WordPress WidgetsKathy E Gill1 February 2011

What Are Widgets?

A “configurable code snippet" that makes it possible to modify function and appearance

Widgets & WordPress Themes

Not all themes are widget-capable

Themes vary in widget options, location

Single Widget Area

Multiple Widget Areas

Where Are Widgets?

Access the widgets page from the Appearance Menu in your Dashboard.

Default Appearance - Single

Default Appearance - Multi

Monotone: No Widgets Supported

Editing Appearance

Note: once you edit a widget area, the default widgets disappear

Recommendation: before editing, take a screenshot of your theme

Tip: if you don’t want anything to show up in a widget area, try adding a blank text widget.

Adding Widgets

To add a widget, drag from the Available or Inactive Widgets area on the left onto the Sidebar area on the right.

When you see a dashed line appear, you can drop the widget into place.

Single widget area; image from WP.com

Multiple Widget Locations

Configuring Widgets

Each widget has configuration options. Click on the triangle on the right side of the widget to configure.

You’ll need to save only if you edit.

Ordering, Deleting Widgets

Change the order of the widgets by dragging and dropping them in the sidebar area.

Delete by dragging to the left or clicking the “delete” link on the configuration box.

Note: design change is immediate – no “save” required

Screencast

Important Widgets (1/5)

ArchivesNavigation. Provides access to old posts; a key characteristic of blog as a genre

CategoriesNavigation. Provides access to posts by topic; a key characteristic of blog as a genre

Important Widgets (2/5)

LinksAs Blogroll, Background. Provides insight into blog content, author; a key characteristic of blog as a genre

Tag CloudNavigation, Background. Provides access to posts by keyword; requires reasonably large corpus to be useful.

Important Widgets (3/5)

PagesNavigation. Provides access to pages; essential if sidebar is primary navigation.

Category CloudNavigation, Background. Provides alternative access to posts by category; requires reasonably large corpus to be useful.

Important Widgets (4/5)

Recent PostsBackground. Highlights most recent posts; useful when “more” tag not employed.

Recent CommentsBackground. Highlights most recent comments; requires reasonably large corpus/frequent comments to be meaningful.

Important Widgets (5/5)

TextMay be the most important widget; can hold text or HTML but no javascript.

RSS LinksProvides access to post and comment RSS feed using orange button. Essential if there is no other RSS subscription link in the design.

Interesting Widgets (1/3)

TwitterBackground. Displays tweets by handle.

FlickrBackground. Displays photos from Flickr based on an RSS feed.

DeliciousBackground. Display Delicious links by handle.

Interesting Widgets (2/3)

Box.netFunctionality. Share files with your readers.

MeeboFunctionality. Enables private IM chat.

SocialVibeFunctionality. Support a charity.

Interesting Widgets (3/3)

Blog SubscriptionFunctionality. Enables email alert when there are new posts.

SocialVibeFunctionality. Support a charity.

Widgets That Require Content

SearchUseless unless there is a large corpus.

Top ClicksUseless unless there is a large corpus.

Top Posts and PagesUseless unless there is a large corpus.

WordPress Widgets

List and descriptions at WP.com: http://en.support.wordpress.com/topic/widgets-sidebars/

Even more widgets available for self-hosted WP accounts: http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Widgets

For Portfolio Sites

Consider adding links to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

You will use Text Box. We’ll do one of these on Thursday.

Widgets Are Not Plug-ins

• WP.com has no user-configurable plug-ins

• Widgets = content (more or less)

• Plug-Ins = functionality (usually are back-end, such as Akismet, statistics or Google analytics, but may provide short-code functionality or easy content sharing)

Credits

Kathy E Gill, @kegill

Creative Commons: share-and-share alike, non-commercial, attribution

Permanent home: http://wiredpen.com/resources/presentations/wordpress-using-widgets-to-customize-your-theme/