Widgets are small sections of a website which allows you to add special content, or features, to different parts of your website. Traditionally, these were found in the website’s sidebar, however, you can place a widget anywhere you want.
Usually Widgets are stand alone, meaning they don’t interact with one another, however, this is not always the case.
WordPress comes with numerous widgets. Many plugins also provide one or more widgets to your list. Some examples of the default include (but are not limited to):
- navigation menu,
- search (on the site, within the content),
- categories (a list of the categories on the WordPress site that organize the posts),
- tag cloud (a list of all the tags that are used in posts),
- recent posts,
- and more.
You will find that most WordPress themes are widget ready, meaning that they have one or more defined areas that you can (but don’t have to) apply a one or more widgets. Most have several widget areas. These areas will all be named, usually based upon where the widget will be displayed.
Configuring You Widgets
To configure a widget, within the WP Admin center, go to Appearance > Widget.
The screen is split into two sections.
Available Widgets
On the left is all of the available widgets you can place into your website. In addition to the widgets that come with WordPress, you can also find others that become available because you have installed and activated WordPress plugins.
Plugins may, or may not, add widgets to your WordPress install. If you are curious, check the plugin description. They will usually tell you there.
Active Widgets
On the right hand side is your widget area(s). These areas are defined by your theme, and most themes have one or more areas.
Click on an area to open it up and see if any widgets have been inserted into that area.
To change the order of your widgets: If there are more than one widget in an area, you can click and drag it to be in a different position.
To remove a widget: Click and drag the widget off of the active widget area, into the available widget area.
To add a widget: Click and drag a widget from the available widget area, into the widget area you wish to update. This will automatically open the configuration panel for the widget.
Configuring a Widget: Click on the widget. This will open the selected widget panel a little larger. There you will see any settings that can be changed. Modify the settings as you see fit, then click on the save button to update the widget.
Working with WordPress Widgets was originally found on Access 2 Learn
