likeslikes

Adding likes to your blog

This page is the canonical, always up to date guide. Two ways to integrate: the drop-in widget (two lines of HTML) or the direct API if you prefer to build your own button. Either way, start with the setup below.

1. Get set up

  1. Register an account — create one here, it is free.
  2. Create a project — on the dashboard, give it a name like “My blog”. A project groups the domains that belong to the same site, and analytics are aggregated per project.
  3. Add and verify your domain — add your domain to the project. You will get a verification token that looks like likes-<32 hex chars>. Prove the domain is yours with either method, then add the domain again:

    Option A — DNS TXT record (checked first)

    likes-verification=likes-a1b2c3...32charhash

    Add it on the domain itself or on its root domain — subdomains fall back to the root, and multi-part TLDs like .com.es and .co.uk are handled correctly.

    Option B — HTML meta tag (fallback, checked on your homepage)

    <meta name="likes-verification" content="likes-a1b2c3...32charhash">
  4. Integrate — paste the widget below, or call the API directly.

2. The widget recommended

Drop these two lines where you want the like button to appear:

<div id="likes"></div>
<script src="http://likeslikes.net/likes.js" defer></script>

The widget renders a heart with the like count for the current page (the canonical URL if present) and lets each visitor like it once.

Options

#likes { --likeslikes-color: #7c3aed; }

3. The direct API

Building your own button (a static site, a Hugo template, anything)? There are only two endpoints, and you always pass the full URL of the post — the domain is extracted automatically, no IDs or keys needed.

Get the like count for a URL

curl "http://likeslikes.net/api/v1/likes?url=https://myblog.com/my-post"

Returns {"likes": 5, "is_liked": false, ...} — is_liked tells whether the calling IP has already liked this URL.

Add a like

curl -X POST http://likeslikes.net/api/v1/likes \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://myblog.com/my-post"}'

One like per visitor per URL; duplicates return an error.

A minimal JavaScript button

<button id="like-btn">❤ <span id="like-count">…</span></button>

<script>
const API = 'http://likeslikes.net';
const url = window.location.href;
const btn = document.getElementById('like-btn');
const count = document.getElementById('like-count');

fetch(`${API}/api/v1/likes?url=${encodeURIComponent(url)}`)
  .then(r => r.json())
  .then(({ data }) => {
    count.textContent = data.likes;
    btn.disabled = data.is_liked;
  });

btn.addEventListener('click', () => {
  fetch(`${API}/api/v1/likes`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ url })
  })
    .then(r => r.json())
    .then(({ data }) => {
      if (data.success) {
        count.textContent = data.likes;
        btn.disabled = true;
      }
    });
});
</script>

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