In Part One of this step-by-step tutorial, we explained how to use WordPress widgets and in Part 2, you learned how to configure text widgets.
In this section we are going to show you how to configure other frequently-used WordPress widgets.
Add Categories
Now that you know how to configure a text widget containing a clickable help button, let’s configure a widget to display Post Categories on your sidebar.
By default, the Categories widget displays on the sidebar navigation menu. All you have to do, therefore, is place the widget wherever you want your categories to display by clicking and dragging it on your sidebar widget area …
(WordPress Post Categories widget)
Before adding a Categories widget to your sidebar navigation area, we recommend configuring the Categoriesfeature first …
(Post Categories)
Note: We are currently putting together tutorials on configuring WordPress categories.
Let’s configure your categories settings as described below:
- In Title: type something that your visitors will understand, like “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- If you plan to use several categories, check Display as dropdown (this significantly reduces the size 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 unchecked. (2)
- You can leave the other options unticked, or see the additional notes on configuring the Categories widget below.
- Click Save to update your settings …
(Categories widget settings)
Click Visit Site or refresh the page to see how your Categories widget will display to your blog readers …
(WordPress 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 option, otherwise leave this box unchecked.
- 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 Recent Posts
The Recent Posts widget is normally added to the sidebar navigation section by default. All you need to do is configure your widget.
Click on the title bar to configure its settings …
(Recent Posts widget)
There’s really not much to set up here. 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 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)
The number of posts you have specified will be listed on your sidebar …
(Recent Posts widget on sidebar)
For a step-by-step tutorial about how to create and edit WordPress Posts, go here: How To Create A Post In WordPress
Displaying Your Site’s Pages
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar navigation section to display the pages on your site.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your sidebar widget area …
(Dragging and dropping a Pages widget into your sidebar navigation area)
The Pages widget allows you to configure the following settings:
- Title: Add a title to the widget (e.g. “Site Info“) (1)
- Sort by: Sort how your pages display: by title (i.e. alphabetically), by page order, or page ID. (2)
- Exclude: Prevent pages from appearing on your sidebar menu (3) …
(Pages Widget settings)
By default, pages are displayed 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 …
(Pages Widget settings – sorting options)
To exclude pages from showing in the sidebar, just enter their Page Ids separated by commas into the Exclude field of the widget …
(Pages Widget settings – excluding pages)
A step-by-step tutorial is provided on how to find a WordPress post or page ID here: How To Locate Post And Page IDs In Your WP Site
Click the Save button when done and click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize the widget.
Links to the site’s main pages will now display in the sidebar …
(WordPress Pages Widget on sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to your sidebar. This is helpful if you would like to display separate groups of pages on the sidebar section (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Display Links On Your WordPress Sidebar
Now, let’s add a Links widget to your sidebar.
Before adding a Links widget to your sidebar navigation area, we recommend setting up the Links section first …
(WordPress Links screen)
Note: We plan to create a separate step-by-step tutorial that explains how to configure the Links feature in WordPress.
To add the widget, find a Links widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links Widget)
Drag the widget 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 your sidebar …
(WordPress Links Widget Settings)
You can add as many separate ‘Link Widgets’ to the sidebar section 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 The Sidebar Navigation Area)
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. Your widget will display immediately on your sidebar …
(Links added to WordPress 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 area.
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This is the end of section three of this tutorial series on how to use Widgets.
Click here to continue:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now