In Part 1 of this tutorial series, we explained how to use WordPress widgets and in Part Two, we explained how to configure text widgets.
In this tutorial we will continue configuring other WordPress widgets.
How To Add A Categories Section
Now that you have configure a text widget containing a clickable help button, let’s configure Categories.
By default, the Categories widget already displays on your sidebar section. All you need to do, therefore, is place this widget wherever you want your categories to display by clicking and dragging it on the sidebar widget area …
(WordPress Categories widget)
Before adding a Categories widget to your sidebar, we first recommend configuring your post categories inside the WordPress dashboard …
(Post Categories)
Note: We plan to create tutorials on how to set up and use categories.
Configure your Categories widget settings as described below:
- In Title: type something that blog readers will understand, like “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- If you plan to add many categories, check Display as dropdown (this significantly reduces the length of your widget content by displaying all categories inside a drop-down menu). Leave the box unchecked if you want a list of all categories to display on the sidebar navigation menu. (2)
- You can leave the default settings for the remaining options, or see the additional notes on configuring this widget below.
- Click Save to update your settings …
(Categories widget settings)
Load the site in your browser or reload the page to see how your Categories widget will look to site visitors …
(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 unchecked.
- 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 is typically added to your sidebar 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 widget)
There’s very little to set up here. You can add a title if you want, select the number of posts to display and opt to display post dates. If you’re happy with the default Number of posts to show setting, then just leave the widget as is, otherwise enter the number of posts to show and click Save when done …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget settings)
Your most recent posts will appear on the sidebar …
(Recent Posts widget added to sidebar)
For a tutorial about how to create a WordPress Post, go here: How To Create A WP Post
Add Links To Your Site’s Pages
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar navigation menu for listing pages.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your widget section …
(Adding a Pages widget to your sidebar section)
The Pages widget lets you configure the following settings:
- 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 by page ID. (2)
- Exclude: Hide pages on the sidebar (3) …
(Pages Widget settings)
By default, pages will be listed by title in alphabetical order. If you want to display pages using one of the other options, then choose a different method in the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(Pages Widget settings – sort options)
To prevent pages from displaying in the sidebar, just type their Page Ids separated by commas into the Exclude field …
(Pages Widget settings – exclude pages by ID)
For a step-by-step tutorial about how to find a WordPress post or page ID, go here: How To Locate A Page Or Post ID In WordPress
Click the Save button when finished and click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize your widget.
Links to the blog’s pages will now display on the sidebar …
(Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to your sidebar. This is handy if you want to display separate groups of pages on the sidebar navigation section (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add A Links Widget To Your Blog Sidebar Section
Now, let’s add a widget that will display external links on your WordPress sidebar.
Before adding a Links widget to your sidebar, we recommend configuring your Links feature inside the dashboard first …
(WordPress Links section)
Note: We plan to create tutorials that show you how to use WordPress Links.
To add the widget, find a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links Widget)
Drag it 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 …
(WordPress Links Widget Settings)
You can add as many separate ‘Link Widgets’ to your 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 Links Widgets To The Sidebar Area)
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 …
( 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 …
(Links added to WordPress sidebar)
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 your sidebar.
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This is the end of section 3 of this tutorial on how to use WordPress widgets.
To keep reading, click this link:
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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