As we explain in this post, one of the many benefits of using WordPress to manage your website or blog is that you can easily add content, enhance your site’s functionality, or redesign the layout of your site with no web coding knowledge required.
WordPress gives you the ability to quickly and easily insert, remove, and reconfigure content on your site’s sidebar navigation menu (or header and footer sections, 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:
- site pages
- content categories
- archives
- menus displaying only selected pages
- links to resources
- links to recent posts
- post comments
- text ads
- testimonials
- poll questions & results
- RSS feed content
- subscription form
- video thumbnails
- Facebook feeds
- add widgets from external sites (e.g. affiliate programs)
- administrative forms (e.g. login, register, etc.)
(WordPress widgets make managing and using WordPress easy)
To learn more about what WP widgets are, how widgets work and how using widgets can help you expand your site’s functionality, see this article:
In this step-by-step tutorial we will show you how to use and configure a number of frequently-used WordPress widgets.
How To Use WordPress Widgets
Widgets – Basic Concepts
Before configuring and using widgets, it helps to first cover some of the basic concepts of using widgets:
Most WordPress Themes Support Widget-Ready Layouts
Many WordPress themes support widgets and provide sections in the theme’s layout where widgets can be used, such as the sidebar section, header area, and footer. Depending on the theme, widgets can also show up in the content area …
(Many WordPress themes offer users a number of widget-ready areas)
These widget-ready areas correspond to a feature inside the Widget management screen called “Widget Areas” …
(Widget Areas)
Your Widgets Screen
The Widgets screen displays a list of all the widgets that are currently available for use on your site.
The right-hand section of the window displays all “active” widgets …
(Widgets can be activated or deactivated using drag-and-drop)
Available widgets can be made Active or Inactive using drag-and-drop.
Widgets dragged from the Available Widgets section to widget areas like your sidebar, footer, etc. become active.
Your Widgets panel also includes an Inactive Widgets section that lets you remove widgets that you no longer want to actively display on your site. Inactive widgets do not lose their pre-configured settings.
Rearrange Widgets With Drag-And-Drop
You can easily add, activate, deactivate, reorder and remove widgets using drag & drop inside your Widgets area …
(Rearrange your site’s widgets using drag & drop)
You can also easily rearrange the layout and order of your website’s widget-ready layout by dragging & dropping widgets.
For example, in the image below, the widgets have already been configured to display the following to visitors:
- An opt-in form,
- A click for support banner, and
- A ‘click to call’ function from a widgetized plugin (i.e. a plugin with an accompanying widget) …
(Widgets control the order certain features appear on your WordPress site)
If you take a look inside this site’s Widget area, you will see that these features correspond to the order of widgets inside the active widget screen …
If we reorganize the above widgets in the Sidebar Widget Area by dragging and dropping some of these elements around …
(Drag and drop widgets in the widget area to rearrange their order)
The widgets have now been reordered in your sidebar …
As you can see, this instantly reorganizes the layout of the sidebar.
Reorganizing sidebar elements using widgets can improve visitor experience.
Note in the screenshot below that the ‘click to call’ feature (3) is now at the top of the sidebar, and the ‘contact us’ section (2) is now placed above the newsletter opt-in form (1) …
(Rearranging sidebar elements using widgets can improve visitor experience)
Removing Widgets From Your Sidebar Navigation Menu
Removing widgets from your sidebar navigation menu is really easy.
For example, let’s delete the Search widget from the sidebar …
(WordPress Search widget)
To remove a widget from an active Widget area, you can either open up the widget settings and click the Delete link …
(Deleting your widget)
Or just drag the widget out of the Active Widgets section and drop it into the Inactive Widgets area …
(How to remove your widgets)
Repeat this process for any other widgets you want to remove from the sidebar. You can always reactivate a widget by dragging it back into the active widgets area.
Widget Settings
Many widgets can be customized further. This can include things like hiding information from users (but allowing access to registered 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 expands the item and displays the settings for the widget …
(Toggles 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 provide users with little to no configurable options, or they may only allow you to add an optional title …
(Some widgets offer little to no customizing options)
Previewing Your Widgets
Depending on the WordPress theme you choose, you’re also able to customize and manage your 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.
Widget management 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 prior to publishing it (and avoid making errors), or configure widgets on the fly using the Widget editor screen.
(Edit widgets in the Customize section)
If you need to make changes to your site while viewing the front-end, just click on the Customize link …
(Customize your site quickly)
This will bring you to the Customizer area in the back-end.
You can do several modifications and adjustments to the widgets in preview mode (like adding, deleting and moving widgets around), and it’s all done in real time. If you like the results, click the “Save and Publish” button and the changes will instantly become available on your site to visitors.
(Widget management – configure widgets on the fly!)
Once you have saved the changes, your site will automatically update the widget settings and display your latest changes to your site visitors.
Because WordPress Themes can display elements differently on your site, we recommend that you install the theme first before configuring widgets on the sidebar.
Also, remember to use the Customizer feature to preview your changes. This saves you from having to keep two browsers open while you work through this tutorial (one to work in and one to see your 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 commonly-used sidebar widgets in WordPress.
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This is the end of part one of this tutorial series on using WordPress widgets.
To view Part 2, click here:
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com
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