In Part 1 of this step-by-step tutorial series, we explained how to use WordPress widgets and in Part 2, we explained how to configure a text widget.
In this tutorial you will learn how to configure other sidebar widgets.
Adding A Categories Section
Now that you know how to set up a text widget containing a clickable help button, let’s configure a widget to display Categories.
By default, the Categories widget already displays on your sidebar navigation section. All you need to do, therefore, is place the widget wherever you want your categories to display by clicking and dragging it in the sidebar area …
(Categories widget)
your your WordPress categories …
(Categories)
Note: We are currently putting together tutorials on how to configure WordPress post categories.
Configure your categories settings as described below:
- In Title: type something that your visitors will understand, for example, “Choose A Topic…” (1)
- If you plan to have many categories, check Display as dropdown (this significantly reduces the size of the widget content by displaying all categories inside a drop-down menu). Leave the box unchecked if you want a list of all categories to display on your sidebar section. (2)
- You can leave the other options as the default, or see the additional notes on configuring this widget below.
- Click Save to update your settings …
(Categories widget settings)
Click Visit Site or refresh the page to see how your sidebar categories will look 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 box, otherwise leave this box unticked.
- To display the number of posts published in each category on your site, tick the Show post counts check box …
(Category widget options – Post Count Enabled vs Post Count Disabled)
Add A Recent Posts Section To The Blog Sidebar Menu
The Recent Posts widget is added to your sidebar by default. All you need to do is configure the widget.
Click on its widget title bar to display the configuration settings …
(Recent Posts widget)
There is really not much 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 with the default setting for Number of posts to show, then just leave the widget as is, otherwise change the number of posts and click Save …
(Recent Posts widget settings)
The number of posts you have specified will now display to visitors on your sidebar menu …
(Recent Posts WordPress widget added to sidebar navigation section)
A step-by-step tutorial is provided on creating and editing WordPress Posts here: How To Create A WordPress Post
Displaying Your Site’s Pages
Next, let’s add a widget to your sidebar navigation area for listing pages.
Find a Pages widget in the Available Widgets section …
(WordPress Pages Widget)
Drag the Pages widget to your sidebar widget section …
(Adding a Pages widget to the sidebar)
The Pages widget lets you configure the following options:
- Title: Add a title to display above your links (e.g. “Site Info“) (1)
- Sort by: Sort how your pages display: by title (i.e. alphabetically), by page order, or by page ID. (2)
- Exclude: Prevent pages from showing on your sidebar (3) …
(Pages Widget settings)
By default, pages will be listed by title in alphabetical order. If you want to display pages using another option, then choose a different method from the Sort by: drop-down menu …
(Pages Widget settings – item sorting options)
To prevent pages from showing in your widget, just type or paste in their Page Ids separated by commas into the Exclude field …
(WordPress Pages Widget settings – exclude pages)
For a step-by-step tutorial on how to find a WordPress page ID, go here: How To Find Page And Post IDs In A WordPress Website
Click the Save button when finished and click Close at the bottom of the widget box to minimize the widget.
Links to your site’s main pages will now appear in your sidebar menu …
(Pages Widget on blog sidebar)
Tip: You can add multiple Pages widgets to the sidebar. This is useful if you want to display different groups of pages on your sidebar area (e.g. “Products”, “Legal Pages” etc.)
Add A Links Widget
Now, let’s add a widget that will display external links on your sidebar.
Before adding the Links widget to your sidebar, we recommend setting up your Links feature inside the WordPress dashboard …
(WordPress Links section)
Note: Using Links will be covered in separate tutorials.
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 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 area …
(Links Widget Settings)
You can add as many separate ‘Link Widgets’ to the sidebar 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 the Links Widget, click the Save button. Your links will become immediately visible on your site …
(External links added to sidebar navigation section)
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 area.
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This is the end of part three of this tutorial about using WordPress widgets.
Click on this link to keep reading:
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