WordPress theme TwentyFourteen interfere with AddThis Welcome Bar

AddThis Welcome Bar layout issues with WordPress themes

If you’re using the AddThis Welcome Bar with WordPress, you may see an unwanted gap appearing at the top of your page. This happens because AddThis injects a placeholder div that reserves vertical space:

<div class="addthis_bar_placeholder" style="height: 46px;"></div>

The 46px height creates a visible gap that disrupts your layout, especially on themes with fixed headers or specific spacing requirements.

Quick fix with CSS

The simplest solution is to override the placeholder’s positioning to prevent it from consuming page space. Add this CSS to your theme:

.addthis_bar_placeholder {
  position: absolute;
  height: 0;
}

Where to add this CSS

You have several options:

• Child theme stylesheet — Add the rule to your child theme’s style.css (recommended for maintainability)
• Theme customizer — Go to Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS and paste the rule there
• Custom CSS plugins — Use Simple Custom CSS and JS or similar
• functions.php — Enqueue a custom stylesheet in your theme’s functions.php:

function fix_addthis_placeholder() {
  wp_enqueue_style(
    'addthis-fix',
    get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/addthis-fix.css'
  );
}
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'fix_addthis_placeholder' );

Why this works

Setting position: absolute removes the element from the document flow, so it no longer reserves horizontal space. The height: 0 ensures the placeholder doesn’t take any vertical space either. The AddThis bar itself still displays normally since it’s a separate element.

Alternative approaches

If the above doesn’t fully resolve your issue:

• Adjust the bar’s offset — Some AddThis configurations let you set a negative margin on the bar itself to overlap the gap
• Move the bar placement — Consider placing the Welcome Bar lower on the page rather than at the very top, which can sidestep layout conflicts entirely
• Disable and use inline sharing — If the Welcome Bar causes persistent problems, disable it and use inline AddThis buttons instead

Note on modern alternatives

If you’re building new WordPress sites, consider whether AddThis is still the best choice for your sharing needs. Modern themes often handle social sharing natively, and many site owners now rely on WordPress Jetpack or built-in sharing options for better performance and privacy control.