In Part 1 of this step-by-step tutorial, we explained how to use widgets in WordPress and in Part Two, you learned how to configure a text widget.
In this tutorial we are going to show you how to configure other WordPress widgets.
Adding Categories
Now that you have configure a text widget containing a support button, let’s configure a widget to display Categories on your sidebar.
The Categories widget already displays on your 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 your sidebar area …
(Categories widget)
Before adding a Categories widget to your sidebar navigation area, we recommend configuring your Categoriessection first …
(WordPress Post Categories)
Note: Setting up and using categories in WordPress will be explained in separate tutorials.
Let’s configure your categories settings as described below:
- In Title: type something that blog readers will understand, like “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- Check Display as dropdown if you have too many categories (this significantly reduces the length of your 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 unticked. (2)
- Leave the other options unticked, or see the additional notes on configuring the Categories widget below.
- Click Save when finished …
(WordPress Categories widget settings)
Click Visit Site or reload the page to see how your sidebar categories will display to site visitors …
(WordPress 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 option, 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 To Your Blog Sidebar
The Recent Posts widget normally shows in the sidebar by default. All you need to do is configure your widget.
Click on your Recent Posts title bar to display the configuration settings …
(Recent Posts widget)
There is really very little to configure in this widget. You can add a title, select the number of posts to display and display post dates. If you’re happy to use the default setting for Number of posts to show, 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 now display to visitors on the sidebar …
(Recent Posts widget added to sidebar)
Creating and editing a WordPress Post is covered here: How To Create A WordPress Post
Adding A Pages Widget To Your Sidebar
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar to display the pages you select.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your widget area …
(Dragging and dropping a Pages widget into the sidebar)
The Pages widget allows you to configure the following settings:
- Title: Add a title to display above your links (e.g. “Useful 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 your sidebar menu (3) …
(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 – sort options)
To exclude certain pages from displaying on your widget, enter their Page Ids separated by commas into the Exclude field …
(Pages Widget settings – exclude pages by ID)
For a tutorial on how to find a WordPress page ID, go here: How To Find The Unique ID Of WordPress Pages And Posts
Click the Save button when done and click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize your widget.
Links to the blog’s pages will now appear on the sidebar area …
(Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to your sidebar area. This is handy if you would like to display separate page groups on your sidebar (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add A Links Widget
Now, let’s add a widget that will display external links on your WordPress sidebar.
Before adding a Links widget to the sidebar, you will first need to configure your Links section inside the dashboard …
(WordPress Links screen)
Note: We are currently putting together tutorials on setting up Links.
To add the widget, select a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(WordPress Links Widget)
Drag the widget to your sidebar area …
(Making Links Widget active)
The 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 …
(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 WordPress Links Widgets To Your 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 your Links Widget, click the Save button. Your links will display immediately on your site …
(External links added to WordPress sidebar)
As the above example shows, you can display specific external 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.
To continue, click this link:
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