Highlight and Share 4.0 is here and this is the biggest release in its history. Version 4.0 is a complete rewrite of Highlight and Share. Read on for what is new with this epic new release.
Smarter Social Network Positioning
Highlight and Share at its core is a text highlighter; when you select text within a post or page, you will be shown several social options.
In 4.0, the social icons now show directly above the selection. It is intelligently positioned based on several factors. You’ll find Highlight and Share more out of the way, but promiment enough to attract attention.
If the window is too small or the icons go out of the viewport, the icons automatically re-position themselves.
New Vertical Orientation
In addition to horizontal positioning, you are able to change the orientation to vertical. This is extremely useful if you have a lot of social networks enabled.
Tooltips!
There is no longer a need to guess what social network is what if you have icons-only enabled. Simply hover over the social network icon to view a tooltip.
You are able to change the tooltips/labels per social network as needed in the main admin settings of Highlight and Share.
The Click to Share Block has been “Modernized”
Pre-4.0, the “Click to Share” block included with Highlight and Share was pretty basic as far as customizations go. With 4.0, the Click to Share block has been given a ton of options so that you can customize the block heavily.
Here are some of the many new features of the Click to Share block.
Rich Text Editing for the Text
Previously, the Shareable text was just that: text. Now there are several Rich Text formatting options that you can apply to the shareable text.
Customize the CTA and CTA Icon
You can now customize the text of the CTA, hide or show the CTA/CTA Icon, and adjust the size of the CTA icon.
Robust Typography Options
You can now adjust the typography options of both the Shareable Text and the Call to Action. Previously you could only adjust the font size and font weight. Typography options can also be set per breakpoint.
Clicking on the Settings icon will show a popover where you can adjust the typography settings per breakpoint.
Set the Background Type
You can now set the background of the Click to Share block with three options: solid, gradient, or background image.
With the Solid background type, you can choose between a solid background color for both the regular and hover state.
For the Gradient background type, you can select a gradient for the regular state and hover state. To make things a bit easier, there is a “Sync Gradients” option which allows you to edit both gradients at once. There’s also a convenient gradient generator, which will shuffle through some preset gradients.
Choosing an Image as the background is also possible. You can also adjust the background opacity and background settings for more fine-tuning.
Adjust Colors
You can adjust the colors for all the items in the Click to Share block for both the regular and hover states.
Adjust Padding and Spacing
One new addition to the Click to Share block is to adjust the padding/spacing of various elements. You can customize these per breakpoint (desktop, tablet, mobile).
Responsive Options
Lastly for the Click to Share block, you can adjust the responsive options for Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile. Just click on each for a preview and which options you can adjust per breakpoint.
Inline Highlighting is More Intuitive
Inline Highlighting is a feature Highlight and Share has had for a while. If you’re using the block editor, you can use the formatting option to highlight any rich text.
On the frontend, the user will see some highlighted text and can click on it to reveal the social networks.
You can also adjust how inline highlighting looks in the admin panel options.
Revamped Admin Panel Options
Highligth and Share’s admin settings have been rewritten and redesigned. The hope here is that you’ll find all of the settings rather intuitive and well designed.
Here’s what’s included in the admin panel redesign.
Reorder Social Networks
One highly requested feature is to reorder the social networks. With the new Appearance tab, you can completely customize the order the icons show up.
Appearance Customizer
Not content with the built-in themes? You can now customize the social icons to exactly your specifications. You can even change individual icon colors should you so choose.
And So Much More…
Within the new admin panel, you can:
- Adjust labels and tooltips for each social network
- Set email options including Akismet spam protection and reCAPTCHA 3
- Use Adobe Fonts in the block editor for typography
- Adjust inline highlighting and its colors
Conclusion
There are just too many new features to name for this short announcement. For a better overview of the new features, please visit the documentation.
This is a big release, and I am anxiously awaiting your feedback.
Ronald Huereca founded DLX Plugins in 2022 with the goal of providing deluxe plugins available for download. Find out more about DLX Plugins, check out some tutorials, and check out our plugins.