
Credits
Thanks to John Resig for releasing his Easy Retweet script and bit.ly for their JavaScript API.
Changelog
- 2009-07-13 – v0.1 – Initial Release
- 2009-07-20 – v0.2 – Added option to add/remove button in archive page.
- 2009-07-21 – v0.3 – Added support for translation.
- 2009-07-22 – v0.4 – Added option to add/remove button in home page.
- 2009-07-24 – v0.5 – Added option to change the text which is displayed in the button.
- 2009-07-26 – v0.6 – Prevented the script file from loading in Admin pages.
- 2009-07-27 – v0.7 – Added option to specify text that can be prefixed to the generated Twitter message
- 2009-07-28 – v0.8 – Added support for shortcode to retweet button.
- 2009-07-31 – v0.9 – Fixed an issue with generated JavaScript. Thanks Dougal (http://dougal.gunters.org/).
- 2009-08-02 – v1.0 – Added an option to specify bit.ly username, API Key and also other attributes for the link.
- 2009-08-05 – v1.1.0 – Generating the js file from php to fix issues wiht bit.ly key. The urls generated will appear in bit.ly account.
- 2009-08-18 – v1.2.0 – Removed hard coded Plugin path to make it work even if the wp-content path is changed.
- 2009-08-19 – v1.3.0 – Added the ability to enable/disable button on per page/post basics.
- 2009-10-15 – v1.4.0 – Added the ability to enable/disable button on per page/post basics, event if template function is used.
- 2010-01-02 – v1.5 – Ability to specify custom message for twitter instead of the post title. Also added Belorussian Translations (Thanks FatCow).
Cool plugin! I shall use this
@Aswin, Nice to know that you like the Plugin.
Try it out and let me know your feedback.
Works great, thank you
@Baron,
Nice to know that the Plugin was helpful to you.
i want try use and install this plugin
i will feedback
@raider,
Thanks! would love to hear your feedback
Hey there Sudar,
Nice plug-in and good to see all activity on a post via Twitter. Quick question – will you be offering the feature that Tweetmeme has where you can prefix your Twitter username at the start of the RT?
At the minute it’s just the post title – would be cool to have RT@DannyBrown for example.
Also, how about integration with the bit.ly API so you can tie your username to it? That way you can track more stats and analytics?
Thanks again,
Danny.
@Danny,
Thanks for the suggestions. I am working on adding an option for specifying a prefix for the Twitter message. Expect it either today or tomorrow.
Integration with bit.ly API might take some time.
@Danny,
Just checked in v0.7 which supports adding text in front of the generated Twitter message. Check it out and let me know how it works.
Hi Sudar,
Just upgraded and tried it (put “RT @DannyBrown” as prefix), still the same message (no prefix showing up when it jumps to Twitter). Oh, is there a way to offer Open In New Window option as well?
Thanks for quick response and upgrade, appreciate it!
@Danny,
I am calling wp_head action to output the script. See whether your theme has a wp_head() call in the header.php file. Also what version of WordPress you are running?
PS – sorry for another question
Are there any issues with Firefox compatibility? I’m using FF 3.5.1 and for some reason it looks as if it just says “Retweet” in a horizontal box with no click-through stats showing. Seems OK in Google Chrome and IE8?
Thanks!
@Danny,
As far as I know there is no compatibility issue with Firefox. Can you give me your blog url so that I can find out what the issue is?
WordPress 2.8.2 with Thesis 1.5.1. There is a wp_head () call in the .php file. Not sure about Firefox – it only seems to do it occasionally? Bizarre.
URL is http://dannybrown.me
Thanks!
@Danny,
I Checked your site and it has wp_head() call. The script to change the text is printed properly, but the script to add prefix is not printed.
Try to change the prefix to some other text and see if it works.
Hi Sudar,
Thanks for checking out. Tried various prefixes, none seem to work? I’ll leave it without prefix for time being – thanks, though!
Danny.
Hi Sudar,
Firstly thanks for your work on this Plug-in, I am new to WP, I have a site up and running, how can I add a carraige return to the ReTweet, it looks lile it needs a line break on my website bolg.
http://www.digitalweblogistics.com/blog/?p=69
Many Thanks
David
@David,
Add some padding to the first paragraph of your posts using CSS.
Hi
I’ ve exactly the same issue of Sudar.
Changing the button’s text doesn´t work, the same with a prefix text.
WP 2.8.2
Firefox 3.5.1
Any help would be great
@Tinoro,
What is the OS of your server? Is it Windows or Unix?
Also check whether wp_head() is present in the header.php file of your theme.
@Sudar: The problem with the custom message text and prefix is due to a little javascript syntax problem in your
add_script_config()method. I added semi-colons to the ends of the two generated javascript variable declarations, and now it works fine.Like so:
echo 'RetweetJS.link_text = "' . $options['text'] . '";';Notice the new semi-colon inside the final single-quote. Without it, the lines run together (because there is no newline between them in the script block), which is causing a syntax error.
@Dougal,
Thanks for pointing it out. It was clearly an oversight from me. I am applying the code changes and will push an update now.
I just tried updating the message prefix and it doesn’t work. It keeps applying the first message prefix that I added.
Wordpress Version: 2.8.4
Easy ReTweet Version: 1.2.0
Old Message Prefix: Preppa Blogpost
New Message Prefix that I want: “RT: @Preppa Blogpost”
Any help or insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Awesome plug-in by the way! So easy to use, love it!
I just tried updating the message prefix and it doesn’t work. It keeps applying the first message prefix that I added.
Wordpress Version: 2.8.4
Easy ReTweet Version: 1.2.0
Old Message Prefix: Preppa Blogpost
New Message Prefix that I want: “RT: @Preppa Blogpost”
Any help or insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Awesome plug-in by the way! So easy to use, love it! Thanks!
@Preppa,
I guess the issue is solved. I checked your website and the new message prefix is getting displayed. Let me know if you still face any issues.
Thanks Dougal Campbell, I was having the same issue, and your code fixed it!
BTW, I also added support for custom bit.ly user account to my local copy (
RetweetJS.bitly_userandRetweetJS.bitly_key). Just because@Dougal,
I have updated the Plugin to support bit.ly username and api key also. Check it out and let me know if you face any issues.
How do I add in the a href=”_blank” so it opens Twitter in a new window or tab?
@Boxed,
I added this feature in v1.0 of the Plugin. Enjoy
Installed thie cool plugin. I recommend it highly above the tweetmeme button. Easy ReTweet does a far better job.
@Stan,
Nice to know that you liked my Plugin
A very nice retweet plugin, thanks, just one question is there any way to easily change the button colours my site is modelled on twitter and all blue, so the gren just looks a bit odd, but works very well glad to have bit.ly shortenin too. Thanks very much for your hard work. Mike.
Thanks Mike,
You can change the color and style of the button using css. You can apply styles to
a.retweetanda.retweet span classesnoticed that my details are not clearing, please delete these as quickly as possible thanks.
@Mike,
What details are not clearing? I didn’t understand your comment. Please explain it.
@Sudar, I think @mike was talking about the comment form saving his information (via cookie). Don’t panic, Mike, all is well. It’s supposed to do that
@Dougal,
Yeah even I think he misunderstood that.
Can I use my own image?
@Minic,
Actually I am not using any image. It’s all CSS. You can override the style by adding your own css to a.retweet and a.retweet span classes.
Hello!
Is it possible, with your plugin, to share a post to facebook using the bit-ly api key?
I’m looking for a plugin that permit to visitors to post a bit.ly link to twitter AND/OR facebook
Could you do that?
Thanks a lot
@Zideo,
Right now the Plugin doesn’t support posting to Friendfeed or Twitter. If you want I can add the ability to post to Twitter.
I am not sure if posting to Facebook can be done.
I like the plugin, but the functionality is a little different than what I thought. I thought, like Tweetmeme, the number shown was the number of times the post had been retweeted on Twitter. But it’s actually just a hit counter in effect. The number is derived from the bit.ly stats that detail how many times the bit.ly link has been clicked, not from how many times it’s actually been tweeted on Twitter. That’s not a bad thing, just not what I expected.
Hi Sudar,
I like your Plugin and enjoy using it. But, earlier today, the count magically disappeared from my 9 most recent posts.
All the other posts have the count showing and the Easy Retweet button is enabled on all of the posts.
Can you please solve this mystery?
Many thanks.
Philip
Sudar,
Don’t worry. The problem has solved itself.
All the best.
Philip
@Philip,
Glad to know that the problem got resolved
Hi Sudar,
This problem has returned and some of my posts have not shown the count for several days.
I wonder if the problem lies with bit.ly rather than your fine plugin.
All the best,
Philip
Hi Philip,
Thanks for reporting about this issue. I am currently debugging this and it seems to be an issue in the bit.ly side. Will see if I can do any workaround for this.
Thanks Sudar. I look forward to hearing further from you on this issue.
All the best,
Philip
Hi there,
I have hard coded the plugin into my theme (the normal way was messing it up for some reason) which means the disable easy retweet button does not work. Is there a short code that I can use in the html part of the post/page that disables the easy retweet button?
@Murat,
The current version doesn’t support it. I will release an update soon, which will disable the retweet button even if you are hard coding. Thanks for reporting it.
@Murat,
I have released an update to the Plugin (v1.4.0) which will enable/disable the retweet button per post even if the template function is hardcoded in the theme. Try it out and let me know if you are still facing this issue.
Hi Sudar,
Just tried it, works perfecly! Thanks for solving that.
I’m looking forward to the update with the actual retweet counts, although the current version actually makes my site look far more popular than it is, which isn’t a bad thing
Cheers
Murat
I agree with what Kevin says (Sept. 3, 2009). I really like this plugin a lot, but it is not exactly what I expected. I do not like the Tweetmeme plugin because you cannot set it to target=”_blank”. I do like the bit.ly counter functionality, but would like it even more if there were a number of tweets. I realize this might start to get a little busy, but having number of tweets, bit.ly counter and retweet would make a very sweet plugin.
Thanks Sudar. I like what you have done already. Keep up the great work!
@Gene,
Thanks for the feedback. Showing the number of retweets is one of the top feature request for this Plugin. I am trying out various ways to see if it can be done. (probably by integrating with the Tweetback Plugin). Will release an update, if I figure out a way to do this.
This plugin would be awesome if it counted the number of times people retweeted the post instead of counting the click-throughs from Twitter. Not to knock your plugin but I don’t think anybody besides the webmaster actually cares about how many people came from Twitter. Most people like to see the number of times a post has been retweeted to see its popularity.
@Kevin,
Thanks for the feedback. I am looking for ways to implement that. May be I can integrate it with Tweetbacks Plugin. Will release a new version soon with this feature.
I love this plugin because I can insert in manually and edit the color options, but is there anyway you can make the plugin work like tweetmeme so the number only show how many time the blog post has been retweeted?
This is one of the most requested feature of the Plugin and I am working on it. Will release a new version soon with this functionality.
I love this plugin because I can insert in manually and edit the color options, but is there anyway you can make the plugin work like tweetmeme so the number only shows how many time the blog post has been retweeted?
I upgrade wp to 2.8 and the plugin works fine, thank you:)
This is the best and easiest retweet button plugin for Wp. I’m gonna use it. But how to place this button above or below the facebook share button? Thanks in advance.
@Yudi,
You can use the template function to place the button anywhere in the post.
Hi!
Your plugin is excellent. I like the many options it has. Installation was easy and smooth.
However, it doesn’t seen on chrome 4.0.223.16. Any idea why? works fine on IE8 and FF 3.5.5.
Tzahi
@Tzahi,
Can you send me a screenshot of the issue that you are facing in chrome?
Looks like a good plugin. However I’m having some issues.
When I use the retweet it tweets only the http://www.bit.ly.com address and not a shortened url to the post? I have added the correct bit.ly account info.
Also it doesn’t appear to display the retweet count.
Couldn’t for the life of me get this to work. Went with tweetmeme instead and worked first time.
@Matthew,
Give me the url of your blog and I will have a look at it. Also is it happening in all browsers or only in specific browsers? Also check whether you are receiving any JavaScript errors in your pages.
Hi there,
I’ve had this plugin on my site and enjoy using it, however for the past few days it has all but dissappeared and is not showing any retweet numbers. Any particular reason as to why?
Thanks,
Christina
WannaSmile.com
See whether there are any JavaScript errors in your pages. This Plugin works by injecting JavaScript and might fail, if there is a JavaScript error on the page.
Hi Sudar,
Thank you for creating this plugin.
Its very useful.
Is there a way to handcraft the RT message rather than it choosing my prefix and adding the title?
I’d like the tweets to be more compelling than just the title of the post.
Thanks again, Sudar
Jake
@Jake,
Right now it is not possible to do it.
But this seems to be a nice feature. I will add it when I find some time.
@Jake,
I have released v1.5 of the Plugin, which has the ability to handcraft the RT message. Try it out and let me know if you have any feedback.
Sudar,
that is so great!
That really adds value to this excellent plugin.
Thank you for adding that functionality.
I just used it, and it works flawlessly
peace,
Jake
the only feedback I have is:
place a preview of the exact retweet text (RT: @name [text] URL) complete with character count.
That way, the user can stay in the WP screen for the whole process
I had to do all of that manually on twitter to sort all of that out before completing the manual text.
@Jake,
Nice to know that it was working without any issues and thanks for the feedback. I am working on the next version of the Plugin and will try to include this feature.
Hi,
I am trying to use the manual insert in my posts. It doesn’t seem to work for me. All i get back is the code as text inserted into the blog.
I am sure there must be a pilot error here. Can you help?
Please note – I have a static home page and my post directed to another page. I have turned off the option for appearance on pages because i don’t want it on the static home page. I selected the manual option. However, I do need it on the posts redirected to another page.
Can you help me?
Thanks,
John
Sudar, good work on this plugin. I used John Resig’s easy retweet before, but I like what you did with this better.
@Adam,
Nice to know that liked the Plugin.
Hi. I have a question about the plugin. I inserted the code manually and want to change the look. Whet the view of the plugin is set to horizontal, I use the .retweet class and it works. But when the vertical view is set, I can’t change the view. Please name the classes I need to use to do it. I just want to add a margin and float to the vertical view.
ey!! this module have a wrong! because it’s counting clicks no retweets! i prefer to use tweetmeme
Hmm..great plugins! Easy setup too, I’m interested.
Thank you.
@Gojeg,
Nice to know that you liked the Plugin