In Part One of this step-by-step tutorial, we explained how to use widgets in WordPress and in Part Two, we explained how to configure a text widget.
In this tutorial we will continue configuring other commonly-used WordPress widgets.
How To Add A Categories Section To The Sidebar Area
Now that you know how to configure a text widget containing a contact button, let’s configure a widget for displaying Post Categories on the sidebar navigation area.
The Categories widget displays on the sidebar by default. Place this widget wherever you want your post categories to display by clicking and dragging it on your sidebar widget area …
(WordPress Post Categories widget)
your post categories …
(WordPress Post Categories Panel)
Note: We are currently putting together tutorials on setting up and using WordPress post categories.
Configure the Categories widget settings as shown below:
- In Title: type something that will make sense to visitors, like “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- If you have too many categories, check Display as dropdown (this significantly reduces the size of your widget 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 other options as the default, or see the additional notes on configuring this widget below.
- Click Save when finished …
(Categories widget settings)
Load the site in your browser or refresh your page to see how the Categories widget 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 option as is.
- To display the number of posts published in each category, tick the Show post counts check box …
(Category widget options – Post Count Enabled vs Post Count Disabled)
Add A Recent Posts Widget
The Recent Posts widget normally displays in the sidebar by default. All you need to do is configure the widget.
Click on the Recent Posts title bar to configure its settings …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget)
There is not much to configure. You can add a widget title, 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 change the number of posts and click Save when done …
(Recent Posts widget settings)
The number of posts you’ve specified will appear on your sidebar …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget on sidebar)
How to create posts in WordPress is covered in this tutorial: How To Create A WP Post
Adding A Pages Widget To The Sidebar
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar section for listing pages.
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 menu)
The Pages widget lets you configure the following options:
- 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 page ID. (2)
- Exclude: Use this setting to prevent pages from showing on your 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 another option, then choose a different method from the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – sorting options)
To prevent certain pages from displaying in your widget, just enter their Page Ids separated by commas into the Exclude field of the Pages widget …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – exclude pages)
For a step-by-step tutorial on how to find a WordPress page ID, go here: Finding A WP Page Or Post ID
Click the Save button when finished and then click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize the widget.
Links to your pages will now show on the sidebar …
(WordPress Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to the sidebar navigation section. This is useful if you need to display separate groups of pages on your sidebar (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add A Links Widget
Next, we’ll add a Links widget to your sidebar.
Before adding the Links widget to the sidebar, you will first need to configure your Links feature inside your WordPress dashboard …
(WordPress Links section)
Note: We are currently putting together tutorials on how to configure Links.
To add the widget, select a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(WordPress 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 the sidebar area …
(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)
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 …
( Links widget: ‘Select Link Category’ drop-down menu)
When you have finished configuring the Links Widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your widget will display immediately on your site …
(Links added to WordPress sidebar area)
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 series about how to use Widgets.
To view Part Four, click this link:
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