Components: Social Share Buttons#

Guides implementation of share buttons that let users share the current page (article, post, product) to social platforms. Distinct from social profile links (footer links to your brand's X, LinkedIn, etc.) — share buttons share this content.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Scope#

• Share buttons: Share current page URL to X, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.
• Not social profile links (e.g. "Follow us on X") — those live in footer/nav

Why It Matters#

• Websites with visible social share icons tend to see higher social engagement
• Share buttons amplify reach; Open Graph and Twitter Cards control preview — see open-graph, twitter-cards

Placement (Article Pages)#

Fewer, better-placed buttons outperform scattered placement. Research: removing 80% of buttons and repositioning the remaining 20% at high-emotion moments can 3× conversion on share actions.

PlacementBest ForNotesAfter first paragraphMost articlesCatches speed-readers; visible earlySticky sidebarLong-form (desktop)Always visible; consider hiding on mobileBelow title / heroShort postsHigh visibilityEnd of articleAllNatural completion point; pair with CTAMid-article (after key insight)Long contentPlace at friction points (after surprising stat, before CTA)

Avoid: Dozens of icons; every platform when audience uses 2–3. Choose 3–5 platforms that match your audience (e.g. B2B: X, LinkedIn; B2C: X, Facebook, WhatsApp).

Share URLs (Intent Links)#

Use platform share/intent URLs so users share with one click:

PlatformShare URL patternX (Twitter)https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url={url}&text={text}LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url={url}Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u={url}WhatsApphttps://wa.me/?text={url}%20{text}Telegramhttps://t.me/share/url?url={url}&text={text}

Encode url and text with encodeURIComponent(). Use page title or a short pre-written message for text — platform-specific prompts with pre-written messages perform ~4× better than generic icons.

Platform Brand Guidelines (Icons)#

Use official brand assets. Minimum sizes and color rules:

PlatformMin sizeColorsNotesFacebook16pxBlue #1877F2 or monochromeNo rotation, animation without permissionX (Twitter)32pxBlack or white onlyUse current X logo, not deprecated birdLinkedIn21px heightBlue #0A66C2 or monochromeUse "in" bug for iconsInstagram29×29pxBlack, white, or official gradientGlyph for social icons

Source icons from official brand resource centers. Outdated or non-compliant icons reduce perceived shareability.

Design & Technical#

ItemGuidelineFormatSVG preferred (scalable, small); PNG/WebP with fallbackPerformanceLightweight; avoid heavy share plugins that slow LCPAccessibilityaria-label="Share on X"; keyboard accessibleMobileTouch targets ≥44×44px; consider native share API ( navigator.share) on mobile

Native Share API (Mobile)#

On supported browsers, navigator.share lets users share via system dialog (includes more apps). Fallback to intent links when unsupported:

javascript

if (navigator.share) {
  navigator.share({ title, url, text }).catch(() => {});
} else {
  window.open(shareUrl, '_blank', 'noopener');
}

Output Format#

• Placement recommendation for page type
• Platforms to include (3–5)
• Share URL examples with placeholders
• Icon guidelines (size, source)
• Accessibility checklist

Related Skills#

• article-page-generator: Share buttons on article pages; placement after intro, end of article
• blog-page-generator: Share buttons on blog index and post cards
• open-graph: OG tags control share preview (og:image, og:title, etc.) — required for share buttons to show rich cards on Facebook, LinkedIn
• twitter-cards: Twitter Cards control X preview — required for share buttons to show rich cards when shared to X
• footer-generator: Footer has social profile links (Follow us); this skill is for share buttons (share this page)