Those share/save buttons; tagging posts

1) As part of our continuing WordPress transition and overhaul we’ve added those blue “Share/Save” buttons to the bottom of each post, but they seem to slow down the time needed for page loading, which had been so quick. On the other hand, we’d really like it if people used Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, etc. to let more people know about us. Are any regular readers likely to use this feature? Is there some simpler method of achieving this goal?

2) We’ve lagged behind the technology curve when it comes to tagging our posts, and we’ve now got years’ worth of archives with no tagging whatsoever, which handicaps both our outreach to new readers and our internal ease of navigation. Any suggestions on speedy ways to rectify this? Are there “social” tagging methods in which we can take advantage of readers’ each doing pieces of the job? Or assuming we can handle the security aspects, are there readers who’d like to volunteer to tag posts from within WordPress for us?

7 Comments

  • I put my share icons on the single post page only, not on the front page. It’s then available when someone comments, or if the post is linked from somewhere else. The front page then loads faster.

  • IS it just me or is this site MUCH slower loading since the WordPress move?

  • 1) That’s a good suggestion from kimsch, which I’ve just implemented.

    2) My own experience has been that the new WordPress site is loading much faster than the old Movable Type, but it’s interesting to hear not everyone has had the same experience. I use Firefox and sometimes Safari, never IE, and I’m on a Mac using a shared cable modem connection.

  • Load time is faster with the WP implementation for me, too. Also using Firefox.

  • Umm…don’t you have that whole “Categories” thing set up already. I think you’ve pretty much got your articles tagged, sorta.

  • What is Digg? Why is it relevant?

  • Thank you Walter!