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Digital Experience Studio

University Communications and Marketing

  • Experience Program
  • Experience Design
  • Website Technology
  • Social Media
  • Analytics
  • News and Events

< Experience Program

  • Website Project Process
  • Working with a Vendor
  • Glossary
  • Taxonomy Data Dictionary

< Experience Design

  • Website Strategy
  • Website Structure
  • Information Architecture and Navigation
  • User-Centered Design Conventions
  • Common UX Issues
  • Enterprise Design System
  • Content Planning
  • Creating Accessible Content
  • Taxonomy and Filters

< Website Technology

  • Web Standards
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Cascade CMS
  • Sitecore CMS
  • Content Hub Overview
  • Content Hub DAM
  • Content Hub Operations

SitecoreAI

Sitecore user login

< Social Media

  • Alt Text Bookmarklet
  • Meta Ad Pixel
  • Social Media and Web Integration
  • Sprinklr

Sprinklr

Sprinklr user login

< Analytics

  • Google Analytics (GA4)
  • Testing
  • Data Visualization

Google Analytics

Google Analytics user login

< News and Events

  • News and Updates
  • Events and Trainings
Digital Experience Studio > Website Technology > Sitecore CMS > Sitecore Component Guide >

Social Share

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Social Share

Display any combination of social media links in a “Connect with Us” box. The Social Share component must be used in a small cell of a Grid Container component.

Screenshot of the social share component including a headline of "FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL" and social icons for Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok
Figure 1: Example of a Social Share component from the MSU homepage. 

Component Information

  • Usage
  • Best Practices
  • Template Data
  • Related Information

Benefits

  • This is a good method to share social media links which aren’t the sitewide social links commonly used in the footer of a site.

Example Use Cases

  • Share the social media accounts for a faculty member or lab.
  • Share the social media accounts for a department or smaller unit within a college.
  • Use to promote the social media accounts for a department or college within a grid container, for a more prominent call to action.

Component Options and Limitations

  • May only be used in a Grid component.
  • It may only be used in Small sized grid containers.
  • This looks best with at least two social accounts.

Title (single line text)

  • Displays header title for component above social links

Social Media Link (general link)

  • Icon - Choose the social media icon to be displayed.
  • Link - Enter the link to the desired social media account.

Related Components

  • Grid Container

Live Example

  • Demo: Grid Components

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add additional social media channels beyond what is listed?

The channels are limited by the current list of institutional channels. To suggest an additional channel to be added to the system, please email Comms.WebSupport@msu.edu.

Can I add multiple accounts of the same social media channel?

Instructions For Use

Add Social Share component to a grid component

In Page Builder:

  1. Select the page in the content tree.
  2. Click “+” button in any Placeholder box below the Breadcrumb links.
  3. Select Grid Container component from list. For the Social Share component, choose one of the variants that includes a Small sized component box.

Alternate method:

  1. Click Components tab at top of content tree.
  2. Locate Grid Container component.
  3. Drag the Grid Container component to any empty placeholder area of the page below the Breadcrumb links. For the Social Share component, choose one of the variants that includes a Small sized component box.

Add Social Share to Grid Container:

  1. Select the grid box to be used by clicking on the “+” sign in the center layout panel or use the Components tab to drag the Social Share component into the desired Small sized grid container.
  2. Add a heading by entering text in the placeholder field.
Add social links to the Social Share component

Tool Use Guide

 

Documentation updated: June 12, 2026

Is there an issue with this documentation? Report it here.

The Social Share component shows a channel icon, but not a page name with the icon. Having two of the same icon would lead to confusion. Units should only have one account per channel type in the Social Share component. To share multiple accounts of the same channel, build multiple variations of the Social Share component with different accounts in each.

Social media links must be added using Content Editor or Content mode in Page Builder.

To manage links using Content Mode in Page Builder:

In Page Builder:

  1. Click the Social Share component to select it.
  2. Click the Design tab in the right side panel.
  3. Click Manage items to expand the section.
  4. Click + Add new and Social Media Link to add a new social media link.
  5. Click the “…” icon to the right of the new Social Media Link, then click Rename.
  6. Enter a new name in the name field, then press Enter.
  7. Click the “…” icon to the right of the new Social Media Link, then click Open in Content Mode.
  8. Click the Icon dropdown and select the appropriate channel icon from the list.
  9. Click the appropriate link type: Internal, External, Media and Email. For social media channels, use the External link type.
  10. Enter the full URL (including http://) in the URL field.
  11. Add a link label to the Link text field.
  12. To update additional links, click the link in the Content tree on the left side panel of Content mode.
  13. When all links have been updated, click the Editor icon on the local navigation ribbon to return to Edit mode. 

To manage links using Content Editor:

In Page Builder:

  1. Click the dropdown arrow to the right of the SitecoreAI icon in upper left.
  2. Select Content Editor. Content Editor opens in a new tab.

In Content Editor:

  1. Locate the Social Share component that was just created.
  2. Add a title to the component in the Title field.
  3. Right-click on the component and select Insert > Social Media Link.
  4. In the Icon dropdown, select the appropriate social media site for the link.
  5. Use the Link chooser field to add the link by selecting Insert external link.
  6. In the URL field, add the link to the social media account.
  7. Repeat each step to add additional social links for the other social media platforms.
  8. Return to Page Builder.

In Page Builder:

  1. Refresh the canvas to see the changes.
  2. View the page using Preview (eye icon at the upper right).
  3. Click Actions and Submit to send the page to the publishing workflow. 
Reorder social links in the Social Share component

In Page Builder:

  1. Click the Social Share component to select it.
  2. In the right-side Social Share menu, click Manage Items to expand the panel.
  3. Hover over a link item, click the “…” icon and select Move Up or Move Down from the menu. Repeat as necessary.

Alternative, in Content Editor:

  1. Locate the Social Share component.
  2. Click and drag the links in the content tree to reorder. Click “OK” to accept the changes
  3. Return to Page Builder.
  4. Refresh the canvas to see the changes.
  5. View the page using Preview (eye icon at the upper right).
  6. Click Actions and Submit to send the page to the publishing workflow.