Putting social bookmark buttons my website

[stuartie_b]

Hi can anyone point me towards a website that has a tutorial on how to put social bookmarks on your website? I've been looking but i can't find exactly what I'm after. Basically all i want are icons for facebook, twitter, myspace and digg it. I want to create the icons myself and then paste whatever code i need on to them, so if you could tell me the code i need I'd appreciate it, thanks.

[Tea]

Here.

[Tea]

And why in the world would you want to create the icons yourself? I can think of several reasons not to.

[stuartie_b]

Ha! Yes very funny, you think i haven't tried googling it? The amount of shit i've had to wade through in the google results and I still haven't found what I'm looking for. All i want is a simple easy to understand tutorial and i haven't come across one yet. Sure there are plug-ins i can download but i don't want to be generic and that answers why i want to create the icons myself.

[Tea]

Well, here's my thought on why not to.

1. Users recognize the familiar symbols which when the use to share, brings other users to your site. I have found when I see the set of symbols, sometimes there is one I am not familiar with and that's how I learn those sites are out there too.
2. Why double your work load?
3. Are there issues with copyright? Have you checked with each of the sites you want to add to see what their requirements state? They probably have the code too.

example: http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets/?ref=pf

[stuartie_b]

Well i wouldn't do a radically different design just something that isn't the norm like these:

http://plechi.deviantart.com/art/Social-media-icons-118416641
http://www.chris-wallace.com/2009/05...ons-socialize/

http://www.freeiconsdownload.com/Fre...ads.asp?id=568
I might actually use one these designs instead of creating my own.

I see the code on the facebook widgets page, i check the others thanks.

[Drazan]

There's "plugins" that can do it for you. Addthis is one of them. There's another one but I can't think of it at the moment.

However, you are trading convenience for privacy. Your click data is tracked and sold anonymously. Addthis's pro version has graph and datatracking, as well as a few other advanced tools. I'm considering it for one of my network of sites.

Jade

[PrintDriver]

If you are a designer and put these icons to your blog, twits, facebook entries, whatever, you can bet prospective employers WILL read them. Potential clients may also. Watch your content, your 'friends', and your links to other sites.

Also, being a designer you have to choose between using the trademarked icons or being 'creative' (though using other pre-designed clipart isn't being creative in my book). And reading the link you posted above, be sure to get a commercial license if this is for your portfolio site. They are only free for personal use.

Why would you not choose the trademarked icons over someone else's clipart?

[JDNGuru]

Here is an example I used for a client. The basic logos are already eye-catching. They are more prone to be clicked on that other art for replacement.

http://www.korefitnessmn.com/contact.../contacts.html

[Brandon Jackson]

I have no issue with the creative Twitter etc icons. Depending on the site, I usually prefer them.

As for the "code" I'm not sure what you want to do with the code. Do you simply want them to go to your Facebook page and join you, or are you talking about a button that they click and it allows them to "Tweet" your page, or Digg your site?

If the second situation you'd have to apply for individual APIs for the different programs etc and put all the hooks in there, which can be a pain. For the company I work for, we added the AddThis bar and it works great. You can customize it to an extent to fit your page too. I believe you can even give it some custom icons but I never worked too hard with that.

I would certainly look into it if I were you.