In Part One of this step-by-step tutorial series, we explained how to use WordPress widgets and in Part Two, we explained how to configure a text widget.
In this tutorial you will learn how to configure other default WordPress widgets.
How To Add A Categories Section
Now that you have configure a text widget containing a contact button, let’s configure your Post Categories.
The Categories widget displays on the sidebar section by default. All you need to do, therefore, is place the widget wherever you want your categories to display by clicking and dragging it on the sidebar widget area …
(Categories widget)
your categories …
(WordPress Categories Screen)
Note: We plan to create a step-by-step tutorial if you need help on how to set up categories.
Let’s configure the Categories widget settings as shown below:
- In Title: type something that will make sense to visitors, for example, “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- If you plan to use many categories, check Display as dropdown (this significantly reduces the size of the widget content by displaying all categories inside a drop-down menu). If you plan to publish posts under a few categories only, then leave the Display as dropdown box unchecked. (2)
- You can leave the remaining options unticked, or see the additional notes on configuring this widget below.
- Click Save when finished …
(Configuring a WordPress Categories widget)
Load the site in your browser or refresh the page to see how the content will look to visitors …
(WordPress Categories widget added to sidebar area)
Tips:
- Change the default Uncategorized post category to something more meaningful.
- If you use nested categories on your site, you may want to check the Show hierarchy option, otherwise leave this box unticked.
- To display the number of posts published in each category on your site, enable the Show post counts check box …
(Category widget options – Post Count Enabled vs Post Count Disabled)
Add A Recent Posts Section
The Recent Posts widget normally shows on the sidebar section by default. All you need to do is configure the widget.
Click on the Recent Posts widget title bar to display the configuration settings …
(Recent Posts widget)
There is really very little to set up here. You can add a title, select the number of posts to display and display post dates. If you want to use the default Number of posts to show setting, then just leave the widget as is, otherwise change the number of posts and click Save when done …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget settings)
The number of posts you have specified will be listed on your sidebar …
(Recent Posts widget on blog sidebar)
Creating and editing posts in WordPress is covered here: How To Create A Post In WordPress
Displaying Your Site’s Main Pages
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar for listing pages.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(WordPress Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your widget area …
(Dragging and dropping a Pages widget into your sidebar)
The Pages widget lets you configure the following options:
- Title: Add a title to the widget (e.g. “Site Info“) (1)
- Sort by: Sort how your pages display: by title (i.e. alphabetically), by page order, or page ID. (2)
- Exclude: Hide pages on your sidebar menu (3) …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings)
By default, pages will be listed by title in alphabetical order. If you want to display pages using another option, then select a different method in the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – sort options)
To exclude pages from displaying to your visitors, type in the Page Ids for the pages you would like excluded separated by commas into the Exclude field of the Pages widget …
(Pages Widget settings – exclude pages)
Finding a WordPress post or page ID is explained here: How To Find Post And Page IDs In WordPress
Click the Save button when finished and click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize the widget.
Links to your main pages will now display in the sidebar section …
(WordPress Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to the sidebar navigation menu. This is helpful if you want to display separate groups of pages on the sidebar navigation section (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Display Links On Your Sidebar Menu
Next, let’s add a Links widget to display external links on the WordPress sidebar menu.
Before adding a Links widget to your sidebar section, we recommend setting up the Links section first …
(WordPress Links screen)
Note: We plan to provide a step-by-step tutorial if you need help on how to set up and use WordPress Links.
To add the widget, select a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links Widget)
Drag the widget to your sidebar …
(Making Links Widget active)
The widget offers a number of configurable options, including the ability to specify what information to show about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(WordPress Links Widget Settings)
You can add as many separate ‘Link Widgets’ to your sidebar menu as you want. As you will see in a moment, this lets you create and display specific lists of links on your site …
(Add Multiple WordPress Links Widgets To The Sidebar)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Links widget: ‘Sort by:’ drop-down menu)
You can also create and display a list of items for a specific category, by selecting a link category from the ‘Select Link Category’ drop-down menu …
( Links widget: ‘Select Link Category’ drop-down menu)
When you have finished configuring the Links Widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will display immediately on your sidebar area …
(External links added to sidebar section)
As the above example shows, you can display specific external links to your site visitors (e.g. a list for a specific link category only), and add multiple lists of links to the sidebar.
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This is the end of part 3 of this tutorial series.
Click on this link to view Part 4:
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