Is there an XF addon that can emulate how Facebook Sharing & WP "Press This Button" work?

[Doctor]

So speaking of replacing WP with XenForo, and speaking of having XF do what you want to do and make life happier and easier, it has occurred to me to inquire about something I would definitely want.

So more or less everyone uses FB, yes? And everyone absolutely loves how whenever you are surfing the Web and want to share on FB, the FB share link is just so great to use and makes what essentially amounts to "blogging" so easy and well formatted?

Now WP has something that is similar to a degree, which is "Press This," but it's still not as good or quick or pleasant to use. It's not bad and pretty good under the circumstances, but just not the same as how easily and nicely the FB sharing works.

What about XenForo? Does XenForo have anything like this? If it does, it is any good, or is it disappointingly nowhere close to how FB sharing works?

And what if:

If not yet, what if XenForo were to simply make use of the tags present for FB sharing the same way FB does? For instance, in order for the sharing to look so good and work so well, you merely have tags in your header code that refer to various graphic files and text entries. I see no reason whatsoever why a XenForo addon could not makes use of those same items if they are present. It would have to be a total piece of cake to code that for XenForo, yes? In my view, that would both be perfectly legal and there would be no reason why it could not be done whatsoever.

That would be revolutionary, a game changer, and I want that if it doesn't exist for XF yet.

 

[Doctor]

Okay, so I take it nothing like this exists for XF now, but don't people agree how desirable this is and how much of a game changer it might even be?

 

[SneakyDave]

Not revolutionary, nor a game changer, in my opinion. XenForo isn't Facebook.

If you want that, why not use Facebook?

Xenforo has the ability to Share This (Add This?) using a third party interface, But I don't think many users actually use it.

As far as meta data for images and whatnot, I think there are already suggestions for that

 

[Doctor]

I find your post to be totally unbelievable. If I elaborate no doubt I'll be the one charged with breaking a rule here.

 

[SneakyDave]

I agree

 

[Doctor]

No doubt, but you should be based on my experience here.

 

[Doctor]

So, is there anyone else besides me who, upon a few moments of sober reflection, recognizes how extremely desirable and valuable it would be to have this capability with XF?

 

[Doctor]

I see this thread was moderated with posts removed and one edited.

I must admit that unless there is simply not much traffic to the forum lately the lack of discussion on this is surprising.

Okay, so as you contemplate this issue, consider for a moment how it seems there is no disagreement that the phenomenon of Facebook has partially killed forums to a very large degree. Facebook has essentially cannibalized a lot of what makes a forum a forum with things like Groups and Pages, and has made it easy for people to participate.

Is it not then a no-brainer the size of Neptune to do the same thing in reverse to the extent possible, or do you just want to let such things happen?

Think about posting on Facebook for a moment. In essence, it amounts to a form of "blogging." That includes posting in Groups and on Pages. Then people are drawn in, there is traffic, and people post.

Facebook makes it so easy to post and in such a nicely and attractively formatted way with what I'm talking about here, that guess what happens? Because of how easy it is to post content, you can even sometimes wind up with Facebook pages that rank high on Google while the site that goes with your page does not. But who gets most of the benefit? Facebook. And rather than you getting ad revenue from that, you have to pay them ad revenue yourself.

So why not push back with what I'm talking about here by providing this kind of feature as an option. In my view it's a no-brainer as big as it gets and if anyone does not see that - providing it as an option - then I think there is something greatly missing in their view of the matter.

 

[TPerry]

So more or less everyone uses FB, yes?

Well, I don't use it but VERY rarely.

So, is there anyone else besides me who, upon a few moments of sober reflection, recognizes how extremely desirable and valuable it would be to have this capability with XF?

Apparently not that many are concerned about it. There are actually higher priority improvements that need to be done for the actual script that improves user interaction than sharing with an outside service.

 

[Doctor]

Well, I don't use it but VERY rarely.

That only puts you in a very tiny minority these days. Perhaps you have no idea what's going on and how FB is in effect eating forums and forums are allowing it with no response whatsoever.

Apparently not that many are concerned about it. There are actually higher priority improvements that need to be done for the actual script that improves user interaction than sharing with an outside service.

Okay, well, Houston we have a problem, as in failure to communicate.

People usually think I'm a pretty good writer, and I see no way anyone could mistake what I mean by the unambiguous title of this post even. However, first Mr. Sneaky did in his original post, and perhaps I should have elaborated after all. This is what happens when posts like that appear.

So let's get back to square one: as is unambiguously stated in my post and the title of it, this is about enhancing XF and pushing back against FB ruining it for forums in general, not sharing with Facebook. This is about emulating one of the best attributes of Facebook that has been killing forums, not making Facebook even bigger and stronger by sending more traffic away from the forum and to Facebook.

THIS IS WHAT WORDPRESS IS ALREADY DOING with their similar sharing feature I also mentioned.

This is about making forums and specifically XF stronger and more desirable and more successful by not just passively allowing the likes of Facebook to continually eat and gobble up more and more of the world with no resistance. It's about taking back opportunities for the little guys and gals of the world so that they too can be successful with alternatives to the likes of Facebook, the way it used to be.

 

[TPerry]

Perhaps you have no idea what's going on and how FB is in effect eating forums and forums are allowing it with no response whatsoever.

I'm very well aware of the number of people posting cat pictures, dog pictures, sharing memes, and their daily meals and dirty laundry on it.
My point being it's not an avenue that apparently many are concerned with chasing as much as you are.

Okay, well, Houston we have a problem, as in failure to communicate.

Yes, you are apparently having an issue understanding that there are other priorities that many desire that have to do with the core function of the script itself. As you said, this could easily be addressed by an add-on for it, but as you can see, apparently not that much desire - but also it could be because of where this is posted. If it was really desirable you would find it in the Suggestions node as a topic with many likes and a lengthy discussion.
What i find is more wish to share posts/data between WordPress and XenForo than between XenForo and Facebook.

 

[Doctor]

I'm very well aware of the number of people posting cat pictures, dog pictures, sharing memes, and their daily meals and dirty laundry on it.
My point being it's not an avenue that apparently many are concerned with chasing as much as you are.

All you are doing with a statement like that is demonstrating total ignorance of the matter, not to mention being snide.

Yes, you are apparently having an issue understanding that there are other priorities that many desire that have to do with the core function of the script itself. As you said, this could easily be addressed by an add-on for it, but as you can see, apparently not that much desire - but also it could be because of where this is posted. If it was really desirable you would find it in the Suggestions node as a topic with many likes and a lengthy discussion.
What i find is more wish to share posts/data between WordPress and XenForo than between XenForo and Facebook.

If I didn't read it myself I would scarcely believe it. Are you doing that on purpose or do you really not understand a single word I've written including the title of my post? But I'll take your suggestion about Suggestions.

 

[Mouth]

the lack of discussion on this is surprising.
[...]
as in failure to communicate.
[...]
I see no way anyone could mistake what I mean by the unambiguous title of this post even.

I do not understand what you are asking for. Perhaps others are like me, and that's why there is minimal engagement or feedback.
It appears you're asking for a browser plugin or media/publishing site owners to install some specific code/widget on their site to reference back to your XF site?

If you want meaningful feedback, I think you need to tell a story and step through the scenario/workflow that you are looking for, and how it would work.

 

[TPerry]

All you are doing with a statement like that is demonstrating total ignorance of the matter, not to mention being snide.

Snideness does not consist of pointing out the fact that apparently not many people in agreement have responded positively (nor liked) your initial post - ergo it must not be a large concern of many that have read the thread.
And the fact that a large majority of FB users use it for the very content that I posted remains.

If I didn't read it myself I would scarcely believe it. Are you doing that on purpose or do you really not understand a single word I've written including the title of my post? But I'll take your suggestion about Suggestions.

No, I understand what YOU want... but what I'm stating is that apparently not that many others are very interested in it otherwise it would be discussed much more extensively. There are other core aspects that are more desirable to many of the participants here.... sharing directly with WordPress being one of them. An add-on would be a very good fit for something like this.
The fact remains though that the Suggestions area is the appropriate place to post these types of requests/wishes.

 

[n00bsaibot]

I do not understand what you are asking for.

I had to google it.. I think it's this:

https://en.support.wordpress.com/press-this/

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Admittedly, seem like a pretty great way for users to post things they find all over the web. Should re-boot this thread as a suggestion.

 

[DieselMinded]

my .02 making forums more like facebook is not the path to a future where online communities outside facebook exists

forums need to adapt into something facebook is not

 

[Doctor]

No, I understand what YOU want... but what I'm stating is that apparently not that many others are very interested in it otherwise it would be discussed much more extensively. There are other core aspects that are more desirable to many of the participants here.... sharing directly with WordPress being one of them. An add-on would be a very good fit for something like this.
The fact remains though that the Suggestions area is the appropriate place to post these types of requests/wishes.

If you had understood anything then you could not have written "What i find is more wish to share posts/data between WordPress and XenForo than between XenForo and Facebook," nor a lot of your previous stuff. Plain and simple. But good to know you weren't doing it on purpose I guess. People like you sure like to dish it out, but it's no surprise when they get upset about having their errors pointed out.

 

[Doctor]

I had to google it.. I think it's this:

https://en.support.wordpress.com/press-this/

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Admittedly, seem like a pretty great way for users to post things they find all over the web. Should re-boot this thread as a suggestion.

Thanks, that's a great video and exactly what I'm talking about, but for your XF site of course. And it seems the XF dev team may have already addressed this very thing and people did care about this after all if what Kirby's reply there refers to is definitely and sufficiently what I'm talking about: https://xenforo.com/community/threa...nicely-as-you-can-do-so-with-facebook.130126/

 

[Doctor]

my .02 making forums more like facebook is not the path to a future where online communities outside facebook exists

forums need to adapt into something facebook is not

No, that makes no sense. What does make sense is to have at least some of the best and most useful capabilities that have made Facebook so appealing at the expense and substantial demise of forums to begin with. And the main concern here is enabling the forum publisher to simply publish traffic attracting content just as easily as you can with Facebook. I'm not even talking about the forum users. In that sense you are going and "evolving" beyond being "just a forum" in order to enhance the appeal of your site.

I maintain various Facebook pages myself. Trust me - forums need this same easy capability of posting content to attract people. The last thing on earth I want is to only be able to do it so quickly and easily and in such a nicely formatted way on Facebook.com

 

[Doctor]

It appears you're asking for a browser plugin or media/publishing site owners to install some specific code/widget on their site to reference back to your XF site?

You don't even need a plugin to the browser. For instance, the WordPress Press This button is just a bookmark toolbar button with code in the "Location" field instead of a url, like this:

javascript: (function(a,b,c,d){function%20e(a,c){if("undefined"!=typeof%20c){var%20d=b.createElement("input");d.name=a,d.value=c,d.type="hidden",p.appendChild(d)}}var%20f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o=a.encodeURIComponent,p=b.createElement("form"),q=b.getElementsByTagName("head")[0],r="_press_this_app",s=!0;if(d){if(!c.match(/^https?:/))return%20void(top.location.href=d);if(d+="&u="+o(c),c.match(/^https:/)&&d.match(/^http:/)&&(s=!1),a.getSelection?h=a.getSelection()+"":b.getSelection?h=b.getSelection()+"":b.selection&&(h=b.selection.createRange().text||""),d+="&buster="+(new%20Date).getTime(),s||(b.title&&(d+="&t="+o(b.title.substr(0,256))),h&&(d+="&s="+o(h.substr(0,512)))),f=a.outerWidth||b.documentElement.clientWidth||600,g=a.outerHeight||b.documentElement.clientHeight||700,f=800>f||f>5e3?600:.7*f,g=800>g||g>3e3?700:.9*g,!s)return%20void%20a.open(d,r,"location,resizable,scrollbars,width="+f+",height="+g);i=q.getElementsByTagName("meta")||[];for(var%20t=0;t<i.length&&!(t>200);t++){var%20u=i[t],v=u.getAttribute("name"),w=u.getAttribute("property"),x=u.getAttribute("content");x&&(v?e("_meta["+v+"]",x):w&&e("_meta["+w+"]",x))}j=q.getElementsByTagName("link")||[];for(var%20y=0;y<j.length&&!(y>=50);y++){var%20z=j[y],A=z.getAttribute("rel");"canonical"!==A&&"icon"!==A&&"shortlink"!==A||e("_links["+A+"]",z.getAttribute("href"))}b.body.getElementsByClassName&&(k=b.body.getElementsByClassName("hfeed")[0]),k=b.getElementById("content")||k||b.body,l=k.getElementsByTagName("img")||[];for(var%20B=0;B<l.length&&!(B>=100);B++)n=l,n.src.indexOf("avatar")>-1||n.className.indexOf("avatar")>-1||n.width&&n.width<256||n.height&&n.height<128||e("_images[]",n.src);m=b.body.getElementsByTagName("iframe")||[];for(var%20C=0;C<m.length&&!(C>=50);C++)e("_embeds[]",m[C].src);b.title&&e("t",b.title),h&&e("s",h),p.setAttribute("method","POST"),p.setAttribute("action",d),p.setAttribute("target",r),p.setAttribute("style","display:%20none;"),a.open("about:blank",r,"location,resizable,scrollbars,width="+f+",height="+g),b.body.appendChild(p),p.submit()}})(window,document,top.location.href,"http:\/\/YOUR-XENFORO-SITE.com\/wp-admin\/press-this.php?v=8");