Google Chrome is a great browser, but it can be a little too cluttered for some people. If you’re looking for an easy way to add some extra features to your browsing experience, then you should check out Shareaholic. It’s a Chrome extension that lets you easily share links and articles with your friends and family. Plus, it’s free to download and use.
Note: Shareaholic is also available for Firefox, Internet Explorer, Flock, Safari, and Songbird (see Shareaholic homepage link below).
Shareaholic Setup
After the extension has finished installing you will see your new “Toolbar Button” and a new tab will open with information about Shareaholic. You should leave this “Information Tab” open for at least a few minutes because of the “login/create an account links”.
Note: There are no “in-browser” options to worry with.
If you click on the “Toolbar Button” this is what the drop-down window will look like. You can go ahead and start using the extension if desired at this point but you will be limited to the services shown here. Customization of the “Services List” does require an account and is definitely recommended.
For our example we decided to create a new account and having the “Information Tab” open helped get the process started very easily.
There are only three things required for an account: a user name, an e-mail address, & a password.
Once you have created your new account you should go ahead and check your e-mail first. You will find a “Confirmation Request E-mail” waiting for you…click on the link provided to finish things up and you are ready to start customizing your “Services List”.
Here is a complete list of the services available at the moment. You can see the default set of services “highlighted/shaded” here. Changing what services are displayed is extremely easy…click on your choices to select (highlight/shade) a desired service or to deselect an unwanted service.
A better look at the “Shareaholic Account Window”…
Here is our “Services List” ready to go after making some changes.
Shareaholic for Google Chrome in Action
We decided to test Shareaholic on one of the great tutorial pages here at the site. To share just click on the “Toolbar Button”, select the desired service, and have that service open in a new tab (or window depending on your personal settings).
We started with Google Mail…we were really pleased to see that the entire tab was focused as a “Compose Window”. The “Subject & Letter Areas” were auto-filled for us…all that was left to do was choose an e-mail address, add any additional desired text, and send the letter out.
Next we chose Twitter. Once again everything was auto-filled and the webpage link was automatically converted to a shortened URL using bit.ly.
Our final test was choosing is.gd. The webpage address was also auto-converted for us…all that was left to do was copy and paste our new shortened URL. This extension is a pleasure to use and will definitely become one of your most favorite (and useful) browser add-ins.
Conclusion
The Shareaholic for Google Chrome extension will make a great addition to your Chrome browser…useful, convenient and fun to use. This is definitely a recommended install. Be sure to add Shareaholic to all of the other browsers on your computer so that you can enjoy that sharing goodness to the fullest.
Links
Download the Shareaholic for Google Chrome extension (Google Chrome Extensions)
Shareaholic Homepage
