[Plugin: Sociable] Add “Add to Any Share/Save/Bookmark” button?

You can simply run both plug-ins at once, you know.

can anyone explain to me in detail how sociable really works? I’ve been recently having a hard time trying to social bookmark my post and yet I continue to hear about Sociable as a solution.

What are the little icons for? Does sociable automatically send the post to whatever site I click within my wordpress settings? Do I have to submit my post manually through the little icons? Could someone please explain because I just don’t get it and I’m getting frustrated trying to find a decent solution towards social bookmarking. Thanks!!

Basically, Sociable automatically fills in the appropriate form on the selected bookmarking site.

Most bookmarking sites require users to register. Most require those users to log in before they add bookmarks.

Let’s suppose I click the Digg icon on one of your posts. If I am not logged in to Digg, I will be prompted to log in. If I am logged in, or I log in after being prompted to do so, I see a form that allows me to add a bookmark. The form is filled in with the needed information from your post (its title, its URL, etc.).

It is up to me to submit the form by clicking a button.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to completely automate the submission of WordPress blog posts to social bookmarking sites, due to the user account / login requirements almost all of them have.

so through the little icons on each post I can submit my own post to those particular social bookmarking sites? So its really done all manually right?

I’ve been trying to find a plugin that does the submitting automatically but either i have errors, or they simply dont work!!

I’ve even found a few plugins that cost nearly $200!!

dhvrm, can you tell me how you submit your post? Should I simply just manually post it on each site? If so then what sites should I choose? Which are the most important to have a post on? Should I use a plugin?

I’ve been so confused, trying to get social bookmarking to work for me!! argh…

This thread is heading way off topic, so this will be my final reply.

The short answer is yes, adding a link to just about any social bookmarking site must be done manually.

All Sociable does is give you icons that, if a user clicks on one, will take them to the appropriate social bookmarking Web site and fill in the appropriate form for the user. It is up to the user to then submit the form.

There is no practical way to “automatically” submit your posts to most social bookmarking sites.

All the good social bookmarking sites have anti-robot measures, such as CAPTCHA, to prevent bookmark spamming. And yes, automatically creating social bookmarks of your own posts is spamming.

You might be able to develop code that allows you to automatically add social bookmarks to your own accounts on the various bookmarking sites. However, it sounds like you have already encountered the problems such a program would face: It’s going to be unreliable and it’s going to be expensive to create / maintain. About the time your developer figures out how to defeat a site’s anti-robot measures, they will figure out a new way to block your robot.

The idea behind social bookmarking is simple: I look at something on the Web that I did not create. I decide it is interesting. I add it to Digg or a similar site, or I rate it at Yahoo! Buzz or a similar site.

My friends on the bookmarking site see that I liked that content. They look at it. Then they bookmark or rate it.

The process is repeated. Therefore, the Web as a whole rates good content.

All Sociable does is make it easier for people to bookmark your posts if they like them. A system that takes away the independent nature of social bookmarking certainly defeats the intent of social bookmarking, if not the purpose.