As we discuss in this post, one of the many benefits of using WordPress is that you can easily add content, improve your site’s functionality, and change the layout of your website with no web coding skills required.
WordPress allows you to quickly and easily add, remove, and reorganize content from your website’s sidebar (and header and footer sections, depending on what theme is installed on your site) using widgets.
Once you know how to use widgets, you can easily add things to your site like:
- site pages
- site categories
- post archives
- custom page menus
- links to resources
- most popular posts
- excerpts of recent comments added to your posts
- clickable ad banners
- quotations
- survey questions & results
- content from RSS feeds
- shopping cart forms
- video galleries
- social media buttons
- add 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 widgets are, how widgets work and how using widgets can help you expand the functionality of your website, go here:
In this tutorial series we teach you how to use and configure a number of commonly-used WordPress widgets.
Using WordPress Widgets
The Basics
Before we start learning how to configure widgets, let’s explain some of the basic concepts about using widgets:
Most WordPress Themes Support Widgetized Areas
Most WordPress themes support widgets and provide sections in your theme’s layout where you can add widgets, such as the sidebar area, header area, and footer. Depending on your theme, widgets can also get added in the content area …
(Many themes offer users multiple widgetized sections)
These widgetized sections correspond to a feature inside the Widget screen called “Widget Areas” …
(Widget Areas)
Widgets Screen
The Widgets panel displays all the widgets that you currently have available.
On the right-hand side of the screen, you can see all “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 areas of the widgets screen.
Widgets dragged from the Available Widgets section to widget areas like the sidebar, footer, etc. instantly become activated for use.
In addition, the Widgets area includes an Inactive Widgets section that lets you remove any widgets that you no longer want to actively display on your website. Inactive widgets retain their pre-configured settings.
Reorganize WordPress Widgets Using Drag-And-Drop
You can easily insert, activate, deactivate, rearrange and delete widgets by dragging and dropping items from your Widgets section …
(Rearrange your site’s widgets using drag-and-drop)
You can also easily reorder the order and layout of your website’s widget-enabled sections by dragging and dropping widgets.
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
- A ‘click to call’ feature from a widgetized plugin (i.e. a plugin that adds an accompanying widget to your site) …
(Widgets control how certain features display on your site)
If you take a peek inside the Widget area, you would see that the front end features display on the site’s sidebar area in exactly the same order as they were arranged in the active widget section …
If we change the above widgets in the Widget Area by dragging & dropping some of the items around …
(Drag-and-drop to rearrange widgets in the widget area)
The widgets have now been reorganized in your sidebar …
As you can see, this instantly changes the layout of your sidebar.
Rearranging sidebar layout using widgets can improve user 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’ graphic banner (2) now sits above the newsletter sign-up form (1) …
(Rearranging sidebar elements using widgets can help to improve your site’s user experience)
Removing Widgets From The WordPress Sidebar
Deleting widgets from your sidebar is really easy.
For example, let’s show you how to delete the Search widget from your sidebar menu …
(WordPress Search widget)
To delete a widget from an active Widget area, either expand the widget and click the Delete link …
(How to delete your widget)
Or just drag the widget out of the Active Widgets area and drop it into the Inactive Widgets area …
(Remove your WordPress 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. This includes hiding information from users, displaying additional forms, fields, or information, specifying sizes of sidebar images, videos, etc.
Click on the little triangle in the corner of a widget to toggle between expanding and collapsing the item …
(Toggling expands/collapse widget settings)
When the widget expands, you can change and save your settings, 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 give you little to no customizing options)
Customize Widgets Section
Depending on which theme you have installed, 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 site.
The ability to manage widgets from within your 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 changes (and avoid making mistakes), or configure widgets on the fly using the Widget editor area.
(preview widget changes in the Customize feature)
Wherever you are on the front-end just calick the Customize link in the toolbar …
(Customize your site quickly)
This brings you to the Customizer screen in the back-end.
You can do a number of edits, modifications and adjustments to your widgets in preview mode (like inserting, deleting and moving widgets around), and see all changes in real time. If you are happy with the results, click the “Save and Publish” button and your changes will instantly become visible on your site to visitors.
(Widget management – work in preview mode)
Once you have saved the 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 on your sidebar area.
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.
Now that you know the basics of using widgets, it’s time to learn how to configure a number of frequently-used WordPress widgets.
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This is the end of part one of this series of tutorials about using Widgets.
To view Part Two, click this link:
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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie
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