Adding the Facebook Like Button

Facebook Like connects your blog to millions of people on Facebook

The Facebook Like button enables your blog readers to opt in to receive your blog updates in their Facebook News Feed. And it's now available for all TypePad blogs.

Connecting your blog to the ever growing Facebook universe ensures your most avid readers are reminded to come back to your blog as soon as there is fresh content.  And that means more visitors! Horray! 

Plus your readers can help you publicize your blog. When they hit the "Like" button their Facebook friends get to learn about your blog, so now they have a chance to let their friends know that they LIKE your site.

Our friends at Facebook know how keen the TypePad Team are on building community and helping our bloggers build their audience so they invited us (Six Apart) to be an official launch partner. Pretty cool.

So what's next?

1) First things first. You have to add it. Super simple. Just go to Settings and Sharing and follow the prompts. Don't forget if you're a Pro user you can move the module around the design of your blog to place it wherever your heart desires. In Design > Content.

2) If you already have a Fan Page on Facebook you might like to ask your Facebook fans to also "Like" your blog. (These lists of fans don't sync up right now.)

3) You might also think about explaining the new Like button to your blog readers and inviting them to "Like" it so they can follow you on Facebook.

That's it! Let us know how it goes

We made a list of these and other great questions, answers, and ideas from our beta users. Read on to find out more.

The arrival of the Facebook Like button has some pretty exciting consequences for brand marketers and media businesses. You can read more about that on the Six Apart blog.

FAQs

• Are users who "Like" my blog the same as the fans of my Facebook page?

If you have already created a Facebook fan page for your blog, users who are fans of that page will not automatically be carried over to additionally "Like" your blog. While the actions are similar, the "Like" concept is essentially an evolution of the Fan Page. It allows Facebook users to "Like" sites they find across the web, send these updates to their networks, and redirect their networks to these sites without stopping at a Facebook page.
 

• How can I see all of the users on Facebook who have "liked" my blog?
  

Once you've added the "Like" button to your blog, as the blog owner you will see an "Admin Page" link directly in the placement. This link is only seen by, and available to, you. Clicking through the link will take you to an Admin page for your blog, showcasing who on Facebook has "Liked" your posts and what post updates they've seen displayed in their news feeds.
 

• How can I get the "Like" button to show at my post footer so that users can "Like" my individual posts?

This is a great idea and we're working on it. Expect to see this feature sometime soon. For those of you on advanced templates, you can test out the per post like button now

• I'm trying to connect my blog to Facebook but the connection continues to spin and returns a "webpage not found" error.

We are looking into this issue but have not been able to track down the root cause yet. We recommend that you switch to Firefox to connect your blog since Internet Explorer users have had more issues with connecting their blogs.

•  Can I customize the Like button?

The widget content is controlled and served by Facebook through an iframe (image) that we've made available to your blog. TypePad does not have control over the styling of the button or the copy and links. In the next release, we'll fix it so that the widget will automatically detect the width of your sidebar and fit appropriately. There are some minimal customization options available through Facebook's Social Plugins  page.

Comments

[A Twitter User]

I love this new feature, but the like button gets cut off in my sidebar. Is there any smaller option?

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Good Girl - we'll be optimizing the button to fit your side bar next week. so sit tight! It's coming :)

[James Gray]

Great feature! I configured this in settings but I don't see the widget on my sidebar on www.infotechleader.com. Any suggestions?

[Kofla Olivieri]

I was finally able to add to my blog! thanks :-)

[Account Deleted]

James,

Try going to your "Dashboard", and under the heading "Manage my blog" click on 'design'. Next, click on 'content'. If you set the categories to all, you should see the "Facebook Like" option in the middle window labeled "modules". You can drag it to your sidebar from there, and voila!

Hope this helps,

Justin

[A Twitter User]

When I go into settings/sharing and select connect your blog to Facebook. I'm able to connect my blog to facebook, but there isn't an option to save settings. So, when I leave the screen and go back to settings/sharing it shows that I haven't connected to Facebook yet.

[Account Deleted]

Blogger(Blogspot) has a FB I Like feature in each post. Also Wordpress...but here at Typepad, no FB I Like ......:-(

[Account Deleted]

You need to be logged in to your Facebook account first, so after you clicked the "Connect Your Blog to FB" it will go to another page with the "Facebook I Like Widget" that you have to click, and then after that, there's gonna be a Facebook pop-up that would ask your permission, and when you clicked "Yes Allow", then it's connected.

[Agnes]

I am not on Facebook -- will I still be able to add the per-post LIKE button?
(I was able to add the TWEET THIS button even though I am not on Twitter.)

[A Twitter User]

That's the problem. When I click on Connect Your Blog to FB, I don't get the page with the "Facebook I Like Widget", all I get is that one person now likes my blog.

[raisinaruckus]

so I added the like button but the blog doesn't show up in their newsfeed. I never got a series of pop up questions to answer. am I doing something wrong??

[ScrampAddict]

Can I customize the width of my widget? It gets cut off in my sidebar. I would also like to NOT display the faces and only site the number of 'Likes', is this customizable?

[Laura Komai]

Looks like an awesome addition. I'm still getting the "wesbite not found" message even though I'm using Firefox. Will try to be patient.

[Adam]

On the "webpage not found" issue, I had this happen with one of my blogs. The problem turned out to be an existing fan page for that blog, which I'd forgotten about. When I deleted that, it was all fine.

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Bing - as mentioned in the post this is on its way. Blog level and post level "Likes" have slightly different functions/benefits. The blog level like allows your blog to act like a facebook fan page - that's pretty cool. But we heard the need for post level Like too from previous feedback - so it's coming in the next release.

[Claire Alcock]

Hey Scampaddict - we'll auto fit your button to the width of your post in a coming release of TypePad like I mentioned in the post. How the pics/# of likes are displayed is controlled by Facebook.

[Claire Alcock]

That's interesting Adam - I'll pass that on, thanks

[Claire Alcock]

Laura - just want to make sure you saw Adam's comment below. Let me know if this applies to you :)

[Claire Alcock]

Yay - great news Kofla! Do you know what the prob was?

[Claire Alcock]

thanks Justin :)

[Miguel]

a "share on facebook" button bellow each post should be more interesting...

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

Me, too!

I did this for my Musings Blog, but not my Meowsings, as I & my Cat are still contemplating a Fan Page HIS blog.
;-D

I don't get any pop-ups with permissions to approve, and I do mot see the Facebook Like Module in my Module List.

Like BTB I see that I now like myself, and that fact is confirmed by a "Kiril Like's" update on my FB Profile Page.

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

OK, this is interesting!

When I clicked the "I Like" I was taken to an Admin Page on FB for a brand new Fan Page for Musings on FB!

I was able to create an FB Badge for the page, and add it as a module to my sidebar.

The same for Nikita's Blog as well.

So both my blogs have Fan Pages, now, with me as Administrator, but I still am unable to do anything regarding your new "I Like" Button. ;-D

[hollywood housewife]

I don't understand why I have to be logged in to Facebook to make this connection. Is this somehow connected to my personal Facebook page?

I don't want my blog and personal FB to be connected, but I do like the idea of my blog readers being able to "like" my blog, since I don't have a FB fan page. Am I confused about how it works?

[Account Deleted]

I tried, all possible options.. did not work for me.
When I click the Facebook Connect button, it connects to FB account
and i followed the instructions.. and other advice posted here.. I did not see any within the "categories-all in the middle window labeled "modules".
Please help

[Account Deleted]

In a way, you have to be connected because you're the administrator of your fan page. So when you create a page, you have to be a FB member. So when you clicked to Connect, you must be logged in to your FB personal page, so it would create a fan page for you as the administrator of the fan page. I think no one can create a fan page unless you create a personal page first---that's what I think.

Your FB personal page will not be connected in your fan page. It is separate. Your updates in your personal FB will not appear on your Blog Fan Page. But if you update your Blog Fan Page, all your friends on your personal FB who Like (Fan) your Blog Fan Page, they will see your updates.

[hollywood housewife]

Thank you for answering!

But doesn't this create a separate page than a FB fan page? So then do I have control over what is posted or no? From what I'm understanding, it's making FB almost like a reader, just posting to your "like" fans stream when you post something new to your blog. Would I be able to post links to other relevant blogs, etc. like I can on a FB fan page? No, right?

I guess I don't understand why you would have both.

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

Additionally, Facebook allows me, as Page Admin. of my Fan Pages, to set up an FB Ad with the Like Button as part of it, if I choose.

Still haven't found a way to add your version of the Like Button.

[Kofla Olivieri]

Claire, I don't know. I tried a while back when you guys first made the announcement for beta members only. This time it worked as intended.

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

Regarding the Update...OK, I think I'll delete my new pages mentioned before, and try again when they have things working.

Why have a Fan Page when I don't have to?

[Laura Komai]

Claire-
Thanks for your reply.  It probably would have helped if Id checked my blog before commenting because even though I got that message about page not found,  I can see the Like button now appears with the Facebook widget that is on our blog so it looks like all is well.  Thanks to the whole Typepad team for your continued efforts to make things run smoothly!

[datittle]

I see the module in my settings, have moved it to my sidebar and still don't see it on the live page? Have not been able to get this to work since you launched.

[datittle]

having same problem. When I initially set it up during the beta release, a facebook page was created, I could see the Facebook module in Design>content, but it never showed on my live page...just tried going through the process again and now it doesn't even show as an available option.

[datittle]

I give up. I've deleted the FB page originally created during beta, re-initiated using Google Chrome, allowed publishing...and once again, I see the Like Module in my sidebar when I'm on Design>content page...but NO LIVE button.

[achtungbabyblog]

how do I unlike a blog?

[Account Deleted]

But I already have a Facebook fan page and don't want my "blog to act like a facebook fan page." I've got enough stray accounts to manage and want all my Facebook fans in one place.

I tried getting the Like Box social media code for my page directly from Facebook and inserting it into an "embed your own html" sidebar widget. Didn't work. Is there a problem because it's an iframe?

The code to insert my Facebook page banner into Typepad worked very well, but I much prefer having a like box for my fan page!

[Steve McCoy]

Like this addition. Thanks TypePad.

[.tiff]

Hi Agnes. When the per-post "Like" button is introduced you will be able to integrate it into your blog without being a Facebook member. Whereas the blog level "like" requires a facebook account and connection, the "like" button on the post doesn't require you as the blog owner to have a facebook account.

[.tiff]

I think the best way to describe the difference is the "Like" button feature cuts out the middle man of the Facebook Fan page by redirecting users who see your blog updates in their newfeeds directly to your blog instead of your page. This ensures that your blog or site gets most of the traffic, instead of the fan page. It's a bit confusing since Facebook still creates an admin fan page for your blog once you add the like button, but that page is only viewable to you.

Once the 'invisible' fan page is created on Facebook, in addition to updating users who've "liked" your blog with post updates that link directly back to your blog, you can also send out other post updates, links, photos, etc. using the fan page if you desire. This kind of varied posting activity is similar to a fan page, but again, any post updates from your blog redirect right back to YOUR blog instead of your fan page... which is a good thing.

Hope that helps!

[.tiff]

If you want to unlike a blog you liked, all you have to do is hit the 'like' button again.

If you want to disconnect your blog from the like widget, you'll have to go into your sharing tabs and choose 'disconnect'. Disconnecting your blog will remove the widget from your sidebar, and discontinue sending any post updates to users who have liked your blog.

[achtungbabyblog]

Thanks for the info!

[Agnes]

Perfect -- thanks :-)

[TheTravelBlogger]

I go to Settings / Sharing / Connect your blog to Facebook.
While I am signed into FB I click the STEP 1 FB Connect button.
A window opens in STEP 2 and I am presented a LIKE button. I click it and it adds the LIKE action to my personal FB profile and doesn't appear to offer any connection to my FB PAGE.
I go to Design / Content and can't find any reference to a placement of a LIKE button on my site.

[Kofla Olivieri]

I just noticed that the "Like) widget in my blog changed from (4 people like this) to (4)

[.tiff]

Hi Kofla. Since your sidebar width is smaller than 250px, the "Like" button is showcasing as the # only version to look better in the dimensions of your sidebar. We implemented this slight change with the newest TypePad release as before the widget would cut off in sidebars less than 250px wide.

[.tiff]

Hi there. Sometimes Facebook has trouble establishing a connection with TypePad after pressing the like button, and until a connection is made the Like button will not display on your blog. The best way to know the connection worked is when a "Permissions" light box displays from Facebook a few seconds after hitting the "Like" button. If this doesn't display, then my best advice is to refresh the page and try again, or try again later. Hope you get it to work!

[Kofla Olivieri]

Thank you for the clarification .tiff

[TheTravelBlogger]

Still not working.... Been turning the LIKE option on and off and it never asks me for additional info or presents a permissions box.... This is frustrating. I removed FB iframe code off of my site to see if that was hanging it up but it didn't help. Anyone have anyother ideas?

[Sarah]

I can't figure out where to see this:

Once you've added the "Like" button to your blog, as the blog owner you will see an "Admin Page" link directly in the placement. This link is only seen by, and available to, you. Clicking through the link will take you to an Admin page for your blog, showcasing who on Facebook has "Liked" your posts and what post updates they've seen displayed in their news feeds.

[James Gray]

Justin, I followed the instructions on the sharing area and logged into FB and did get the "Admin Page" link. I did not get any other instructions to "select my blog". I also do not see the "Facebook Like" module in the categories. I do see my existing FB page fine. Any suggestions?

[Craig Newmark]

1. Per Sarah Coole's comments, I can't see the admin page stuff at all.

2. How does one include the like button in the kind of iframe that floats so that it's centered near the top of the blog, without blocking content.

3. I can see that my blog page includes the header metatags for the open graph protocol. how does that connect to FB in ways beyond the Like button?

thanks!

[.tiff]

Hi there! We released an update a few days ago that uses the smaller version of the "Like" button when your sidebar width is less than 250px (the minimum size of the "Like" button that shows avatars). You should now see that the "Like" button is just a button and the # of users who have liked your blog. Hope that helps!

[.tiff]

Hi ScrampAddict. We released a change a few days ago that shows the "Like" button as just a button and the # of people who've liked it if your sidebar width is less than 250px (the default size of the widget with faces). This should meet your requirements as stated above, so try adding the Facebook widget again. Hope this helps!

[.tiff]

Hi Sarah. If the Facebook button is properly installed on your blog and you are logged into Facebook with the account you used to connect your blog, then you *should* see an "admin page" link directly on the blog widget that will take you to the admin page of your blog. You will not see this link if you are logged out of Facebook. Hope that provides some clarification.

[Account Deleted]

We use custom templates with our blog. I also don't see the ability to administer the Facebook Like module now that I have connected our blog to it. I assume the two things are related.

Does this functionality only work with pre-set Typepad templates?

[A'Dell]

Per Sarah Cole and Craig Norman I can't see the admin link either. I am logged into the same account, but it's not showing up for me. Help?

[.tiff]

You can also try going to your "sharing" tab under your blog settings. If you've set up the connection with Facebook, there will be a link that says "Manage your blog on Facebook". Click that or head to http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/ to access a list of the pages you manage on Facebook. Your blog should show up as one of those 'pages'.

[Lea Longo Live Entertainment]

hi there, the "become a fan is there bit not the LIKE logo.... is this normal?
also, is this better than having the rss feed (feedblitz)there... i find my blog has a lot of sign ups now...

also where is it on my facebook page? how do i add this to my FACEBOOK page not the admin page so fans can "like" ...

[Lea Longo Live Entertainment]

that's funny ... i just did it again and now I see the LIKE logo but it is on the other (lEFT) side ... i wanted it to be on the right... maybe because there wasn't enough space???

how do i let my facebook people know about this addition ? the button is not on my FB page?

[sanjayrag]

Exact same problem as Kiril describes above. Is there a solution please?

[sanjayrag]

Claire, when is the next release please?

[David Hooper]

Would be nice if we could have this and/or a text link that does the same thing added to the footer of each blog post.

[.tiff]

We're working on it. Expect to see something soon!

[.tiff]

Hey Lea. You can change the position of the like button in your sidebar by going to the Design section of your blog and entering the Content tab. You should see the "Facebook Like" widget, and you can move it around.

Adding this "Like" button on your blog does not add anything to your profile necessarily. When you click the "like" button, it sends an update to your profile saying that you like your blog, which your facebook network may notice in their news streams. That said, I encourage you to create a post in your blog notifying your readers that you've added button, or even update your profile with the news. Hope that helps!

[Account Deleted]

Hi James,

Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions. Being that it's 9 days later, hopefully you've figured it out already!

Justin

[Claire Alcock]

Hi Sanjayrag - The next release is this Thursday. Not long now!

[Geoff Skow]

"2) If you already have a Fan Page on Facebook you might like to ask your Facebook fans to also "Like" your blog. (These lists of fans don't sync up right now.)"

Do you have any info about if or when URLs and pre-existing fan pages will be "synced"?

Thanks

[Account Deleted]

Exact same problem as above. Any news?

[H.B. London]

This makes two comments here that instruct us to go to the "Design" link and enter the "Content" tab. I have no "Content" tab on my "Design" page. What are you talking about?

[.tiff]

Hiya! We just launched the Like button for your post footer. Check it out! http://bit.ly/d9bSvd. Enjoy!

[.tiff]

Hey Agnes. The like button for the post footer is out! Read more about it here, and enjoy! http://bit.ly/d9bSvd

[.tiff]

If you navigate to the blog you have added the Like Button to and go to the design tab you should see a button that says "Content" in the left hand column. Clicking this will take you to where you would normally choose what content you want to feature in your sidebar module, (such as a link roll, or archives). If you've properly set up the Facebook like button for your blog, you should see a module labeled "Facebook Like". Hope that answers your question.

[.tiff]

Hi David. You can now add a "like" button to your post footer. Check out this post for instructions, hope that helps! http://bit.ly/d9bSvd

[David Hooper]

Great addition! Thanks for the quick response!

[Agnes]

Awesome -- THANKS :-)))))

[H.B. London]

I can login to my blog maintenance in Typepad. I can then select the "Design" link/tab for the blog. However, there is nothing in the left column except one button for "Templates" under an image that shows "". Nothing I can find is called "Contents." I'm not even sure if I have correctly added the Like button. I don't see it displayed anywhere on the blog. I'm also concerned that I may be doing this wrong since the only Facebook profile I have is my personal one. Do I need one for the blog?

[H.B. London]

I can login to my blog maintenance in Typepad and see the "Dashboard" page. I can then select the "Design" link for the blog in a box on the right side. However, once on the "Design" page, there is nothing in the left column except one button for "Templates" under an image that shows "". Nothing I can find is called "Contents." It's as if I am looking at an old version of the pages everyone else is talking about. I'm not even sure if I have correctly added the Like button. I don't see it displayed anywhere on the blog. I'm also concerned that I may be doing this wrong since the only Facebook profile I have is my personal one. Do I need one for the blog?

[.tiff]

It sounds like you are using an advanced template design, perhaps? If so, you'll need to manually add some code to your design in order to get the like button to work. If you check this KB article, there are instructions for how you can add the Like button widget... please let me know if this does not solve your problem! http://help.sixapart.com/tp/us/facebook_like_widget.html

[H.B. London]

I think we are part way there. I apparently am using an advanced template design (set up by someone who maintained this blog before I came along). I was able to copy the iframe code into my sidebar template, tweak its size and position a little, and it looks good. I have asked a few friends to click the LIKE button, and it seems to be increasing the number of people who like the blog. Now I am waiting until my next post occurs on Monday morning to see what, if anything, happens on our Facebook pages. After that, I think I want to try to add the LIKE button to individual posts. Perhaps I'll talk to you again then. Thank you for your help this afternoon.

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

I keep getting an error message, on my Meowsings blog attempt, and no permissions pop-ups, lights, or whatever.

Will keep trying.

When I did the steps for my Musings blog no permission thing came up, but I was allowed to Like my blog, and FB set up a page for me to Administer.

There is no Blog Like button anywhere on this blog, however.

I have no clue how to proceed.

Both my Musings, and Meowsings, Blogs had no problem setting up Like Buttons for individual posts.

If they work I don't know, as no-one has clicked on them yet. ;-D

[Tiff (TypePad Team)]

Hi James. The facebook "like" button will not be added to your blog unless you successfully go through the flow in the sharing tab to connect to facebook. By successfully I mean that a) after you connected to Facebook you'll see a "Like" button, you must hit the like button, then some time after you do you'll see a Permissions dialogue from Facebook that you must agree to. b) once you've successfully agreed to those permissions, the app should return you to the sharing tab and you'll see a confirmation message letting you know that it has been added to your blog design.

By that point, you should see a 'Facebook Like' widget added to your blog design. You should also notice that the sharing tab says that you are connected, with a button to disconnect if desired and a link to "Manage Your Blog on Facebook", which will take you to Facebook to manage your blog there.

If this does not work the first time, I suggest refreshing the setup page and trying again until you get the permissions screen. Sometimes Facebook has trouble registering the connection with TypePad, and until it does the button will not be installed on your blog. Please let me know if this does not work for you. Hope that helps!

[Tiff (TypePad Team)]

Do you see the 'like' button widget on your blog? If so, you may have successfully added it, but if you or your fans are not seeing post updates in their news streams then there's a chance that it somehow lost it's connection with facebook. I would suggest going to the Sharing tab and hitting the 'disconnect' button, and then adding the button back again and testing. This happened to my blog, but after I disconnected and reconnected the posts were properly sent to facebook. Hope that helps!

[Account Deleted]

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