As we explain in this post, one of the many great benefits of using WordPress to manage your website or blog is that you can easily add content, improve your site’s functionality, or redesign the layout of your site without web coding knowledge required.
WordPress allows you to easily insert, remove, and reorganize various blocks of content from your site’s sidebar (or header and footer sections, depending on what theme you are using) using widgets.
Once you know how to use widgets, you can easily add things to your site like:
- site pages
- blog categories
- archives
- menus that display only the pages you select
- links to resources
- links to recent posts
- user comments
- clickable text ads
- user testimonials
- survey questions & results
- RSS content excerpts
- opt-in form
- product images
- social media buttons
- display widgets from external sites (e.g. Pinterest)
- administrative forms (e.g. login, register, etc.)
(Widgets help make managing and using WordPress easier)
To learn more about what widgets are, how widgets work and why widgets can make managing your site easier, see this article:
In this step-by-step tutorial we will show you how to use and configure various frequently-used WordPress widgets.
Using WordPress Widgets
What You Need To Know First
Before we show you how to configure widgets, let’s first go over some of the basics about how to use widgets:
Most WordPress Themes Support Widget-Ready Layouts
Many WordPress themes support widgets and provide built-in sections in the theme’s layout where widgets can be used, such as the sidebar, header area, and footer sections. Depending on what theme you are using, widgets can sometimes also be added below or above the content area …
(Many themes offer users a number of widget areas)
These widget-ready layouts correspond to a feature inside the Widget management panel called “Widget Areas” …
(Widget Areas)
The Widgets Screen
The Widgets panel displays a list of all the widgets that are currently available for use on your site.
On the right-hand side of the screen, you can see the “active” widgets …
(Activate or deactivate widgets by dragging & dropping)
Available widgets can be activated or deactivated using drag & drop.
Widgets dragged from the Available Widgets section to widget areas like the sidebar, footer, etc. become activated for use.
The Widgets area also includes an Inactive Widgets section that lets you remove any widgets that you no longer want to use on your site. Inactive widgets do not lose their settings.
Reorganize Widgets With Drag & Drop
You can easily add, activate, deactivate, reorder and remove widgets by dragging and dropping items in the Widgets section …
(Rearrange widgets using drag-and-drop)
You can also easily reconfigure your theme’s layout by dragging and dropping widgets.
For example, take a look at the image below. In this site, the widgets have already been configured to display the following to visitors:
- A subscription form,
- A contact support button, and
- A ‘click to call’ function from a widgetized WordPress plugin (i.e. a plugin that adds an accompanying widget to your site) …
(Widgets control how certain features on your site appear)
If we look inside the example site’s Widget area, you will see that these features appear on the site’s sidebar area in exactly the same order as they have been arranged in the active widget area …
Let’s now reorganize these widgets in the Active Widget Area using drag & drop …
(Drag-and-drop widgets in the widget area to rearrange their order)
The widgets have now been reordered in your sidebar …
This instantly reorganizes the order of items in your sidebar.
Reorganizing sidebar elements using widgets can improve user experience.
Note in the screenshot below that the ‘click to call’ feature (3) is now first the sidebar, and the ‘contact us’ graphic banner (2) now sits above the newsletter opt-in form (1) …
(Rearrange sidebar layout with widgets to improve visitor experience)
Deleting Widgets From The Sidebar
Removing widgets from your WordPress sidebar is really easy.
For example, let’s show you how to remove the Search widget from your sidebar menu …
(Search widget)
To delete a widget from an active Widget area, either open up the widget and click the Delete link …
(How to delete your widget)
Or just drag the widget out of the Active Widgets area and drop it into the Inactive Widgets area …
(Remove a widget)
Repeat this process for any widgets you want removed from your sidebar. You can always restore widgets by dragging them back into the active widgets area.
Widget Settings
Many widgets can be further customized. This includes hiding information from users (but allowing access to registered users), displaying additional forms, fields, or information, specifying sizes of sidebar images, videos, etc.
Click on the little triangle in the corner of a widget to toggle between expanding and collapsing the item …
(Toggle to expand/collapse widget settings)
When the widget expands, you can change and save your settings, remove your widget from the “Active Widgets” section, close the widget, or click on the triangle to collapse the widget …
(Widget settings)
Some widgets give you little to no customization, or they may only allow you to add something like an optional title …
(Some widgets provide users with little to no customization)
Widget Customizer Section
Depending upon the WordPress theme you choose, you’re also able to customize widgets without making actual changes to your site. This way, you can be sure that you are happy with your customizations before committing anything live to your site.
Widget management is a great feature of WordPress. You can work in preview mode inside the WordPress Theme Customizer screen (Appearance > Customize) and see how your widget content will appear prior to publishing any changes you’ve made (and avoid making mistakes), or manage widgets on the fly using the Widget editor area.
(Edit widgets in the Customize feature)
Wherever you are on the front-end just calick the Customize link in the toolbar …
(Customize your site quickly)
This brings you to the Customizer section in the back-end.
You can do several edits, modifications and adjustments in preview mode (like inserting, deleting and reorganizing your widgets), and see all changes in real time. If you are happy with the results, click the “Save and Publish” button and the changes will instantly become available to your site visitors.
(Widget management – configure widgets on the fly!)
After saving your changes, all changes made to widgets will be automatically updated.
Since the WordPress theme you choose can affect how elements display on your site, we recommend that you install the theme first before configuring widgets on your sidebar section.
Also, remember to use the WordPress Customizer to preview your changes. This will save you from having to keep two browsers open while you go through this tutorial (one to work in and one to see your site the way your visitors will see it).
Now that you know the basics of using widgets, the next step is to configure various commonly-used WordPress widgets.
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This is the end of part one of this series of tutorials.
To continue, click this link:
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