In Part 1 of this tutorial, we explained how to use WordPress widgets and in Part 2, you learned how to configure a text widget.
In this tutorial we will continue configuring other widgets.
Add A Post Categories Section
Now that you have set up a text widget containing a contact button, let’s configure a widget to display Categories on the sidebar section.
By default, the Categories widget already displays on your sidebar. All you need to do, therefore, is place the widget wherever you want your categories to display by clicking and dragging it in the sidebar area …
(WordPress Categories widget)
your your WordPress post categories …
(WordPress Post Categories Screen)
Note: We plan to create separate tutorials on how to configure and use WordPress categories.
Configure the Categories widget settings as described below:
- In Title: type something that your visitors will understand, like “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- Check Display as dropdown if you have too many categories (this significantly reduces the length of your 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 unticked. (2)
- Leave the default settings for the remaining options, or see the additional notes on configuring this widget below.
- Click Save to update your settings …
(WordPress Categories widget settings)
Click Visit Site or reload the page to see how the content will display to your visitors …
(Categories widget added to sidebar)
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 unchecked.
- To display the number of posts published in each category, tick 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 displays on your sidebar navigation menu by default. All you need to do is configure this widget.
Click on your Recent Posts widget title bar to display the configuration settings …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget)
There’s very little to set up. You can add a widget title, select the number of posts to display and opt to display post dates. If you’re happy to use the default setting for Number of posts to show, then just leave the widget as is, otherwise enter the number of posts to show and click Save when done …
(Recent Posts widget settings)
The number of posts you have specified will be listed on your sidebar …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget added to blog sidebar)
How to create WordPress Posts is covered here: How To Create A WP Post
Add A Pages Widget To Your Sidebar Navigation Menu
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar to display page links.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(WordPress Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your sidebar widget area …
(Adding a Pages widget to your sidebar navigation section)
The Pages widget allows you to configure the following options:
- Title: Add a title to display above your links (e.g. “Pages“) (1)
- Sort by: Sort how your pages display: by title (i.e. alphabetically), by page order, or page ID. (2)
- Exclude: Hide pages on the sidebar navigation section (3) …
(Pages Widget settings)
By default, pages are displayed by title in alphabetical order. If you want to display pages using one of the other options, then select a different method from the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – item sorting options)
To exclude certain pages from showing in your sidebar, simply type or paste in the Page Ids for the pages you want excluded separated by commas into the Exclude field of the Pages widget …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – exclude pages)
We provide a step-by-step tutorial about how to find a page ID in WordPress here: How To Find Post And Page IDs In WordPress
Click the Save button when finished and then click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize your widget.
Links to the site’s main pages will now show on your sidebar navigation section …
(Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to your sidebar. This is helpful if you need to display different page groups on your sidebar (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add Links To The Sidebar
Now, let’s add a widget for displaying external links on your WordPress sidebar.
Before adding a Links widget to the sidebar menu, we recommend setting up the Links feature inside your WP dashboard …
(WordPress Links section)
Note: We plan to create a tutorial on how to configure and use WordPress Links.
To add the widget, select a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links Widget)
Drag the Links widget to your active area …
(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 the sidebar section …
(WordPress Links Widget Settings)
You can add as many separate ‘Link Widgets’ to the sidebar 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 Navigation Menu)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(WordPress 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 your Links Widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will display immediately on your site …
(Links added to WordPress sidebar)
As the above example shows, you can display specific 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 section three of this tutorial series.
Click here to view the rest of this tutorial series:
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