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/ Crafty Social Buttons

Crafty Social Buttons

By Sarah

Marketing & Advertising / Social Media Marketing

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Crafty Social Buttons Review - In-Depth Analysis

Crafty Social Buttons adds social sharing and link buttons for craft-related sites and major social networks. Customize button styles and positions to enhance your website's social engagement.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.71/10

User Rating

4.7/5 (based on 40+ reviews)

Active Installations

900+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

5 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin adds a set of social buttons to your website, including craft-related social sites like Ravelry, Etsy, Craftsy, and Pinterest, as well as other major social networks, including WhatsApp. Support for sharing to WhatsApp is also provided on mobile devices. You can choose from nine different button styles to match your theme. You can have the share buttons automatically added to the top or bottom of each post, and can position the link buttons using either a widget, a shortcode, or a template action hook.

You can use the share button and link button functions either separately or together: Share Button mode allows you to put a set of buttons at the top or bottom of each post. Each button will share that post with that particular service. For instance, clicking the Facebook icon will open a window for the user to share your post on their Facebook page. Not all services support sharing; for example, you can’t share via Etsy or Craftsy.

Link Button mode lets you configure the buttons to link directly to your profiles on the social networks. For instance, clicking the Facebook icon will take the user to your Facebook page, while clicking the Etsy icon will take them to your Etsy shop. These buttons can be included in your header, sidebars, or footer, as they are not specific to a post. You can easily include them by adding the Social Link Button widget to the area where you want the buttons to appear.

Supported social services include Craftinoo, Craftsy, Dawanda, Digg, Ebay, Email, Etsy, Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Ravelry, Reddit, Specific Feeds, Stumble Upon, Tumblr, Twitter, Vimeo, VK, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Xing.

You can also choose exactly which services you want separately for each mode, allowing you to have Share Buttons for Ravelry, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Email, but Link Buttons for Google+, Craftsy, Pinterest, and your Etsy shop.

For more information, see the plugin website.

Future Editions include adding the ability to share/link to Flipboard, Goodreads, and 500px; additional options for layout and style of the buttons; and shortcode options for more manual control of the buttons.

Comparing to Alternatives

Crafty Social Buttons stands out in the social sharing plugin category with several close alternatives available for users seeking similar functionality.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Highly rated with 87.5% five-star reviews indicating strong user satisfaction
Offers a variety of button styles and customization options
Includes both share and follow buttons with share counts
Easy to use with shortcode support
Lightweight and fast performance

Weaknesses

No longer actively updated, with the last security fix in 2017
Known medium severity XSS vulnerability fixed only in version 1.5.8
Lacks a pro version with advanced premium features
Some outdated social network buttons like Google+

User Sentiment Analysis

With a strong 4.7 out of 5 rating from 40 users, the plugin enjoys overwhelmingly positive feedback, though a small minority expressed dissatisfaction.

Positive highlights

"Most fashionable button I have ever seen" – iidob
"Great plugin, superfast and easy to use" – Jayanta
"Beautifully designed with customizable styles" – tifaspage
"Simple, all-in-one solution with share counts" – Jayanta
"Great plugin but would like additional icons like TripAdvisor" – siddallj

Common complaints

Weaknesses

Security vulnerability history may concern cautious users
No recent updates to address modern social networks or features
Lack of premium support or advanced features due to absence of pro version

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users looking for a simple, visually appealing, and easy-to-use social sharing plugin with essential features and customization options.

Not ideal for

Those requiring up-to-date social network integrations, advanced premium features, or ongoing security support should consider other actively maintained plugins.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers a comprehensive set of social sharing and follow buttons with multiple styles and share counts, suitable for most basic needs.

Final Verdict

Crafty Social Buttons is a well-designed and user-friendly plugin that delivers essential social sharing features with attractive button styles. Its high user ratings reflect satisfaction with its ease of use and visual appeal. However, the plugin has not been updated recently and has a known security vulnerability that was fixed in 2017, which may be a concern for some users.

While it lacks a pro version and advanced features, it remains a solid choice for users seeking a straightforward social sharing solution. Those needing more current social network support or premium options should explore the many available alternatives.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Crafty Social Buttons plugin.

social sharing

social buttons

craft-related social sites

Screenshots

FAQ

The easiest way to install is through the WordPress control panel. On the plugins page, search for Crafty Social Buttons and click Install. Once installed, Activate the plugin.

You can also download the plugin and then follow these steps:

Upload the whole crafty-social-buttons folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress

Once you have activated, you will see a message bar confirming that it has been installed, with a convenient link to the settings page where you can configure the options for how and where the buttons will appear.
You will also find a new Widget called Crafty Social Link Buttons, which can be added to any widget area in your theme.