As we have discussed in this post, one of the many benefits of using the WordPress web publishing software for building and managing a website is that you can easily add content, enhance your site, or rearrange the layout of your site with no web coding skills and knowledge required.
WordPress lets you easily insert, delete, and manage content on your blog’s sidebar section (and 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:
- page lists
- site categories
- archive
- menus
- links to external sites
- links to recent posts
- comments
- clickable text ads
- user testimonials
- poll results
- RSS feed content
- opt-in subscription form
- images
- Facebook feeds
- add widgets from external sites (e.g. Pinterest)
- administrative forms (e.g. login, register, etc.)
(Widgets make managing and using WordPress easy)
To learn more about what widgets are, how they work and why widgets make managing your site easier, go here:
In this tutorial series we are going to show you how to use and configure various commonly-used widgets in WordPress.
How To Use WordPress Widgets
Basic Concepts
Before we get into configuring and using widgets, let’s go over some of the basics about using widgets:
Most WordPress Themes Support Widgetized Layouts
Many WordPress themes support widgets and provide built-in widget-ready areas in the theme’s layout where you can add widgets, such as the sidebar navigation area, header area, and footer. Depending on what theme you are using, widgets can also be used in the content area …
(Many themes offer users multiple widget-ready areas)
These widget-ready sections correspond to a feature inside the Widget administration panel called “Widget Areas” …
(Widget Areas)
The Widgets Screen
The Widgets section 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 your “active” widgets …
(Widgets can be activated or deactivated using drag-and-drop)
Available widgets can be made Active or Inactive by dragging & dropping items to different sections of the widgets panel.
Widgets dragged from the Available Widgets section to widget areas like your sidebar, footer, etc. instantly become available for use.
In addition, the Widgets area includes an Inactive Widgets section that lets you remove any widgets that you no longer want to use on your site. Inactive widgets retain their settings.
Reorganize Widgets With Drag-And-Drop
You can easily insert, activate, deactivate, rearrange 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 using drag-and-drop.
For example, take a look at the image below. In this site, the widgets have already been configured to show the following:
- A newsletter opt-in form,
- A click for support button, and
- A ‘click to call’ feature from a widgetized WP plugin (i.e. a plugin with an accompanying widget) …
(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 section in exactly the same order as they have been arranged in the active widget section …
Let’s now reorganize these widgets in the Active Widget Area by dragging and dropping some of these elements around …
(Drag and drop widgets in your widget area to rearrange their order)
The widgets have now been reorganized in the sidebar navigation area …
As you can see, this immediately changes the layout of your sidebar.
Rearranging sidebar elements using widgets can improve your site’s user experience.
Note in the screenshot below that the ‘click to call’ feature (3) is now the first item on the sidebar navigation area, and the ‘contact us’ banner (2) is located above the newsletter sign-up form (1) …
(Reorganizing sidebar layout with widgets can help improve user experience)
Deleting Widgets From The Sidebar
Removing widgets from the sidebar is really easy.
For example, let’s remove the Search widget from your sidebar menu …
(Search widget)
To remove an active widget, either open up the widget and click the Delete link …
(How to delete widgets)
Or just drag the widget out of the Active Widgets section and drop it into the Inactive Widgets section …
(Removing your WP widgets)
Repeat this process for all widgets you want removed from the sidebar. You can always reinstate widgets by dragging them back into the active widgets area.
Widget Settings
Most widgets can be customized. This can include things like making certain types of information hidden to site visitors but visible to registered users, displaying additional forms, fields, or data, specifying sizes of sidebar images, videos, etc.
Clicking on the little triangle in the corner of a widget expands the item and displays the settings for that widget …
(Toggling expands/collapse widget settings)
When the widget expands, you can change and save your settings, click Delete to delete your widget from the “Active Widgets” section, close the widget, or click on the triangle to collapse the widget …
(Widget settings)
Some widgets may require or offer no customization, or they may only allow you to add an optional title …
(Some widgets offer little to no configurable options)
Widget Customizer Section
Depending on the WP theme you are using, you’re also able to manage and customize widgets without actually making changes to your site. This way, you can be sure that you like the customized edits before making any permanent changes to your website.
The ability to manage widgets inside the dashboard 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 (and avoid making errors), or change widgets on the fly using the Widget editor screen.
(preview widget changes live in the Customize feature)
Wherever you are on the front-end just calick the Customize link in the toolbar …
(Toolbar Customize Link)
This brings you to the Customizer screen in the backend.
You can do many things to the widgets in preview mode (like inserting, removing and reorganizing your widgets), and it’s all done in real time. If you like what you’ve done, click the “Save and Publish” button and your changes will instantly become available on your site to visitors.
(Widget management – configure widgets on the fly!)
After saving changes, all changes made to widgets will be automatically updated.
Since WordPress Themes can display elements differently on your site, we recommend that you install the theme first before configuring widgets.
Also, remember to use the Customizer feature 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 check how the changes are coming along).
Now that you know the basics of using widgets, the next step is to configure various commonly-used widgets in WordPress.
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This is the end of part 1 of this tutorial.
Click on this link to read Part 2:
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com
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