Jetpack Like Button Not Loading on Posts in WordPress

Jetpack Like Button Not Loading on Posts in WordPress

Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank

Jetpack offers several great modules to accentuate a WordPress website. One of the features many use is the “Like” button. This is when a visitor can click “Like” to express to the author the content was worth reading.

Unfortunately, sometimes the like button can get stuck with a “loading…” message. How can you fix this problem?

How to Fix the Jetpack Like Button Not Loading

So, this is something that affected my website. After researching the problem a bit, I stumbled across the fix for this myself. It has to do with how certain plugins minify javascript.

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Here is the error I was getting on one of my blogs. Under “Like this,” you’ll see a message for “loading…”
Like Loading

To fix this error, click the “Plugins” function in the left admin panel of WordPress.
Click Plugins

Find the plugin you use for minifying javascript. For me, it was “Fast Velocity Minify.” Click the “Deactivate” link under the plugin’s name.
Deactivate

Now, test the like button. You can click the “Visit Site” link under your site’s name in the top WordPress toolbar. Visit any one of your posts or pages and look to see if the “Like” button has returned.
Visit WordPress Site

If you disabled the correct plugin, you should see your “Like” button return.
Jetpack Like Button

If the like button is showing, you may want to consider deleting the plugin you deactivated and finding an alternative.

Why does this happen?

While most plugins work well with each other in WordPress, sometimes features and abilities do not mix. In this case, it’s how plugins like Fast Velocity Minify combine code to make the site faster.

Apparently, it manipulates how Jetpack uses the Like button and disables the coding.

Can other plugins stop the like button from working?

It depends on the plugin’s purpose, really. The hardest part is knowing which one to disable and finding replacements. In this instance, I had a good idea it was the minify plugin causing the issue and I was right.

Sometimes you have to take even greater measures.

What if you don’t have a minify plugin installed?

If the Like button is still disabled and you don’t have a minify plugin installed, you’ll have to do some detailed troubleshooting. Start by disabling all of your plugins and enable them one-by-one while testing a post each time.

This is time-consuming, but it’ll help identify what plugin is causing the issue.

You may also want to consider that it may be a theme issue. So, revert back to one of the default or install a new theme in WordPress to see if the Like button reappears.

Are there alternatives to using the Jetpack Like button?

The Jetpack Like button is connected to a WordPress.com account. It shows the WordPress users who likes the content you create and tracks those visitors in your dashboard. However, you can add all kinds of Like buttons to your content which may work better with other plugins.

This may be a better alternative to deleting a minify plugin you find to be very useful.

Here are a few that are available in WordPress.

LikeBTN

LikeBTN

LikeBTN applies tracking only for those who click the button on your website. It doesn’t connect to external resources like WordPress.com or Facebook. However, it shows visitor likes in posts, pages, comments, BuddyPress elements, and even WooCommerce and custom post types.

It also works with a variety of caching plugins like WP Total Cache and CloudFlare.

Facebook Like Box

Facebook Like Box

The Facebook Like Box connects your social media account to the website. It will display all of the users who like your brand and website whether they click the “Like” from your posts and pages or through your actual Facebook profile. The problem with this plugin is that it calls outside data, which may affect site speed.

However, this effect has potential to be minimal depending on content and web hosting.

AddToAny Share Buttons

AddToAny Share Buttons

Although this isn’t necessarily a like button, AddToAny Share Buttons includes the Facebook element like the plugin above. The biggest difference is that it also adds social sharing to many of the most popular social sites on the Internet. This plugin may help you get rid of the Like and Share feature of Jetpack altogether if you can’t get it to work right.

Deciding Which Plugin to Use

When plugins don’t play nice together, the hardest part is deciding which is more important. Let’s take my site, for example. While I do like the idea of tracking people who enjoy the content, the minifying ability is more important to me.

As a result, I will eventually disable the Like button altogether and re-enable the minify plugin.

Why would I rather have Fast Velocity Minify running? Because it makes my site faster. And speed is a vital component for search engine optimization and visitor experience.

If you can’t find two plugins that work together seamlessly, you have two options: 1) find an alternative, or 2) get rid of something.

I’m sure that if you’re good at coding, you might be able to figure out a workaround to the Jetpack Like button not loading with other plugins. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to dive into code to figure it out.

Other Possible Causes

Plugins are not the only things that can disable each other. As I’ve mentioned above, I’ve also seen themes disable certain plugin properties as well. If you disable all of your plugins and the Jetpack Like button is still not loading, try using the basic “Twenty Nineteen” WordPress theme and test.

Another possible problem may have to do with your WordPress.com account. Perhaps it has been disabled in your WordPress website or otherwise canceled. Because Jetpack requires this connection, you can always try to disconnect WordPress.com and then reconnect it. It’s kind of like a computer reboot.

In fact, I’ve had to do this a couple of times over the years to fix various problems while using Jetpack.

Nothing is Perfect

Although WordPress is one of the most stable and the most popular content management system on the Internet, it’s not always perfect. This is because the plugins are designed by separate developers. The coding one person uses may not be compatible with the layout of another.

Don’t get discouraged. The beautiful thing about WordPress is that it’s easy to find alternatives and make custom adjustments.

Michael Brockbank
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