As we discuss in this article, one of the many benefits of using WordPress to manage and grow your web presence is that you can easily add content, enhance your site’s functionality, and redesign the layout of your website without web coding skills required.
WordPress gives you the ability to easily add, remove, and control various blocks of content in your blog’s sidebar (or header and footer sections too, depending on what theme you have installed) using widgets.
Once you know how to use widgets, you can easily add things to your site like:
- page lists
- content categories
- archives
- menus that display only selected pages
- links to external sites
- your most popular posts
- user comments
- clickable text ads
- quotations
- surveys
- content from RSS feeds
- subscription form
- product catalog images
- Facebook feeds
- display widgets from external sites (e.g. Facebook friends)
- administrative forms (e.g. login, register, etc.)
(Widgets make managing and using WordPress easier)
To learn more about what WordPress widgets are, how widgets work and why widgets make managing your site easier, go here:
In this tutorial we show you how to use and configure various commonly-used widgets in WordPress.
How To Use Widgets
Basic Concepts
Before we start configuring and using widgets, let’s cover some of the basics of using widgets:
Most WordPress Themes Support Widgetized Layouts
Most WordPress themes support widgets and provide widget-ready areas in the theme’s layout where you can add widgets, such as the sidebar area, header area, and footer. Depending on the theme, widgets can sometimes also show up inside the content area …
(Many WP themes provide a number of widget-ready areas)
These widgetized layouts correspond to a feature inside your Widget management screen called “Widget Areas” …
(Widget Areas)
Widgets Screen
The Widgets screen displays a list of all the widgets that you currently have available.
The right-hand section of the screen displays all “active” widgets …
(Widgets can be activated or deactivated using drag and drop)
Available widgets can be activated or deactivated using drag & drop.
Widgets dragged from the Available Widgets section to widget areas like your sidebar, footer, etc. become active.
Your Widgets screen also includes an Inactive Widgets section that lets you remove 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, reorder and remove widgets just by dragging and dropping items in the Widgets area …
(Rearrange widgets using drag & drop)
You can also easily reconfigure the layout of your site’s widget-enabled layout using drag-and-drop.
For example, take a look at the image below. In this example site, the widgets have already been configured to show the following:
- A subscription form,
- A contact support banner, and
- ’Click to call’ feature from a widgetized plugin (i.e. a plugin with an accompanying widget) …
(Widgets control the order certain features on your site appear)
Looking inside the Widget area, you would see that the front-end features appear on the site’s sidebar menu in exactly the same order as they have been arranged in the active widget area …
Let’s now reorganize the above widgets in the Sidebar Widget Area using drag & drop …
(Drag-and-drop to rearrange widgets in the widget area)
The widgets have now been reordered in the sidebar area …
This immediately changes the layout of your site’s sidebar.
Rearranging sidebar layout using widgets can help to improve visitor experience.
Note in the screenshot below that the ‘click to call’ function (3) is now at the top of the sidebar, and the ‘contact us’ banner (2) is now found above the newsletter opt-in form (1) …
(Reorganize sidebar elements using widgets to improve your site’s user experience)
Removing Widgets From The WordPress Sidebar Navigation Section
Deleting widgets from the sidebar is very easy.
For example, let’s show you how to delete the Search widget from your sidebar …
(Search widget)
To delete an active widget, either open up the widget settings and click the Delete link …
(Deleting your WP widgets)
Or just drag the widget out of the Active Widgets section and drop it into the Inactive Widgets section …
(How to remove your widgets)
Repeat this process for any other widgets you want removed from the sidebar. You can always reinstate a widget by dragging it back into the active widgets area.
Widget Settings
Most widgets can be customized further. This includes hiding information from users, displaying additional forms, fields, or information, specifying dimensions of sidebar images, videos, etc.
Clicking on the little triangle in the corner of a widget toggles between expanding and collapsing the item and displays the widget’s settings …
(Toggle to expand/collapse widget settings)
When the widget expands, you can change and save your settings, delete the 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 provide users with little to no customization)
Customize Widgets Section
Depending upon the WordPress theme you choose, you can also preview any changes live without making actual changes to your site. This way, you can be sure that you are happy with what you have done before making any permanent changes to your site.
The ability to manage widgets from within your own dashboard is a valuable 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 before publishing any changes you’ve made (to avoid making mistakes), or manage widgets on the fly using the Widget editor area.
(preview widget changes in the Customize feature)
When viewing your site on the front-end just calick the Customize link in the toolbar …
(Toolbar Customize Link)
This will bring you to the Customizer screen in the backend.
You can do several things in preview mode (like adding, removing and reorganizing your widgets), and see all changes in real time. If you are happy with what you have done, click the “Save and Publish” button and the changes will instantly become available on your site.
(Widget management – work in preview mode)
After saving changes, your new settings will automatically show on your site.
Because WordPress Themes can display elements differently on your site, we recommend that you install your 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 complete this tutorial (one to work in and one to see the site the way your visitors will see it).
Now that you know the basics of using widgets, the next step is to learn how to configure various frequently-used WordPress sidebar widgets.
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This is the end of section 1 of this tutorial series about how to use WordPress widgets.
Click here to continue:
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum
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