Multiple Like Buttons on a Single Page (Technical Tuesday)

My last post explained how to put a Like button on a web page. That sets us up nicely to explain how to make different Like buttons for different parts of a page.

For example, imagine you have a page that lists all of your books. You could have a Like button for each of them right below the cover image.

Sound good? Let's get going then.

For the purpose of this post, let's say you have a small-to-medium-sized website. It has a home page, a page about you, a page that lists all your books and stories, and a simple form for contacting you. It's nothing fancy, but it's a start. And it looks good.

Because you read my last post, you added a Like button to your home page. Now, you want to add a Like button for each of your books, but you've got a problem. The way the Like button works, it uses the entire page. Even though you put a button next to each book, they all seem to Like the entire page. That's not what you want.

It's a tricky problem, but there is a solution.

Step 1) More Pages

Because you have to Like whole pages, that means you need to create a separate page for each book.

Each page should have the book cover image and your hook (1-2 sentences that describe your book). Fill in the Open Graph tags just the way I explained in my previous article. The page can also have blurbs, snippets, buy links, ISBN, etc. The key is that the page is devoted to the book.

Don't forget to include a Like button on this page.

Step 2) Can You Feel the Like?

Go back to your main books page--the one that has all your books and stories. Add Like buttons to each one just like you did before. The code will look something like this:


<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN -->
<div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style ">
<a class="addthis_button_facebook_like" fb:like:layout="button_count"></a>
...
<!-- AddThis Button END -->


Here's the key. In the first div tag, add the following attribute:


<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN -->

<div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:url="http://url/to/your/book/page">
<a class="addthis_button_facebook_like" fb:like:layout="button_count"></a>
...
<!-- AddThis Button END -->

That's all there is to it.

Now, when someone uses that Like button, it will like the book page just as if they clicked the Like button on the book page itself.

This will work for anything. Just setup a page for the thing you want Liked. Then create a Like button using the page URL. This button can be used on as many different pages as you want.

So, what do you Like? Let me know in the comments.

* Wow! I didn't even know this monument existed before today. It's the monument set up in the square where the Nazis burned books. This particular photo was taken by Chang'r and can be found on Flickr.

How to Add a Facebook Like Button to a Webpage

It's not Tuesday, but this will be a technical post. A few people have asked me about adding Facebook Like buttons to web pages.

Step 1) Facebook and Twitter and Bears, Oh my!

There are so many social networks these days, which ones do you choose?

We've got the big guys: Facebook and Twitter, but what about LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Reddit, Tumblr, and StumbleUpon?

Not to mention a metric slew of sites that aren't as popular, or aren't as social, but still have fans who might want to share your stuff: Blogger, Digg, Buffer, Bitly, WordPress, Posterous, Orkut (are they still around?), MySpace (are they still around?),  FriendFeed, Evernote, and dozens more.

*The metric slew is a unit of measure for those who want to sound precise but who really have no clue how much they are talking about.

I'm recommending you go out to AddThis and grab their code. AddThis is used by some big sites. They are simple to use and have a lot of ways to tinker with their stuff if you're the tinkering type.

When you download their code, they'll ask you to create an account. It's not required, so if you want to try them out first, that's fine. Just dismiss the sign-up window.

Here's three examples of their stuff. (The following examples are setup for web pages, so they don't work as effectively on my blog, sorry. I'll do another post specific to blogs in the future.)

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Note: AddThis isn't paying me anything to promote them. For some reason, companies don't want to give me money to promote them. *sigh*

Step 2) Huh?

Have you ever gone to like a webpage and Facebook decides it wants to use the "Email Me" picture of a giant @ sign instead of the site logo, or the description that comes up is the "About the Author" text instead of the first paragraph of the page? Frustrating, isn't it.

You solve these issues for your site using Open Graph tags. These are meta tags you include at the top of your html page that help Facebook and other sites figure out what's most important.

Now, open up your page to edit it and include the following meta tags at the top in the <head></head> section:

  <head>
    ...
    <meta property="og:title" content="***PAGE TITLE HERE***"/>
    <meta property="og:type" content="***CONTENT HERE***"/>
    <meta property="og:url" content="***URL HERE***"/>
    <meta property="og:image" content="***IMAGE HERE***"/>
    ...
  </head>

These tags tell Facebook what title, url and image to use when someone likes your page. The og:type is also interesting, there are a lot of options including "article", "author" (when you're bragging about yourself), "book" (when you're promoting your book), "cause" (when you're spreading the word for your favorite charity), "activity" (when you're announcing your book release party), and quite a few more.

And that's all you have to do. Go ahead and try it out and let me know how it works for you.

Wrap Up

Now you can help Facebook and other sites know how to share your web pages.

In my next blog post, I will show you what you need to do if your page has many different things you want to like. For example, if you have a bunch of different images or videos or quotes and you want people to like each one separately.

Until then, let me know if these steps were helpful for you in the comments below.

* Ah, the open road. There's more to this picture taken by Takver and posted on  Flickr. Especially check out Takver's  holiday set and protest pictures.

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I'm done. I'm done. I'm done! Hooray?

I accomplished a big goal. I worked many hours over many weeks, and now I'm done.

I should be happy, right?

Instead, I feel like I should still be working toward my goal. I'm a bit lost, and unsure what to do with my time.

Strange?

I don't think so. My guess is that I've spent so much time, consistently, over the last two months that I've built a habit, so my brain and body still want to perform the habit. The thing is, I'm done. Finished. The end. No more.

I read all 35 Whitney Award finalists and cast my votes!

Now what?

I'll keep reading books. I've got a couple manuscripts that need work. I'm woefully behind on my blog posts. And I need to write some more in my journal.

But I think I'm going to just relax for a while, until my accomplishment feels like an accomplishment.

And maybe celebrate with some ice cream. Now, that sounds exciting!

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

* Whoa! Greg Foster snapped this picture while out hiking. I'm glad he did, and I'm glad he shared it on Flickr. He has lots of other great images, too. I almost used this one instead.

Whitney Finalist: Daughter of Helaman by Misty Moncur

Today's spotlight is Daughter of Helaman by Misty Moncur.

It's the story of a teenage girl, Keturah, who wants to join Helaman's 2000 Stripling Warriors.

Although she does encounter gender-based obstacles to her dream, most of them are of her own making. That's what makes this story so unique, it's not as much about a girl overcoming a restrictive society as it is a girl overcoming her own view of society.

There are many memorable characters and scenes, but it was Keturah's dedication and spirit that pulled me through the story. She stands at the crossroads of youth and adulthood where there are so many possibilities ahead. These possibilities are both thrilling and overwhelming. Her choices strengthen some paths and close off others. It is an exciting time of life.

The story also explores the multifaceted relationships between the characters. Sometimes Mother is a mother, other times a friend, other times a healer. Keturah's childhood friend, and fellow soldier, might become her betrothed. While her captain, and trainer, might just steal her heart. She doesn't have long to find her way before the Sons (and Daughter) of Helaman have to march against the Lamanites.

I asked Misty how writing this story was special to her.

The thing that makes my first novel special to me is the knowledge and faith I gained while writing it. The Lord blessed me . . . and opened my mind to details in the scriptures I had never noticed before. As I wrote Daughter of Helaman and continued on to the next books in the series, I learned to write by the promptings of the Spirit more than by the promptings of my outline. I learned so many things about myself during this process and my testimony increased so much that even if no one else ever gets much from it, I know it was totally worth writing.

She also shared some great advice for all writers.

As a writer, you . . . become attached to your writing. You put so much of yourself into it, and not just your thoughts and ideas. Completing a novel takes a lot of your time. It steals your sleep. It takes an emotional commitment--you have to basically develop a one-sided relationship with your characters (sometimes at the expense of your real relationships with real people!) And the whole time you're wondering if your voice is even worth being heard.

Though I am completely emotionally involved with my characters and the scriptural events I write about, I really tried not become too attached to the actual writing in Daughter of Helaman. Knowing I was going to have to share it with others by publishing it, I didn't want to get possessive of it, to think of it as only mine, or become too attached to something an editor might want to change. Still, I love it because it is mine and there is a piece of me on every page and in every character.

I agree. While writing a novel isn't the hardest job in the world, it's not easy at all. Then it takes courage to share your creation with the world.

So, let's jump right into the very beginning of the story. It starts with danger.

I crouched, still as stone, behind the broad leaves of an evergreen tree, watching the men below me. Usually when I came to the high cliff above the falls, I watched the stream meander through the valley down below or daydreamed while I gazed at the large temples in the distance.

Today I watched for my brother. Micah had left a month ago to recruit boys for the Ammonite army, and he was supposed to return to the village today. But though I watched for him all morning, I hadn’t seen him yet. Instead, I saw the small group of men traveling north toward Ammonihah. They stayed near the West Road but skulked in the cover of the trees.

Lamanite spies.

If you liked that you can read the first few pages, and then get your own copy.

Quick Update: The Third 'R'

So, I done me some 'rithmatic and I've got me a lot of reading to do.

My goal is to read all the Whitney finalists by April 23rd, and the goal is in sight. I have 13 books left which calculates to reading 1 book every 2 days. *whew*

I'm going to keep posting spotlights. I have 3 that are close to being done, and several more in the works. I hope to get all 35 books spotlighted before the gala. If not, I'll post a few after the gala.

My biggest hurdle, other than time, is that there are still two books I haven't been able to get my hands on.

Wish me luck.

Whitney Finalist: With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo

Today I'm going to spotlight With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo.

When I read the title, I immediately thought, "Romance," but I ended up being surprised. This is a story about growing up, wrapped in a murder mystery, wrapped in a historical. So, why the title?

First, this book is all about love and it's many faces. It's about love in a family, in a community, between friends, and yes there's a bit of innocent crush going on, too. This isn't an in-your-face type of theme. In fact, I didn't really catch on to it until I'd finished the entire book. It was cleverly woven into the events of the story.

Second, the main character's last name is Love.

This is a character-driven story, but Tess also worked in the time period so well it felt natural. I guess that would be my main point in this spotlight, the story just felt natural.

I would introduce the characters and setting, but Tess does it so well in the first few paragraphs:

It was the eighth of July, 1957, when Ollie's daddy slowed their rusted-out Chevy pickup near the junction of Highway 29 and Carter Road. They had come to set up for a three-day revival. Ollie sat in the truck bed with her sisters. She was thirteen and the oldest of Reverend Love's five daughters, followed by Martha, Gwen, Camille, and Ellen. Ellen was at Ollie's side, clutching Baby Doll Sue and singing "Mama's Little Baby." Ollie noticed her sister was getting the words twisted up and wrong--again.

It may have been only nine o'clock in the morning, but the summer sun was already high in the sky and sweating up the land. Fields of soft green barley laid themselves out across the earth in perfect rows--as if God had reached down and combed them just so. Ollie noticed a carved-up plank of wood that someone long ago had shoved into the dark Southern soil. It read: Binder, Arkansas.

Want to read some more? Go ahead, I'll wait.

Tess was so kind to tell me some of her personal feelings about the story.

I wanted to tell the story of characters who were in a broken situation, but who didn't consider themselves broken people. I love Jimmy and how, even though he has been terribly mistreated, he still has a deep river of conviction about who he is and what he can someday become. I love Ollie because she sees a boy who needs a friend and lets nothing stop her from being that person.

I grew up in a somewhat tough situation. It wasn't as bad as Jimmy's, but it was really difficult at times and, in spite of the chaos that surrounded me, I believed in myself. That was what got me through. So, when I started writing, I wanted to share that part of my personal experience on some level and I guess With a Name Like Love is that story. It celebrates family. It celebrates friendship. It shows us that we can overcome trials. It is really a piece of my heart.

I enjoyed this story, and couldn't believe this was a debut novel. There were so many layers to it, and it was put together well and felt natural. I suggest you get your own copy and see for yourself.