Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This page has answers to general questions about ShareThis and our services. If you have a question specific to a tool, be sure to check out our FAQs for Share Widget, Analytics, APIs and SQI.
How is the ShareThis Publisher Key used?
The Publisher Key uniquely identifies a publisher and should be used across all the products and domains used by that publisher. Data is tracked and reported back to the publisher in ShareThis analytics. To get separate reports per domain, publishers have to register each domain.
You can easily add a new domain to your ShareThis Analytics by using the “Manage Domains” option displayed in your ShareThis Account. ShareThis Analytics will display reports for each of your domains separately.
How do I change the password to my ShareThis account?
Once you login to ShareThis, you can change your password from here:
http://ShareThis.com/account/changepassword
How do I install the ShareThis toolbar in my browser?
You can install the ShareThis toolbar by clicking on the “Get The Toolbar” button in the ShareThis toolbar page. You can access this page by clicking on the relevant browser link in the ShareThis toolbar list displayed at the bottom of the www.sharethis.com page.
What do the different numbers in the Analytics Dashboard represent?
Shares: The number of times a page was shared, in the time period specified, using the ShareThis widget. This number is measured using our in-house methodology.
Clicks: The number of times a link to the page was clicked within a particular social channel, in the time period specified. This number is measured using our in-house methodology.
Traffic: Each time a user clicks on a share, they initiate a session with your domain (which ShareThis tracks). "Traffic" is the total number of pageviews generated from such clicks in a session, for the time period specified. This number is measured using our in-house methodology.
Lifetime Count: For most services, this is the number of total lifetime count including outbound shares from and inbound clickbacks, for the lifetime (from May 1st on) of this page. This number is measured using our in-house methodology.
However, for certain services we obtain counts directly from the API of the sharing destination.
For Facebook, that number comes from Facebook itself and includes the sum total of likes, comments, shares and clicks.
For LinkedIn, that number comes from LinkedIn and represents the total shares of that content to LinkedIn and further from LinkedIn.
For StumbleUpon, this number comes from their Badge API and also represents the total of outbound shares, inbound clicks and stumbles for that content.
What does the number in the button represent?
For most services, that number comes from our in-house technology and represents the total lifetime count of that content. This includes both outbound shares from and inbound clicks to that content.
However, for certain services we obtain counts directly from the API of the sharing destination:
a) For Facebook, that number comes from Facebook itself and includes the sum total of likes, comments, shares and clicks.
b) For LinkedIn, that number comes from LinkedIn and represents the total shares of content to LinkedIn and further shares from within LinkedIn.
c) For StumbleUpon, this number comes from their Badge API and represents the total of outbound shares, inbound clicks and stumbles for that content.
Do the numbers in the button match the numbers in the Analytics Dashboard?
The number in the buttons represents the total lifetime count for that content and matches the ‘Lifetime Count' column for that content in the Analytics Dashboard.
Why is the number coming from different sources for different services?
We try to use the services' native APIs wherever available. Most services do not provide such an API, and in these cases we use our in-house methodology to measure sharing
Can we get native Twitter counts or buttons?
You need to append ‘_native' to the classnames of the button code. E.g.,
 
<span class="st_twitter_hcount"></span>  (current code - ShareThis counters)
becomes
 
<span class="st_twitter_hcount_native"></span> (Native Counters)
So for Twitter vertical counters, the code would be -
 
<script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"
src="http://w.sharethis.com/button/buttons.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
stLight.options({publisher:'PUB-KEY');</script>
<span class="st_twitter_vcount_native"></span>
What do the Twitter native buttons count?
The Twitter native buttons include outbound shares (tweets) and retweets of the article.
Are there any disadvantages for us if we opt for the native buttons (like Twitter, Facebook Like or Google +1)?
1. You cannot customize the look and feel of those buttons as they come from the service providers and they can't be changed or edited in any way by us or you.
2. As we don't have much control over the look and feel of these buttons, you will need to fix alignment of the buttons as the native buttons are slightly smaller than the buttons we offer.
3. For native Twitter buttons, the numbers on the buttons will not match the Lifetime Count number that you see on our Analytics Dashboard as Twitter does not have a public-facing API allowing us to get the Lifetime Count numbers.
Would you consider adding a new service to your widget?
If you would like to submit a request for adding a new service to the ShareThis widget you can do so here: http://ShareThis.com/publishers/submit_service Our product team will review your request and consider it for future versions of the ShareThis widget.
Can I sign in ShareThis using Facebook as a page?
Facebook doesn't allow 3rd party applications to perform OAuths using Facebook as a page (e.g. when you selected to use Facebook as a page instead using it with your own Facebook account). You need change your Facebook settings to use Facebook as a user to be able to OAuth with Facebook.
How do I add a Google Analytics ID to my ShareThis account?
Once you login into your ShareThis account, you can add the domain along with the Google Analytic ID in the “Manage Domains” section available in your account page or at this location http://sharethis.com/account/domains
What should I do when the custom options do not cover my requirements?
If the custom options do not meet your requirements, you can always take advantage of our various APIs. You can read more about it here:
http://help.sharethis.com/api/api-overview
Does ShareThis support accessibility and is the widget 508 compliant?
While we try to make our products use the best practices for accessiblity, we are not currently 508 compliant. We do plan to make our products 508 compliance soon. If you have specific questions or concerns, please reach out to us at support@sharethis.com.
Why can't I see the Influencer Report and the Share Map in ShareThis Analytics anymore?
The Influencer and ShareMap have been removed from the ShareThis Analytics dashboard. We are improving these features to provide you with the tools you need to make better business decisions regarding social engagement on your site. For questions or feedback, please contact us at support@sharethis.com.