For now, let’s take a look at what reddit has to offer…

reddit has a larger list of buttons than Digg. For this post, I shall use the button that looks most like the default buttons you see on reddit.com. Again, I selected this button for usability reasons because I want people who are familiar with reddit to feel comforable with the reddit buttons on my web site.

Here’s How the reddit Button Will Look on Your Web Site…

If your blog post has been submitted to reddit, you should see a reddit number and a “reddit” text in your reddit button.

If you or someone else has not submitted your blog post to reddit, you won’t see any redditnumber but you will see the option to submit your blog post to reddit.

reddit’s Integration Code

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.reddit.com/button.js?t=2"></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>reddit_url='[URL]'</script>
<script type='text/javascript'>reddit_title='[TITLE]'</script>

WordPress Default Theme’s index.php Template

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
	<div class="post" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
		<h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
		<small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> <!-- by <?php the_author() ?> --></small>
		<div class="entry">
			<?php the_content('Read the rest of this entry &raquo;'); ?>
		</div>
		<p class="postmetadata"><?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', '<br />'); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(', ') ?> | <?php edit_post_link('Edit', '', ' | '); ?>  <?php comments_popup_link('No Comments &#187;', '1 Comment &#187;', '% Comments &#187;'); ?></p>
	</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>

What We Need to Do

We need to replace reddit integration code’s [URL] and [TITLE] with WordPress’ <?php the_permalink() ?> and <?php the_title(); ?> respectively somewhere within the WordPress Loop.

Basic Example of reddit Integration with WordPress

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
	<div class="post" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
		<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.reddit.com/button.js?t=2"></script>
		<script type='text/javascript'>reddit_url='<?php the_permalink() ?>'</script>
		<script type='text/javascript'>reddit_title='<?php the_title(); ?>'</script>
		<h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
		<small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> <!-- by <?php the_author() ?> --></small>
		<div class="entry">
			<?php the_content('Read the rest of this entry &raquo;'); ?>
		</div>
		<p class="postmetadata"><?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', '<br />'); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(', ') ?> | <?php edit_post_link('Edit', '', ' | '); ?>  <?php comments_popup_link('No Comments &#187;', '1 Comment &#187;', '% Comments &#187;'); ?></p>
	</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>

This alone wouldn’t look good on your web site. We need some CSS style to spice things up!

reddit Integration with WordPress with HTML and CSS

<div class="social_news">
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.reddit.com/button.js?t=2"></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>reddit_url='[URL]'</script>
<script type='text/javascript'>reddit_title='[TITLE]'</script>
</div>

.social_news
{
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;
	padding: 0px;
	float: right;
}

.social_news
{
	margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;
	padding: 0px;
	float: left;
}

Wrap the reddit code with a DIV class. You may choose to align the DIV class left or right but I think it looks better on the right.

Here’s the full source code:

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
	<div class="post" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
		<div class="social_news">
		<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.reddit.com/button.js?t=2"></script>
		<script type='text/javascript'>reddit_url='<?php the_permalink() ?>'</script>
		<script type='text/javascript'>reddit_title='<?php the_title(); ?>'</script>
		</div>
		<h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
		<small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> <!-- by <?php the_author() ?> --></small>
		<div class="entry">
			<?php the_content('Read the rest of this entry &raquo;'); ?>
		</div>
		<p class="postmetadata"><?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', '<br />'); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(', ') ?> | <?php edit_post_link('Edit', '', ' | '); ?>  <?php comments_popup_link('No Comments &#187;', '1 Comment &#187;', '% Comments &#187;'); ?></p>
	</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>

You may apply this modification to your WordPress theme’s single.php and page.php or any other template that has the WordPress Loop.

A WordPress Plugin Alternative: Digg & Reddit Me Plugin

If you don’t want to edit your WordPress theme files, try using the Digg & Reddit Me plugin. I personally think it would be too much of a hassle to manually insert the code into each post if I were to use this plugin but it really depends on your preferences and needs for your WordPress blog.

• “Digg This” with Submit Capability
• Simple “Digg This” with Digg Count (original version)
• Custom Submission-Only Button

I think the 1st option makes the most sense. I want a Digg voting button on all my WordPress posts. If I only want a Digg submission button, I can simply use ShareThis, which takes up less space.

Here’s How the “Digg This” with Submit Capability Digg Button Will Look on Your Web Site…

If your blog post has been submitted to Digg, you should see a Digg number and a “digg it” text in your Digg button.

If you or someone else has not submitted your blog post to Digg, you won’t see any Digg number but you will see the option to submit your blog post to Digg.

I would refrain from using another style of Digg buttons because this style is consistent with the Digg buttons on Digg.com. I would not want to confuse my readers by using an Digg button style that they are not used to.

Digg’s Integration Code

<script type="text/javascript">
digg_url = 'WEBSITE_URL';
</script>
<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

WordPress Default Theme’s index.php Template

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
	<div class="post" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
		<h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
		<small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> <!-- by <?php the_author() ?> --></small>
		<div class="entry">
			<?php the_content('Read the rest of this entry &raquo;'); ?>
		</div>
		<p class="postmetadata"><?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', '<br />'); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(', ') ?> | <?php edit_post_link('Edit', '', ' | '); ?>  <?php comments_popup_link('No Comments &#187;', '1 Comment &#187;', '% Comments &#187;'); ?></p>
	</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>

What We Need to Do

We need to replace Digg integration code’s WEBSITE_URL with WordPress’ <?php the_permalink() ?> somewhere within the WordPress Loop.

Basic Example of Digg Integration with WordPress

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
	<div class="post" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
		<script type="text/javascript">
		digg_url = '<?php the_permalink() ?>';
		</script>
		<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
		<h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
		<small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> <!-- by <?php the_author() ?> --></small>
		<div class="entry">
			<?php the_content('Read the rest of this entry &raquo;'); ?>
		</div>
		<p class="postmetadata"><?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', '<br />'); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(', ') ?> | <?php edit_post_link('Edit', '', ' | '); ?>  <?php comments_popup_link('No Comments &#187;', '1 Comment &#187;', '% Comments &#187;'); ?></p>
	</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>

The problem with this basic example is it would look like rubbish in your WordPress blog. A little CSS and HTML is required to display it properly.

Digg Integration with WordPress with HTML and CSS

<div class="social_news">
<script type="text/javascript">
digg_url = '<?php the_permalink() ?>';
</script>
<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</div>

.social_news
{
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;
	padding: 0px;
	float: right;
}

.social_news
{
	margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;
	padding: 0px;
	float: left;
}

Wrap the Digg code with a DIV class. You may choose to align the DIV class left or right but I think it looks better on the right.

Here’s the full source code:

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
	<div class="post" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
		<div class="social_news">
		<script type="text/javascript">
		digg_url = '<?php the_permalink() ?>';
		</script>
		<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
		</div>
		<h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
		<small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> <!-- by <?php the_author() ?> --></small>
		<div class="entry">
			<?php the_content('Read the rest of this entry &raquo;'); ?>
		</div>
		<p class="postmetadata"><?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', '<br />'); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(', ') ?> | <?php edit_post_link('Edit', '', ' | '); ?>  <?php comments_popup_link('No Comments &#187;', '1 Comment &#187;', '% Comments &#187;'); ?></p>
	</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>

You may apply this modification to your WordPress theme’s single.php and page.php or any other template that has the WordPress Loop.

A WordPress Plugin Alternative: Digg & Reddit Me Plugin

If you don’t want to edit your WordPress theme files, try using the Digg & Reddit Me plugin. I personally think it would be too much of a hassle to manually insert the code into each post if I were to use this plugin but it really depends on your preferences and needs for your WordPress blog.

The 2007 WordPress Plugin List

1. Akismet – Default WordPress plugin but worth keeping.
2. WordPress Database Backup – Default WordPress plugin but worth keeping.
3. Similar Posts – This plugin now requires an additional plugin to work. You may find out more by visiting their wb site.
   
4. Subscribe To Comments
5. Math Comment Spam Protection – Prefer to use word verification spam protection like WP-reCAPTCHA. Some spam bots have figured out how to do some simple math calculations. 1 + 1 = 2 isn’t hard for them to figure out.
   
6. Simple Trackback Validation
7. Social Bookmark Creator – ShareThis is an upgrade of this plugin.
   
8. Ultimate Tag Warrior – Obsolete now because WordPress now has a built-in tagging feature.
   
9. Another WordPress Meta Plugin – All in One SEO Pack is an upgrade of this plugin.
   
10. Feedburner Feed Replacement – FeedBurner FeedSmith is an upgrade of this plugin.
    
11. Feed Control
12. Filosofo Home-Page Control – Still works way better than the default WordPress feature because you do not need to install your blog in a folder like “/blog” to display your posts in the “/blog” folder.
    
13. My Page Order
14. Google Sitemaps
15. Smart Archives
16. monthchunks – Removed because I do not want too many outgoing links on my web site.
    
17. wordTube – Still has a place for the playing of FLV videos and MP3s.
    
18. WP-ContactForm

The 2008 WordPress Plugin List

1. Akismet
2. WordPress Database Backup
3. Similar Posts
4. Subscribe To Comments
5. Simple Trackback Validation
6. Feed Control
7. Filosofo Home-Page Control
8. My Page Order
9. Google Sitemaps
10. Smart Archives – There should be better ones available.
    
11. wordTube
12. WP-ContactForm – There should be better ones available.
    
13. All in One SEO Pack – Replaces the Another WordPress Meta Plugin and SEO Title Tag plugins.
14. FeedBurner FeedSmith – Replaces the Feedburner Feed Replacement plugin.
15. ShareThis – Replaces the Social Bookmark Creator plugin.
16. WP-reCAPTCHA – Replaces the Math Comment Spam Protection plugin. You need to sign up for an account and enter the keys to use this plugin. This plugin has an additional email address protection feature.
17. Zemanta – A great blogging helper tool that lets you find similar content to the post you are creating.
18. Google to Yahoo Sitemap Converter – This is not actually a plugin but a normal PHP script, which needs to be run on a regular basis via a cron job. It will be obsolete soon once Yahoo and MSN adopt Google’s sitemap standards.

Happy blogging!