Monarch Social Share Plugin Review – Pros & Cons
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The role of social media platforms in the success of an online business is undeniable. Just one click on a share button can instantly draw hundreds of visitors to your website and help your content go viral. And it’s not just about traffic. Apart from reaching people far and wide, social media can also help you convert leads into customers.
The Monarch Social Plugin from Elegant Themes has long helped online businesses share their content across social platforms. All you need to do is install the plugin, activate it, and start sharing your work. The best thing is that no coding is required. Monarch is not sold on its own; it comes with the Elegant Themes membership that also includes Divi, and because there is no coupon code for that membership, our page on whether there is an Elegant Themes coupon code explains what actually reduces the price.
In this Monarch plugin review, we will take a closer look at the plugin, its features, installation, and settings. We will also cover its pros and cons so you know what to consider before choosing it. Let’s begin by understanding a bit more about the plugin.
Monarch Plugin Review
What is Monarch Social Sharing Plugin?
Monarch is one of the best-known social sharing plugins for WordPress. When you install it, you get several attractive social sharing and follow icons that can be placed in different locations on your website.
This can be above or below the content, in a floating bar, over an image or video, in automatic popups, or in automatic fly-ins.
These automatic fly-ins and pop-ups also include several style options to choose from.
The plugin offers more than 35 social network options for your website. Each icon can be customized with different colors, sizes, and other styling options. You can also keep the default settings if you prefer.
You can display social share counts where supported, although counts may not always be available or update immediately because social networks can change their APIs and access policies. Overall, Monarch remains a comprehensive option if you are looking for a social sharing plugin for your website.
Monarch Plugin Features
Monarch includes a broad set of features. Here is what it offers:
- More than 20 social networking options to choose from
- Different locations for displaying the buttons
- Different styles for pop-ups and fly-ins
- Display social share counts where supported
- Customize buttons with colors, sizes, and effects
- Choose your icon orientation
- Choose each network’s native color
- Check sharing statistics
- Extensive customization options
- Import/export options
- Support
- Documentation
Installing Monarch Plugin
Installing Monarch is straightforward. If you have installed a plugin or theme on your WordPress website before, installing Monarch should not be difficult.
Like any other premium plugin, you first need to download it. Then go to WordPress dashboard -> Plugins -> Add New. Upload the ZIP file you downloaded from the official Monarch or Elegant Themes website, and click the Activate button. The same upload route is used for the Divi theme itself, and it is where most Elegant Themes support tickets start; if it is the theme upload that fails, our rundown of why a Divi theme installation fails covers the wrong-zip, file-size and permissions causes.
That’s it. Your plugin is now ready to configure. Let’s look at the available settings.
Monarch Plugin Settings
To configure the plugin, go to the Monarch dashboard. Depending on the version and Elegant Themes setup, you can locate it under the Tools menu or the Elegant Themes section in your WordPress dashboard. Your Monarch dashboard will look something like this.
Selecting the Icon Location
The first option is Locations. As the name suggests, this option lets you place your icons in different locations. You can choose one location or combine two or more.
Under this option, you have five locations to choose from:
- Sidebar
- Popup
- Inline
- Flyin
- Media
Choose the locations that work best for your website.
#1. Sidebar
If you select the sidebar option, your icons will appear in a floating sidebar. You can also select the icon color, shape, and style. Scroll down to find more options under the Display Settings tab.
Here you can set the sidebar orientation, add animation effects, display share counts where available, adjust the spacing between icons, and more.
#2. Popup and Flyin
The next option is Popup. When you use it, your icons appear in a pop-up window. You can also select Flyin, which displays the icons as an animated panel, typically from the bottom or side of the page, after a visitor has spent a specific amount of time on your website.
For both options, you can add a title and message for visitors. You can also add triggers to control when the display appears. Several triggers are available:
- Timed Delay Triggers – Delay the appearance of fly-ins and pop-ups until a reader has been on the page for a specific amount of time.
- Page Leave Triggers – Display the share icons when a reader appears ready to leave the page.
- After Commenting Trigger – Display the icons after a reader leaves a comment on your post. Because the reader has already engaged with your content, they may be more likely to share it.
- Bottom Post Triggers – Display the icons when a reader reaches the end of your post or page.
- X Sec Delay Triggers – Display the share buttons after the page has been inactive for a specified duration, helping re-engage the reader.
- After-Purchase Triggers – Useful for e-commerce sites, this trigger displays pop-ups and fly-ins after a customer completes a purchase.
#3. Inline Location
The inline option lets you add icons within your content. You can use it to encourage readers to share a specific quote, sentence, or phrase from your article.
Selecting Social Networks
The Media option lets visitors share media content such as images, videos, and infographics. The social icons appear over the media when a visitor hovers over it.
Choosing the Networks
This is one of the most important options. You should first choose the networks you want to use on your website.
Monarch offers more than 20 social network options. You probably will not use all of them, but having a broad selection makes it easier to support the platforms your audience prefers.
You can select a network by clicking its icon. If you have just installed Monarch, your network list may be empty.
Add networks by clicking the Add Network button. You will see the following window:
Select a network by clicking its icon. Scroll down to see all available options. After selecting your networks, click Apply. You can arrange the order of the icons by dragging and dropping them into place.
Click Save so you do not lose your settings.
If you select X, formerly Twitter, you may see a field next to the icon for your username. This field is specific to the network and may be labeled differently depending on the plugin version.
Enter your X/Twitter handle in this section. When someone shares your post, the handle can be included in the share details where supported, helping promote your account and reach more people.
Selecting Widget Style
The next option lets you configure your social icon widgets. You can select the style and shape, set the icon alignment, display follower counts where available, and customize several other widget settings.
General Settings
This option has two parts. The first lets you control when the plugin updates social counts. You can configure it to update the counts as soon as someone follows or shares your post, although real-time updates depend on the network’s available data. To request an update as frequently as possible, set the frequency to 0.
By default, the count update frequency is 3 hours. You can choose a different interval based on your needs.
Checking your Site Social Stats
The next option lets you check how your website is performing on social platforms. The plugin includes a section for reviewing available social sharing data. Click the bar icon at the top of the screen to view your statistics for the past 7 days. You can also view data for the last 30 days or the past year, depending on the data available to the plugin.
These statistics can help you understand how people respond to your posts and pages across different platforms. They can also show which platforms may deserve more attention to increase sharing.
Import/Export
This option is useful when you manage multiple websites. You can customize all your buttons on one website and then import those settings into your other sites.
