In Part 1 of this step-by-step tutorial, we explained how to use widgets in WordPress and in Part 2, we explained how to configure a text widget.
In this tutorial you will configure other default WordPress widgets.
Adding A Categories Section To The Sidebar Navigation Section
Now that you know how to set up a text widget containing a clickable contact button, let’s configure a widget to display Post Categories on the sidebar navigation section.
The Categories widget already displays on the sidebar section by default. Place the widget wherever you want your categories to display by clicking and dragging it in your sidebar area …
(Post Categories widget)
your your WordPress post categories …
(WordPress Post Categories)
Note: Configuring WordPress categories will be explained in other tutorials.
Let’s configure the Categories settings for your widget as described below:
- In Title: type something that will make sense to visitors, like “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- If you plan to use many categories, check Display as dropdown (this significantly reduces the length of the content by displaying all categories in 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 remaining options as the default, 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 your page to see how your sidebar categories will look to blog readers …
(Categories widget added to sidebar menu)
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 box, otherwise leave this box unticked.
- To display the number of posts published in each category on your site, tick the Show post counts check box …
(Category widget options – Post Count Enabled vs Post Count Disabled)
Add A Recent Posts Section To The Blog Sidebar Section
The Recent Posts widget typically shows on the sidebar navigation area by default. All you need to do is configure the widget.
Click on your Recent Posts title bar to display the configuration settings …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget)
There is really very little to configure in this widget. You can add a title if you want, select the number of posts to display and opt to 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 most recent number of posts you’ve specified will be listed on your sidebar section …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget on sidebar)
Creating and editing a post in WordPress is covered in this tutorial: How To Create A New Post In WordPress
Adding A Pages Widget
Next, we’ll add a widget to your sidebar menu to display page links.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your sidebar widget area …
(Adding a Pages widget to the sidebar section)
The Pages widget allows you to configure the following settings:
- Title: Add a title to display above your links (e.g. “Site Information“) (1)
- Sort by: Sort how your pages display: by title (i.e. alphabetically), by page order, or page ID. (2)
- Exclude: Use this setting to prevent pages from showing on your sidebar (3) …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings)
By default, pages are displayed by title in alphabetical order. If you want to display pages using another option, then choose a different method in the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – sort options)
To prevent certain pages from displaying in your sidebar, enter the Page Ids for the pages you would like to exclude separated by commas into the Exclude field of the Pages widget …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – exclude pages)
To learn how to find a WordPress post or page ID, see this step-by-step tutorial: How To Locate The Post Or Page ID In Your WP Site
Click the Save button when done and then click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize your widget.
Links to the pages will now display in the sidebar …
(WordPress Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to the sidebar. This is useful if you would like to display different groups of pages on your sidebar (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add A Links Widget To Your Blog Sidebar Menu
Now, we’ll add a Links widget to the sidebar.
Before adding a Links widget to your sidebar, we recommend setting up the Links feature first …
(WordPress Links section)
Note: Configuring and using the WordPress Links feature will be explained in other tutorials.
To add the widget, select a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links Widget)
Drag the Links widget to your sidebar …
(Making Links Widget active)
The Links 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 menu …
(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 Section)
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 …
( WordPress Links widget: ‘Select Link Category’ drop-down menu)
When you have finished configuring your Links Widget, click the Save button. Your links will display immediately on your site …
(External links added to sidebar navigation menu)
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 link lists to your sidebar.
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This is the end of section three of this tutorial on how to use WordPress widgets.
Click on this link to continue:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now