How to Add an Instagram Widget & Goodreads Button to Your Blog

Update: The categories WordPress.com Tips and Blogging Tips, as well as the Ask the Geek page have been removed from TGB. All blogging tips are merged together in the Blogging 101 category.

Did you notice I added a new page to TGB? It’s a companion to my WordPress.com Tips and Blogging Tips called Ask the Geek where readers can ask questions having to do with wordpress.com and blogging in general. I’m very excited to kick it off today with a question from Ezi over at  Oh My Shelves.

Ezi writes:

I want to improve my blog. How do I add the Instagram to my blog? Also, on my reviews, how do I get the “add to goodreads” button?

Thank you so much!

Instagram

You can add an Instagram widget to your blog. I’m not familiar with worpress.org, so I’ll link you to the page that describes how to do this. Click here.

For wordpress.com users, do the following:

Click Customize in the lower right corner of your blog. In the Customizer menu, click on Widgets, Sidebar (or Footer), Add Widget, and finally Instagram.

Step One

Step Two

Step Three

Instagram Widget

As the widget says, you’ll should click Save and Publish, because clicking on Authorize Instagram Access will temporarily take you out of the customizer. Once authorized, you will be able to choose how many images will be displayed (1 – 20) and the number of columns (1 – 3). Click Save and Publish and you’re all set!

Add to Goodreads Button

Right click and select Save image as… to download the button,  and upload the image to your blog. Then all you have to do is insert the image where you want it in your post.

Linking the Image

Clicking on an image will give you the option to change the image alignment—left, center, right, or no alignment. You will also be able to increase or decrease the size of the image, or even add a caption. It’s also the first step in making your image—the ‘add to Goodreads’ button, in this case—into a link.

After you click the image (and changed the alignment, if you wish to do so) the next thing you need to do is click the link button. In that box that opens up, type in the url and check the Open link in a new window/tab box ¹ and finally, click the ‘Add Link’ button. (There is no need to type anything into the Link Text box, because you’re using an image.)

And that’s all you have to do to use any image as a link.

Save

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1. I always check this box in case the person reading my post isn’t ready to leave my blog completely. ↩