In Part 1 of this tutorial, we explained how to use widgets in WordPress and in Part Two, we explained how to configure text widgets.
In this tutorial we are going to show you how to configure other commonly-used WordPress sidebar widgets.
Add Post Categories
Now that you have configure a text widget containing a clickable support button, let’s configure a widget to display Categories on the sidebar navigation section.
The Categories widget displays on the sidebar navigation menu by default. All you have to do, therefore, is place the widget wherever you want your categories to display by clicking and dragging it in the sidebar area …
(Post Categories widget)
Before adding a Categories widget to your sidebar area, we first recommend setting up your post categories inside your dashboard …
(WordPress Categories Panel)
Note: We plan to create tutorials that explain how to set up post categories.
Let’s configure the Categories widget settings as shown below:
- In Title: type something that visitors will understand, for example, “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- If you have too many categories, check Display as dropdown (this significantly reduces the length of your content by displaying all categories in a drop-down menu). Leave the box unticked if you want a list of all categories to display on your sidebar. (2)
- Leave the remaining options unchecked, or see the additional notes on configuring the Categories widget below.
- Click Save when finished …
(Configuring a WordPress Categories widget)
Load the site in your web browser or refresh the page to see how the content will display to your blog readers …
(Categories widget added to sidebar navigation section)
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 Recent Posts
The Recent Posts widget is normally added to your sidebar navigation section by default. All you need to do is configure your widget.
Click on its widget title bar to display the configuration settings …
(Recent Posts widget)
There is very little to configure. You can add a title, 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 enter the number of posts to show and click Save …
(Recent Posts widget settings)
Your most recent posts will appear on your sidebar …
(Recent Posts widget displayed on sidebar)
Creating and editing a post in WordPress is explained here: How To Create A New Post In WordPress
Add A Pages Widget To The Sidebar
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar showing links to the pages you select.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(WordPress Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your active widget area …
(Dragging and dropping a Pages widget into your sidebar)
The Pages widget lets you configure the following options:
- Title: Add a title to the widget (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: Hide pages on the sidebar navigation menu (3) …
(Pages Widget settings)
By default, pages are displayed by title in alphabetical order. If you want to display pages using another option, then select a different method from the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – sort options)
To prevent certain pages from displaying on the widget, enter their Page Ids separated by commas into the Exclude field …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – exclude pages by ID)
For a tutorial about how to find a WordPress post or page ID, go here: How To Find The Page Or Post ID In WordPress
Click the Save button when done and click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize your widget.
Links to your site’s main pages will now show in the sidebar …
(WordPress Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to your sidebar. This is useful if you want to display separate page groups on your sidebar navigation section (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add Links To Your WordPress Blog Sidebar
Now, we’ll add a Links widget to the sidebar.
Before adding a Links widget to the sidebar, we recommend setting up the Links section inside the dashboard …
(WordPress Links section)
Note: Using the WordPress Links feature will be explained in other tutorials.
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 your sidebar menu …
(Links Widget Settings)
You can add as many separate ‘Link Widgets’ to the sidebar navigation menu 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 Your Sidebar Navigation Section)
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 the Links Widget, click the Save button. Your widget will display immediately on your site …
(External links added to sidebar navigation section)
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 3 of this tutorial series.
Click here to read the rest of this tutorial series:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)