Add to Any and AddThis are fantastic and easy to implement bookmarking and sharing buttons. Definitely a must have for anybody hoping to capitalize on traffic to any of the current popular social media sites. So… which one is better? And how do you implement them on your site?
Add to Any
Add to Any is very full featured… allowing automatic sharing/bookmarking for pretty much any service you could think of. It has a search built in to help find the service the user is looking for, and somehow displays recent or useful services at the top of the list for each user. It allows for tracking integration with client-side analytics solutions (think Google Analytics).
To implement, get the button code and paste it wherever you want it on your site, or use any number of CMS plugins available. Note the customization options before you get the code, including the varying images, different # of services to show, etc. If you copy and paste the code, make sure to not include the title of the page or the URL, as they will be dynamically generated by the page that the code is on. The documentation suggests that you type in the URL:
Some people have JavaScript and/or HTTP referers disabled in their browsers. JavaScript is needed for the dropdown menu to appear, and the referring page is used if the page URL isn’t supplied. By typing in the page URL, all visitors will still be able to share, save and bookmark your page regardless of their browser settings. If you do not specify a URL, Add to Any will automatically detect the current page using JavaScript and/or the refererring page, and your visitors will always be able to click the button to go to the landing page.
…but unless you’re only using the code on a couple of pages, you won’t be able to.
AddThis
AddThis also offers the user a number of services for bookmarking/sharing, and comes with a fancy drop down menu. For AddThis, you create an account, and analytics are provided when you log in.
Implementation is actually a little trickier than Add to Any, but offers a good amount of customization. For some reason the WordPress plugin they offer uses a version of the button without the dropdown menu, so you should copy and paste the code generated when you select “put it on a website.” Check out the customization options to use your own logo, change services, etc.
Which One is Better?
AddThis has some advantages:
- Hosted, independent analytics
- Extensive customization options
- Streamlined/simple design
…but so does Add To Any:
- More fully featured with search and email options
- All services are contained within the dropdown
- Bookmark options function better (FFox bookmarking with AddThis doesn’t work properly)
- Google Analytics integration
The email and bookmark options, and Google Analytics integration make Add to Any a more attractive choice for me. If you don’t use Google Analytics, and a clean, branded look is more important, then you could definitely give AddThis a try. Bottom line, either option is extremely useful and I would recommend implementing one or the other as soon as possible if you haven’t already!
