How to Add Tumblr's Share Button to WordPress: Step-by-Step Guide

Just like Facebook's Like button, Twitter's Retweet, or LinkedIn's Share, Tumblr—a popular microblogging platform—offers its own share button. Designed to help over 16 million Tumblr bloggers easily promote your content via 'Reblog,' this widget extends sharing beyond Tumblr to the wider web. It's a cornerstone of Tumblr's vibrant social community. As WordPress experts with years of theme customization experience, we'll walk you through adding this button to your site seamlessly.

When we previously covered WordPress Post Formats and their microblogging potential, some readers emailed arguing WordPress lacked Tumblr's reblogging community. With this integration, you can now replicate that social dynamic right in your WordPress posts.

First, open your footer.php file and paste this script just above the closing </body> tag:

<script src="//platform.tumblr.com/widgets/share/buttons.js"></script>

If you're using a theme framework without direct footer.php access, add this to your functions.php or custom functions area:

function insert_tumblr_script() {
    echo '<script src="//platform.tumblr.com/widgets/share/buttons.js"></script>';
}
add_action('wp_footer', 'insert_tumblr_script');

With the script in place, embed the button in your posts. Add the code anywhere in your loop (e.g., single.php, index.php, page.php, or loop.php).

Basic Version

For most users, this simple code works perfectly—place it where you want the button:

<a href="https://www.tumblr.com/share"
  title="Share on Tumblr"
  class="tumblr-share-button"
  data-url="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"
  data-text="<?php the_title(); ?>"
  data-description="<?php echo wp_trim_words(get_the_excerpt(), 20); ?>"
  style="display:inline-block; text-indent:-9999px; opacity:0.7; width:81px; height:20px; background:url('https://platform.tumblr.com/widgets/share/images/share-button.png') 0 0 no-repeat transparent;"
><span>Share on Tumblr</span></a>

Visit the official Tumblr button page for various button images and styles. Customize further by swapping the background CSS image or dimensions.

Advanced Customization

WordPress Post Formats enable microblogging themes, but the basic button auto-pulls title and description, risking inaccuracies. Tumblr's advanced options let you specify post type (link, quote, image, etc.), pre-filled text, pull quotes with attribution, or targeted paragraphs—mirroring native Reblog functionality.

Here's an example for loop.php using Post Formats:

<?php if (has_post_format('link')) : ?>
  <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/share/link?url=<?php the_permalink(); ?>&name=<?php the_title(); ?>" target="_blank">Share on Tumblr</a>
<?php elseif (has_post_format('quote')) : ?>
  <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/share/quote?url=<?php the_permalink(); ?>&source=<?php the_author(); ?>"e=Your+Quote+Here" target="_blank">Share on Tumblr</a>
<?php else : ?>
  <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" title="Share on Tumblr" class="tumblr-share-button" data-url="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"
    data-title="<?php the_title(); ?>"
    data-description="<?php echo wp_trim_words(get_the_excerpt(), 20); ?>"
    style="display:inline-block; text-indent:-9999px; opacity:0.7; width:81px; height:20px;"
  ><span>Share on Tumblr</span></a>
<?php endif; ?>

Explore more customizations on the official Tumblr button page.

Ready to enhance your site's social sharing? Will you add the Tumblr button to your WordPress setup?