WordPress adds “like” feature

WordPress.com’s millions of blogs are getting social with two new features: quick reblogging and the ability to “like” posts.

The newly launched features are now accessible via a like menu item in the admin bar at the top of the page, although you have to be logged into a WordPress account to use them. The new like button is very simple — once you click it, it adds to a counter that shows the author how many people liked his or her post.

Once you like something, the top menu changes to “You like this.” In that menu is the option to “Reblog this Post.” Clicking on that takes you to a pre-filled QuickPress tab, which contains the title, the beginning of the post you’re reblogging and usually an image. QuickPress is also new; it’s just a simpler, one-step interface to writing and publishing blog posts.

WordPress has also created a tab that lets you view all of the posts that you’ve liked. The page provides excerpts from each post and a search box for quickly finding posts on a specific topic or from a specific blog.

---

Tumblr and Posterous in the Crosshairs

---

When we first saw WordPress’s new social features, we were immediately reminded of short-form blog platforms Tumblr and Posterous.

Reblogging and liking are core features of the Tumblr platform, and Posterous has distinguished itself with its dead-simple blogging options. Both have been growing over the last few years, emerging as more user-friendly alternatives to WordPress. It was simply tougher to write and publish a blog post on WordPress.com or through the WordPress software.

QuickPress directly addresses that problem, and we bet the liking feature will also prove to be popular. It’s an easy way to bookmark posts, and in order to reblog, you have to like a post first. While these new features may not bring loyal Tumblr users back to WordPress, it should appease those who have complained about the difficulty of publishing posts.

http://mashable.com/2010/06/01/wordpress-quickpress-like/