About this plugin
Simple X Buttons adds X (Twitter) buttons to your WordPress posts and pages — the right way.
Why not use X’s official embed buttons?
js ) has been unreliable since 2023, hitting HTTP 429 rate limits at scale and causing embeds to fail silently or load slowly. X has not committed to fixing this.
This plugin takes a different approach entirely.
What are X Web Intents?
Web Intents are plain URLs provided by X for sharing, following, mentioning, and more. They open a lightweight native X popup — no JavaScript SDK, no third-party cookies, no external scripts loaded on page load. You click, a popup opens, done.
That means:
- No API key required — zero setup friction
- No external scripts — nothing loads until the user clicks
- No rate limits — static URLs, no API calls
- GDPR-friendly — no cookies or tracking on page load
- Fast — the plugin CSS is ~1 KB, loaded only when a button is on the page
Four button types
- Share — opens X compose pre-filled with the post title, permalink, hashtags, and via handle
- Follow — opens X’s native follow dialog for your account
- Mention — opens X compose pre-filled with @yourhandle so visitors can tweet at you
- Hashtag — opens X compose pre-filled with #yourtag; optionally pulls in the post’s own tags automatically
Features
- Auto-insert before and/or after post content — choose which buttons and which post types per placement
- Per-placement button control — show Share on all posts, Follow only on certain post types, etc.
- Post tags as hashtags — Share and Hashtag buttons can automatically pull the post’s tags (capped at 5 to keep tweets writable)
- 4 Gutenberg blocks — X Share, Follow, Mention, and Hashtag blocks with live editor previews
- 4 Shortcodes — [sxb-share], [sxb-follow], [sxb-mention], [sxb-hashtag]
- Template tags — sxb_share_button() and sxb_button_bar() for theme developers
- Three button styles — Dark, Outline, Ghost
- Popup or new-tab intent window
Integration
Four ways to add buttons to your site:
- Auto-insert (recommended): Enable a placement in Settings → Simple X Buttons. Buttons appear automatically on every matching post type.
- Shortcode: [sxb-share], [sxb-follow handle="yourhandle"], [sxb-mention handle="yourhandle"], [sxb-hashtag tag="travel"] anywhere in content.
- Block: Search for “X Share Button”, “X Follow Button”, “X Mention Button”, or “X Hashtag Button” in the Gutenberg block inserter.
- Template tag: <?php sxb_share_button();?> or <?php sxb_button_bar();?> in theme templates.
Compatibility
- WordPress 5.8 or higher
- PHP 7.2 or higher
- No API key required
- No external JavaScript loaded on page load
- Works with any theme