How to Add Social Sharing Buttons to Knowledge Base Articles

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base can display sharing buttons underneath your published articles.

These buttons make it easier for visitors to send a useful guide to a colleague, customer or friend without manually copying the article address.

The available options are:

• Facebook
• X / Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Email
• Copy URL

Enable social sharing

To show the sharing buttons:

1. Sign in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Open Knowledge Base > Settings.
3. Select the Privacy & SEO tab.
4. Find the Social Sharing section.
5. Enable Show Social Share Buttons on Articles.
6. Change the section heading if required.
7. Select Save Changes.

Open a published knowledge base article afterwards and scroll to the bottom of the content.

Where the buttons appear

The sharing section appears underneath the main article content.

Depending on the features you have enabled, it may appear before the recommended article or other content shown near the bottom of the page.

The buttons are only displayed on SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base articles. They do not automatically appear on normal WordPress pages or blog posts.

Change the sharing section heading

The default heading is:

Share this article

You can replace it with wording that better matches your website.

Other options include:

• Share This Guide
• Send This Article
• Found This Helpful?
• Share With Someone
• Pass This Guide On

Keep the heading short and easy to understand.

Facebook sharing

The Facebook button opens Facebook’s sharing screen with the current article URL included.

The visitor can then choose where to share the article using their own Facebook account.

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base does not publish anything automatically.

The visitor must complete the sharing process on Facebook.

X / Twitter sharing

The X / Twitter button opens a new post containing:

• The article title
• The article URL

The visitor can edit the post before publishing it.

The article is not posted until the visitor confirms it through their own X account.

LinkedIn sharing

The LinkedIn button opens LinkedIn’s sharing screen with the article URL.

This can be useful for technical documentation, business guides or articles that visitors may want to share with colleagues.

LinkedIn may use your page title, description and featured image when creating the preview.

Email sharing

The Email button opens the visitor’s default email application.

A new email is created containing:

• The article title as the subject
• The article URL in the message

The visitor can then add a recipient and their own message before sending it.

The exact result depends on the email application and browser being used.

Copy URL

The Copy URL button copies the current article address to the visitor’s clipboard.

They can then paste it into:

• An email
• A support ticket
• A chat message
• A document
• A social media post
• Another website

A short confirmation message appears after the link has been copied successfully.

What happens when Copy URL is selected?

The article address is copied directly within the visitor’s browser.

The plugin first uses the browser’s standard clipboard feature where available.

If that is unavailable, it attempts to use a fallback copying method.

The visitor does not need to highlight the address manually.

Social sharing and visitor privacy

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base does not record which sharing buttons visitors use.

It does not create social sharing analytics or store a history of shared articles.

When a visitor selects Facebook, X / Twitter or LinkedIn, they are taken to that service’s sharing page.

That external service may then process information according to its own privacy policy.

The Copy URL button works within the browser and does not send sharing information to SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base.

Are social media scripts loaded on the article?

The buttons are normal links to the relevant sharing pages.

They are not embedded social media feeds or tracking widgets.

This keeps the feature simpler and avoids loading a complete social media interface inside every article.

The buttons use Bootstrap Icons for their symbols.

Can individual sharing buttons be disabled?

In SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base 2.6.9, the sharing options are displayed together as one group.

Enabling the feature shows:

• Facebook
• X / Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Email
• Copy URL

Disabling the feature removes the whole sharing section.

There is not a separate setting for enabling or disabling each service individually in this version.

Should social sharing be enabled?

Sharing buttons can be useful when your articles are regularly sent between people.

They are a good fit for:

• Installation instructions
• Troubleshooting guides
• Setup documentation
• Frequently asked questions
• Technical instructions
• Customer support articles
• Internal team documentation

They may be less useful for a private or internal knowledge base where articles should not be shared publicly.

Make sure articles have clear titles

The article title is used when sharing through X / Twitter and email.

It may also be used by social platforms when creating a link preview.

Use a title that makes sense outside the knowledge base.

For example:

How to Activate SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base

is clearer when shared than:

Activation

A visitor should understand the subject without needing to open the article first.

Add a useful excerpt

A clear article excerpt can help social networks and search engines understand what the page contains.

For example:

Learn how to activate SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base using your purchase email and product key.

Keep the excerpt short and specific to the article.

It may be used as part of the shared page preview, depending on the service and your website SEO settings.

Add a featured image

A featured image may be used when a social network creates a preview of the article.

To add one:

1. Open Knowledge Base > All Articles.
2. Edit the article.
3. Find the Featured Image panel.
4. Select or upload an image.
5. Update the article.

Whether the image appears depends on the social network and the metadata available on your website.

Use an image that still makes sense when displayed at a smaller size.

Test each sharing option

After enabling the feature:

1. Open a published article while signed out of WordPress.
2. Scroll to the sharing section.
3. Select the Facebook button.
4. Check that the correct article URL is included.
5. Repeat the test with X / Twitter and LinkedIn.
6. Test the Email button.
7. Select Copy URL and paste the result somewhere.
8. Check the layout on mobile.

You do not need to complete a public social media post to confirm that the correct sharing screen opens.

Test using the public article URL

Test the buttons on the live article rather than using a WordPress preview link.

A preview URL may contain temporary information that should not be shared publicly.

Make sure the article is published before completing the test.

Social previews show the wrong title

If a social network displays the wrong title:

• Check the article title
• Check the built-in SEO title
• Clear your website cache
• Make sure the public URL is correct
• Check whether the social network has cached an older version

Social networks may store a previous preview for a period of time, even after the article has been updated.

Social previews show the wrong description

Check the article excerpt and any SEO description saved for the article.

Use a clear description that explains the guide in one or two sentences.

After updating it:

1. Update the article.
2. Clear the website cache.
3. Test the public URL again.

An external service may continue showing its cached version until it refreshes the page information.

Social previews show the wrong image

Check that:

• The correct featured image is selected
• The image is publicly available
• The image URL loads correctly
• The article metadata contains the correct image
• The website cache has been cleared

External services may take time to replace a previously cached preview image.

The sharing section is not showing

If the buttons are missing, check that:

• Show Social Share Buttons on Articles is enabled
• The settings were saved
• You are viewing a published knowledge base article
• Your SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base licence is active
• The article page has been refreshed
• The website cache has been cleared

The sharing section will not appear on the main knowledge base homepage or a category page.

The icons are not showing

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base uses Bootstrap Icons for the sharing button symbols.

If the button wording appears but the icons are missing, check that:

• Your website can load files from the Bootstrap Icons CDN
• A security policy is not blocking the icon stylesheet
• A performance plugin has not removed the stylesheet
• The website cache has been cleared
• The browser is not blocking external resources

The buttons should still be understandable from their text labels even if an icon fails to load.

Copy URL does not work

If the Copy URL button fails:

1. Make sure the website is using HTTPS.
2. Try another browser.
3. Check whether clipboard access has been blocked.
4. Test while signed out of WordPress.
5. Clear optimisation and script caches.
6. Check the browser console for JavaScript errors.

The plugin includes a fallback method for browsers that do not support the newer clipboard feature.

The Email button does nothing

The Email button relies on the visitor’s device having a default email application configured.

For example, it may open:

• Outlook
• Apple Mail
• Thunderbird
• Another registered email application

If no application has been set up to handle email links, selecting the button may appear to do nothing.

This does not normally indicate a problem with the knowledge base.

A sharing window is blocked

Some browsers or extensions may block new windows.

Ask the visitor to allow pop-ups for the website or try opening the link again.

The Facebook, X / Twitter and LinkedIn buttons use a new browser tab so the visitor does not lose their place in the article.

The shared URL is incorrect

Check the public address shown in the browser when the article is open.

If it is wrong:

• Check the article permalink
• Check the knowledge base article URL base
• Refresh WordPress permalinks
• Clear the website cache
• Make sure the site address is correct under WordPress settings

The sharing buttons use the current article permalink generated by WordPress.

Refresh WordPress permalinks

If the shared article URL returns a 404 error:

1. Open Settings > Permalinks.
2. Select Save Changes.
3. Clear the WordPress cache.
4. Test the article URL again.

You do not normally need to change the permalink structure.

Check the buttons on mobile

On a phone or tablet, make sure that:

• The buttons wrap neatly
• Each label remains readable
• The buttons are easy to tap
• No button extends beyond the screen
• The section heading is not too large
• Copy URL displays its confirmation message
• Social sharing pages open correctly

The buttons may move onto more than one row on smaller screens. This is normal.

Disable social sharing

To remove the buttons:

1. Open Knowledge Base > Settings.
2. Select Privacy & SEO.
3. Disable Show Social Share Buttons on Articles.
4. Select Save Changes.
5. Clear the website cache if required.

The sharing section will be removed without changing your articles or their URLs.

Social sharing checklist

Before finishing, check that:

• Social sharing is enabled
• The section heading is clear
• All five buttons appear
• Facebook opens the correct article
• X / Twitter includes the title and URL
• LinkedIn opens the correct sharing page
• Email includes the article title and URL
• Copy URL copies the correct address
• Article titles and excerpts are clear
• Featured images are suitable for sharing
• The buttons work on desktop and mobile
• Your privacy information reflects any external services visitors may choose to open

Visitors can now easily share useful knowledge base articles using their preferred method.