Adding likes anywhere: a side project

Hey 👋,

in February 2023, I wrote a post explaining how I added a like button to the articles in my blog. It has been my most visited (and liked) article since then.

Funnily enough, the likes counter is its own proof: 190 likes as of 2026-09-30. To put it into context, the next most liked article is “Stop and Think” sitting at a much more modest number: 11 likes.

When I originally wrote the post, I already had the idea to extract the backend part that I implemented and offer it as a free service so people could have the full solution. Without that part the post always felt disappointing because users wanted to add a like button to their site and suddenly they needed to build and host their backend.

So finally two months ago (more than three years later) I did it.

I published it as LikesLikes.net❤️. A hosted likes service for any website, beyond Hugo or any static site.

Immediately after publishing the service I updated the original post linking to it from there. Would people reading the article try the service? And a few did! Three people are already using the service.

But that’s not the most exciting part. The most exciting part was talking to them: all three gave quite positive feedback when I reached out to them.

I am using these first registrations to iterate the service and improve it. It’s being crazy fun.

It is, by far, the personal project that has put the most smiles on my face. And it hasn’t been around for too long yet. Damn, it’s even the first pet project which has already paid for its own domain thanks to donations (Thank you if you ever read this!).

So this is the official announcement. LikesLikes.net is live, and I plan to continue improving it with care and love.

If you are curious about how to use it, you can check out its documentation. But it’s easy: 1) register, 2) verify your domain (via DNS or meta-tag) and 3) add the widget (or write your own custom integration with the API).