Back in 2010 we introduced the exciting new ability to Like the individual posts you’ve read all around WordPress.com. It’s been one of our most popular features since then, as evidenced by the chart below that goes up-and-to-the-right as an indication of great success and achievement.
Today I’m happy to announce a few enhancements to the way Likes work that we think you’ll really like. 🙂
Show Likes on Pages
In the past, we’ve always restricted Likes to individual blog posts. Given the success of Likes, we want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to Like what they are reading, wherever they are reading it. Likes now share the same display settings as your sharing buttons (which you can change from Settings -> Sharing in your dashboard). In addition to showing Likes on single posts, you can now show Likes on all of your site’s content:
Here’s an example of Likes displayed on a blog’s front page:
Show Likes on Gallery Images
In addition to making Liking posts easier, we wanted everyone to be able to Like all of the things you publish on your blog, including media. So, we’ve also added the ability to Like photos directly from inside image galleries, like this:
What You’ve Liked
Now that it’s super easy to Like everything you see, you need a place to see what you’ve Liked. To make this as convenient as possible, we’ve added a link in the Reader that lists all of the posts you’ve liked across all of WordPress.com. You also have instant access to your favorite posts through the official mobile WordPress apps for all your favorite mobile gadgets.
We think these tweaks really improve the Liking experience, and we hope that you enjoy them!
Did you think I was going to say “like” again? 🙂
WordPress.com News 
Bring this feature to Jetpack please.
We hear this quite often, believe it or not. 😉
I like to like things.
I don’t just like this, I love it! 🙂
I love the “like” button since I can give a heads up to the blogger that I read it, especially if I am rendered speechless which isn’t often!
I think my visitors are not used to the like button yet. But I’m pretty sure that seeing it more often they will notice it – and like it lol
Reblogged this on Colby is Mega.
I love the “like” button — appropriately enough. I only wish we could also “Like” comments from readers. Of course, I’d probably spend all my time liking their comments instead of writing new content, so I can see how that might be a catch-22!
🙂
We’re working on it! 😉
I like the fact that you’re enhancing the likes but I disliked the thing that all my previously liked blog posts were gone when the last time you made changes to the like button.
Sorry to hear you experienced some trouble. Were you able to get things setup the way you wanted them?
Finally! Likes for all.
I like liking things that I like to like,
I would “like” to have a “love” button with a heart for the o. Just a thought. A girl can dream.
Lovely. I second that.
nice picture!
I dig liking things, too. 🙂
Liking………….
Nice! Thank you!
Hmmm…I “like” this with every pun intended ;-D
Lovely update! Any plans on making it possible to “Like” a comment?
Maaaybe… 🙂
Had to wake up from my nap to let you know how much I like this
Ooh, I’m a fan (hey lookee that, I managed to avoid saying like – yay me!) of being able to see everything I liked, thanks for the new feature
Love the like button. It would be nice if readers who weren’t bloggers could “like” posts too.
For some people, how many likes accumulated for particular post is kind of scoring. Anyway, some people view it as spam to link to other website. I personally like the way “likes” work, it handy and quick way to tell author, I like it…
It better then comment, because we not always got something to feedback, and just simply like. 🙂
Awesomeness! Thanks!
i have only been with WordPress about six weeks, and I love this blog site. The people here are great. Everyone is so kind to each other. I am amazed at how many followers I have received with my short stories. You do an awesome job with this site. Thank you for doing above and beyond to keep it great!
Thanks for the kind words!
I thought this one has been going on for long time ago?
Nope; just launched!
Yes, you are right. It was my mistake. Sorry about that. 🙂
The like button is very cool thanks for this post!
Excellent! Thank you~
Like, yes I did expect you to say “like” again. Thanks!
great
Likes on the archive page are an awesome addition, though I still hope that people will comment as comments always mean more than likes 🙂
Totally agree. I relate Likes and Comments to a real life party. Saying hi is hard, but everyone likes a smile. We all want people to talk to us, but having someone smile at you is equally as rewarding.
See -> 🙂
Finally we can like pages, thanks so much… love the continued development you guys put into wp thx!
Thanks! We love doing it, too! 🙂
Needless to say I “like” it all all tips and info are appreciated.
This is nice
Thanks!! was struggling to figure that one out – Made my life much simpler!
Thanks
yes nice love the pup
Thanks!
Has been tremendous for discovering other’s blogs and vice versa
I like the ‘like’ button as a way to let someone know that someone out there has read their blog. It makes me feel that I have left some positive vibes in my wake.
Great. thanks
Nice…
Like is a great option. The iPhone app needs to be spruced up a little so we can like & share on the go 🙂
Been waiting for this brill’..;)
When are you bringing it to JetPack?
Eventually… An undetermined future point… Sooner than later… 🙂
Beautiful 🙂
Its a good development, though I’d wish it would still be possible to show or hide the “likes” and “shares” on the frontpage…i.e we would prefer to have only the shares on the front page and then both shares and likes on the individual posts as many likes start distracting from our images for our blog… maybe something for the future 😉
Thanks for the feedback. We considered a setup like this, but wanted to limit the number of options, since it can get pretty confusing already.
If this doesn’t work, we’ll iterate and improve over time.
yes you are right. Alternatively maybe one could hide the gravatar images on the front page, so that it just displays “like this…xx people like this” which would then still allow immediate likes but be visually less dominant, but you are right – sometimes the less options one can tick, the better 😉
..best wishes
I ‘LIKE’ this.
Thx for this great upgrade!!
:~D
~From one Happy Camper. xox
Reblogged this on Jan Deelstra and commented:
YES!!
I like to like 😀
We like, totally like that you like to like! 🙂
bien
I can’t seem to find this on my blog, where to turn it on or anything. There is no ‘sharing’ under ‘settings’ anywhere on my dashboard that I can see. help?
Can you try again? It looks okay to me; you should be able to see it just fine.
Yes YES YES finally. I have been trying to have that done for a while now. THANK YOU 😀
Like wow, man!
thx for the info
Like, whatever…
😉
Oh… I been waiting to be able to Like individual photos long enough. So this is great.
Now, when can we Like the bloggers?
That’s an interesting idea. I like it. 🙂
OAK likes the’like’ button very much.In ten days time OAK received applause from 107 followers and 427 likes for 16 posts.
Great stuff. Wish people made it easier to like their stuff and will be “liking” much more from now on!
Thank You, Awesome information.
I must be one of only a handful who doesn’t like the “like” option. I think it is a lazy way of interacting with a blog. I’d rather people commented on my blog as I feel the “like” button simply says “I’m only pretending I read your article in a hope of hijacking some of your traffic”. I’m considering disabling it entirely.
Sorry it makes you feel that way. Liking is for when don’t want to comment and still want to agree, or just appreciate the author’s time. It’s a passing smile instead of breaking the ice; easy and noncommittal.
Loved the comic finishing post. And I also appreciate the like feature, even though I haven’t tested it with any other media’s than the written post yet.
Reblogged this on Egill.
I´m an absolute begginer with wordpress and have just arrived here. This is what I need, simplicity for everything. Thanks, I´m going to check my “like option”
I had to click the like on this article just for the irony (…is that actually ironic? Irony is hard to understand, I think Alanis Morissette confused the whole concept for me…). I love that I can use this to keep track of the posts I enjoy when I don’t want to subscribe to the entire blog.
I always like to say ” Like” so, always like for wordpress.
Do you think there could be an additional button at some stage – you know for things that really move you, or affect you, but where like doesn’t seem appropriate – for instance, if it’s a sad post?
I like this “Like” post !!
Suggestion to WordPress Staff: Contact the Guiness Book of World Records and start a new record for the word “like” appearing on the internet outside of facebook. I really LIKE that idea. I mean, it’s just soooo LIKABLE just LIKE WordPress itself.
Thank you! I really like this “likes” feature, and it makes so much more sense! Genius!! 🙂
I agree, this is a “likable” post.
I like!
Thanks for it. It is nice
Awesome and thank you! 🙂
like this
Nice.
Reblogged this on imcarolperdue and commented:
This is good news.
Me and some others do have a problem with this new “Like”-stuff. We cannot see who and how many people liked our posts anymore. Is it because we are doing something wrong or does this have another cause?
Were you able to get this sorted out? There weren’t any changes made to those bits, so they should be the same as before.
Yes, it’s working again. Thanks. It seems a couple of my contacts had some bug or other and after we got that sorted it was no longer a problem. (We found out when trying with others it did work and there was no problem at all.) I’d better not cry “wolf” next time. 😉
‘like’-buttons are not working!
Were you able to get this sorted out?
yes, it was something temporarily wrong in WP, other bloggers had the same problem, seems to be solved now! I l’like’ a lot 🙂 Thanks for asking!
Reblogged this on getpaidinksh and commented:
i like the ‘like’ button . i think my visitors will like them too.
Thank you so much. This was very helpful! I had my setting on like per post and now i changed it and am seeing results! AWESOME! 🙂
does this work on wordpress.com site, I can not seem to find the links to update this
Yep! Any WordPress.com site. Were you able to get this sorted?
No not yet,they are working on it.
I like the way everybody like this
LIKE!
Like, Favs, and +Reps all around!
Wondering if you ever thought about a ‘Dis-like’ button? Just wondering.
It comes up occasionally. The consensus is that we like how simple likes are, and that they lean more towards being supportive rather than keeping score.
Thanks for the reply.
One last question: Ever consider offering the option of a ‘Who’s viewed me’ button? Maybe I should direct this question elsewhere, but again, just wondering.
This has come about before, and currently we’ve agreed that it’s best for us not to disclose our user’s private browsing history to others. You can already get a fair amount of information about visitors from your site’s statistics, so that will have to satisfy for now. 🙂
You CAN get a lot of info. from your site ‘stats’, but it sure would be nice to see ‘exactly’ who’s visited your site.
Again though, thanks for the reply.
To me, ‘Likes’ are very similar in purpose to the old fashioned ‘Calling Cards’ that my grandmother used. I think ‘Likes’ are a wonderful way to say you’ve visited, but you have nothing to add to the conversation because it has pretty much all been said. I think there should be a section on the My Stats page that aggregates the people who ‘Like’ your blog, just like there is a section for those who leave comments.
Hmm hmm good! Terrifico! Y’all are amazing! Keep up the superfine work!
Simply awesome. 🙂 I love WP readiness to progress and amaze
Let the Force be with you, guys! 🙂
Yes, I like the encouragement that the Like and comments can give for a novice writer to keep trying. (or an artist of anothre genre too, as matter of fact.)
How possible for me to make like icon all my under post in my different pages.?
So as far as everybody can “like” the post (or whatever) is concerned..does it mean that now one doesn’t need a wordpress account to “like” something on my blog? Because that’s the issue I have been facing recently. If yes, then how do I change that setting? I am fairly new to WordPress and don’t really know all the tips and tricks. Thanks for your help!
You’ll still need a WordPress.com account to like something, and we’ll be working on logged-out-likes sometime in the undetermined future.
nice blog, I LIKE this blog…!
i like this its very good
Liking to like, as you like it, seems a lighthearted way to sift through the page, and make passing contact with so many we may never meet, yet that fleet passing can lift our day. It has done mine – so thank you.
Likes are great because the give the option to say ‘I read/saw this, and it is good’ and in the same time save the post/content. A way to say thank you to the author.
A ‘Like’ feature on comments would great too, because then the bloggers can say to their readers: ‘Thank you for your comment, I have read it and it is good.’ with one easy click, when there is nothing else to add. The positive feedback can also serve as encouragement and quality indicator for the comment authors.
I currently use the thumbs up/thumbs down feature as a substitute for a ‘Like’ feature on comments. It works, but it isn’t perfect… People don’t really use it. It seems better suited as a voting-feature for big forum-type discussions. All I want to way to say is ‘Thank you!’… ‘Like’ is perfect for that.
you should have it so that you can like a post right from someones dashboard, instead of having to go the specific page for that post
If you visit http://wordpress.com, you’ll see a list of blogs you’re following, and you can like any of their respective posts directly from there. Close enough? 🙂