In Part One of this tutorial, 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.
Add Post Categories To The Sidebar
Now that you know how to set up a text widget containing a contact button, let’s configure a widget for Categories.
The Categories widget displays on your sidebar navigation 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)
Before adding a Categories widget to the sidebar section, you should first configure your Post Categoriessection inside the WordPress dashboard …
(WordPress Post Categories Screen)
Note: We are currently putting together tutorials on configuring post categories in WordPress.
Configure the Categories settings for this widget as described below:
- In Title: type something that will make sense to visitors, for example, “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- If you have too many categories, check Display as dropdown (this significantly reduces the size of the widget 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 unchecked. (2)
- Leave the default settings for the remaining options, or see the additional notes on configuring the Categories widget below.
- Click Save when done …
(WordPress Categories widget settings)
Click Visit Site or refresh the page to see how the content will display to your visitors …
(Categories widget added to sidebar navigation 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 box, otherwise leave this box unchecked.
- 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
The Recent Posts widget normally shows on your sidebar navigation area by default. All you need to do is configure your widget.
Click on the widget title bar to configure its settings …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget)
There’s not much to set up 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 setting for Number of posts to show, then just leave the widget as is, otherwise enter a number of posts to show and click Save …
(Recent Posts widget settings)
The most recent number of posts you’ve specified will now display to visitors on the sidebar …
(Recent Posts widget displayed on sidebar)
A step-by-step tutorial is provided on how to create WordPress Posts here: How To Create A WordPress Post
Add A Pages Widget
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar area to display your site’s pages.
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 the sidebar)
The Pages widget allows you to configure the following settings:
- Title: Add a title to display above your links (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 the sidebar navigation section (3) …
(WordPress 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 choose a different method in the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – sorting options)
To exclude certain pages from displaying to visitors, type in their Page Ids separated by commas into the Exclude field …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – excluding pages by ID)
Finding a WordPress post or page ID is explained here: How To Locate The ID Of A Page Or Post In A WordPress Blog
Click the Save button when done and then click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize the widget.
Links to the site’s pages will now appear on your sidebar …
(WordPress Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to the sidebar. This is useful if you need to display different page groups on your sidebar menu (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add A Links Widget To The WordPress Blog Sidebar
Now, let’s add a Links widget to your sidebar.
Before adding a Links widget to your sidebar, we recommend setting up the Links feature inside your WP dashboard first …
(WordPress Links screen)
Note: We plan to provide step-by-step tutorials that explain how to use the Links feature in WordPress.
To add the widget, find a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links Widget)
Drag the Links widget to your active area …
(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 your sidebar area …
(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 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. Your links will become immediately visible on your WordPress sidebar area …
(External links added to 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 your sidebar.
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This is the end of part three of this tutorial on using WordPress widgets.
To continue, click this link:
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