In Part One of this step-by-step tutorial, we explained how to use WordPress widgets and in Part Two, you learned how to configure text widgets.
In this tutorial we will continue configuring other frequently-used sidebar widgets.
Add Post Categories To The Sidebar Navigation Area
Now that you know how to set up a text widget containing a support button, let’s configure a widget for Post Categories.
By default, the Categories widget already displays on the sidebar navigation area. All you have to do, therefore, is place the widget wherever you want your post categories to display by clicking and dragging it in your sidebar area …
(WordPress Post Categories widget)
your categories …
(WordPress Categories Panel)
Note: We are currently putting together tutorials on how to use categories in WordPress.
Configure your categories settings as shown below:
- In Title: type something that will make sense to your visitors, like “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- Check Display as dropdown if you have too many categories (this significantly reduces the length of the content by displaying all categories inside a drop-down menu). If you plan to publish posts under a few categories only, then leave the Display as dropdown box unticked. (2)
- Leave the default settings for the remaining options, or see the additional notes on configuring this widget below.
- Click Save when finished …
(Configuring a WordPress Categories widget)
Click Visit Site or reload the page to see how the Categories widget will look to your site visitors …
(Categories widget added to sidebar)
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, enable the Show post counts check box …
(Category widget options – Post Count Enabled vs Post Count Disabled)
Add Recent Posts
The Recent Posts widget normally appears on your sidebar by default. All you need to do is configure your widget.
Click on the widget title bar to display the configuration settings …
(Recent Posts widget)
There is really not much to configure in this widget. 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 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)
Your most recent posts will now display to visitors on the sidebar …
(Recent Posts widget added to sidebar)
For a tutorial on how to create and edit WordPress Posts, go here: How To Create A WordPress Post
Add A Pages Widget
Next, we’ll add a widget to your sidebar section to display page links.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(WordPress Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your widget area …
(Adding a Pages widget to the sidebar navigation area)
The Pages widget allows you to configure the following settings:
- Title: Add a title to display above your links (e.g. “Useful Sections“) (1)
- Sort by: Sort how your pages display: by title (i.e. alphabetically), by page order, or by page ID. (2)
- Exclude: Hide selected pages on the sidebar menu (3) …
(WordPress 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 select a different method from the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – sorting options)
To prevent pages from showing on your widget, type or paste in the Page Ids for the pages you want excluded separated by commas into the Exclude field …
(Pages Widget settings – excluding pages by ID)
A tutorial is provided on finding a WordPress post or page ID here: Finding WordPress Page And Post IDs
Click the Save button when finished and then click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize your widget.
Links to the main pages will now appear in the sidebar …
(WordPress Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to your sidebar menu. This is useful if you need to display separate page groups on the sidebar (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add A Links Widget To The WordPress Sidebar
Now, we’ll add a Links widget to display external links on your WordPress sidebar menu.
Before adding the Links widget to the sidebar, you should first configure the Links section inside your dashboard …
(WordPress Links screen)
Note: We are currently putting together tutorials on using the WordPress Links feature.
To add the widget, select a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links Widget)
Drag it to your sidebar 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 …
(WordPress Links Widget Settings)
You can add as many separate ‘Link Widgets’ to the sidebar 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 The Sidebar Navigation Menu)
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 …
(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 the WordPress sidebar.
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This is the end of part three of this series of tutorials on using Widgets.
Click here to read Part Four:
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