Note: Some of the instructions from this guide are referring to the WP Admin dashboard. You can get to this dashboard by adding /wp-admin to the end of your site’s url (e.g.: example.wordpress.com/wp-admin)

The Like button is an easy way to show appreciation for a post:

Simply click it, and your Gravatar will appear next to it. Click it again to unlike.  Every WordPress.com blog includes the Like system, although you can control whether Likes display on your site. 

How to Like a Post

Let’s say you’ve found a particularly awesome post on WordPress.com. You’d like to tip your hat to the author and give him or her credit. At the bottom of the post, you see the Like button:

Note: Visitors must be logged into WordPress.com in order to use the Like button. An alternative for non-WordPress.com visitors is to use the Ratings system.

Click it, and the button changes to show that you’ve liked the post, and your Gravatar appears as a visual indicator of your appreciation:

Your Gravatar is clickable and linked to your Gravatar Profile. If you haven’t configured or updated your Gravatar Profile, you can do that by visiting Me → My Profile in your homepage.

Over time, as the post grows in popularity, the number of Likes will increase. One row of Likes will be shown:

To see the rest of the Likes, click on the total count, and the rest of the Likes will display in a scrollable pop-up:

 

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How to Unlike a Post

If you need to remove the Like from a post (i.e. “unlike” the post), simply click the Like button again. Clicking the button will toggle the status.

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Reviewing Posts You Like

To review all the WordPress.com posts you’ve liked, visit your Reader and then visit the My Likes section:

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Likes and Your Site

By default, all WordPress.com blogs display the Like button (and the gallery of Gravatars for bragging rights) under each post.

You can also choose for Likes (and other sharing buttons) to display on your pages, your media files, and/or on the front page, archive pages, and search results of your site. Go to Sharing → Sharing Buttons in your blog’s homepage. Next to Show buttons on, under Options select where you want Likes (and other sharing buttons) to be displayed:

Note: Choosing “Front Page, Archive Pages, and Search Results” means that the Like button will show on your blog’s front page below each post, rather than only if a reader clicks through to the individual post.

To hide Likes, in Sharing → Sharing Buttons find the Reblog & Like setting and disable the option:

The Like button and any Likes will no longer appear on your new posts or pages (although the Like button will still appear in readers’ toolbars and in the WordPress.com Reader).

Note: The options on the Sharing → Sharing Buttons page controls the default for new posts that are created after the settings are changed, those options do not affect already published posts. To change the Likes option for already-published posts, you will need to edit each post individually (or bulk edit them), as described below.

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Turn Likes On/Off on Specific Posts or Pages

To show or hide Likes for an individual post or page, edit the post or page and then find the Sharing module on the left hand side:

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Turn Likes On/Off on Specific Media Files

Note: The instructions from this guide are referring to the WP Admin dashboard. You can get to this dashboard by adding /wp-admin to the end of your site’s url (e.g.: example.wordpress.com/wp-admin)

To show or hide Likes for individual media files, find the file in your WP Admin Media Library and click on the media file of your choice. A window will open and you will need to click on Edit More Details:

On the Edit Media screen that opens, find the Likes and Shares module (you might have to scroll down to find it):