How to WordPress – How to Widgets!
WP Widgets – What are WordPress Widgets?
Before getting into the “How To Widget” part of this Article, I want to tell you what WP Widgets are. WordPress Widgets are just a name that was chosen to describe a feature that lets you add things (WP Widgets) to the Sidebar of your Word Press Blog. Examples of Widgets include a widget that lets you list an archived history of Blog entries or a list of links to blog comments or advertisements. Widgets let you add features to your blog without having to know how to code!
WordPress Widgets – What Version of WordPress lets you use WP Widgets?
WordPress Widgets became standard starting with Release 2.2. If you are new to wordpress and downloaded wordpress in recent memory, chances are you are running a release greater than 2.2 and WP widgets are included in the functionality. If you are using an older version of wordpress then you have been ignoring the request at the top of your admin panel that says “WordPress 2.9.2 is available! Please Update Now!”. If you click on the Please Update Now link it will upgrade you to the latest version of WordPress Automatically and you will have built in WP Widget functionality!
What WordPress Themes let me use WP Widgets?
I have never seen any theme that does not let you use sidebar Widgets. But I use mostly Professional Themes by Woo Themes and WPZoom Themes. They are really cool because they give you lots and lots of widget and sidebar options. If you want your Theme to look a certain way and you want to optimize the placement of advertisements or features, then you should get a professional Theme. Yes they cost from $25 – $85 but they are worth every penny!
How To Widgets (How to Use WordPress Widgets).
1) Log into the Admin Panel of your WordPress based website.
2) On the left you will see A grayed in tab called “Dashboard” and below it a series of tabs with names like “Posts”, “Media”, Links” and “Appearance”
3) If you click on Appearance you will see a list of choices including “Themes”, “Widgets” and “Editor”.
4) If You click on “Widgets” your main screen will change and in the center will be a new page titled “Widgets”. It will list all the WP Widgets that are available for your Theme. On the right it will list one or more “Sidebars”. Sidebars are an area of your blog reserved for things (wp widgets) such as advertisements, comments, and other wordpress widgets! Some Sidebars are divided and have a left and a right half. This lets you enter 2 narrow columns of WP Widgets instead of one wide one. This is really handy for entering those nice long banner ads. It is also good for 2 side by side WP Widgets like recent posts and comments (both WP widgets).
5) If you click on the Sidebar tab it will show you what widgets you already have installed (Some Themes have default widgets installed right out of the box).
6) You can Click on any of the widgets that are installed to modify them. For example if one widget is “Recent Posts” and you click on it, it will let you select how many recent posts you want to display.
How to Widgets – Installing Widgets in your Sidebar
This is the really great and easy thing about WP Widgets – they are so easy!
1) If you want to add a widget from the main widget screen to a sidebar (which activates it in your sidebar and on your website) just move your cursor over the grayed in widget tab on the main widgets page,. Your cursor will turn into a plus sing with arrows on each end. This indicates that you can move this widget around in any direction.
2) Hold your left mouse key down and drag the widget to the side bar that you want it to appear in
3) Release the mouse key! That is it! The widget is installed! You should now see it in the sidebar.
How to Widgets – changing the order of WordPress Widgets
1) To change the order of your wordpress widgets just move your cursor over the grayed in widget tab on the main widgets page. Your cursor will turn into a plus sign with arrows on each end. This indicates that you can move this widget around in any direction.
2) Move your cursor to the new location (called ”Dragging”) that you want to Widget to be in (above another widget, below a widget or in another sidebar).
3) Release the mouse key. The WP Widget will now be moved to the new location.
How to Widgets – Removing a WP Widget from a Sidebar.
1) Move your cursor over WP widget tab in the sidebar that you want to remove it from. Your cursor will turn into a plus sign with arrows on each end. This indicates that you can move this widget around in any direction.
2) Move your cursor to the main WP Widget window (any place on the widget window. You won’t hurt anything even if your cursor ends up right on top of another widget).
3) Release the mouse key. The WP Widget will now be moved back to the main Widget list.
How To Widgets – How do I know that it worked
1) WP Widgets are easy to test and verify. Just go to your website and see if your changes are there.
2) If the WP Widget you were using is one that allows the placement of an add or text you can place an advertisement in it or just type some text like “Hello World” and select “save” or Update” if the widget has such a tab.
3) Then go to your website (make sure you refresh the screen> logging out of your web browser and back in is the best way to make sure that it is going out and getting a fresh copy of your website) and see if you see your text or ad in the sidebar!
How To Widgets – How to find more WP Widgets
Again, WordPress Widgets makes this easy.
1) Just go to the Plug-in Tab on the left side of your admin panel and click on Plugins
2) Click on “Add New”. This will bring up the main Plug-in Page of your WordPress Blog.’
3) From here you can search for new WP widgets just by adding “Widgets” to the search field.
4) You can get more specific by selecting a search term like “YouTube Widgets”. This will list all the widgets with YouTube in the name, along with the 5 star ranking and a brief description of what the widget does .
5) To learn how to install a plug-in click on this link: How to WordPress Plugin
