Working With WordPress – Text Widgets
Text widgets enable you to add items to your sidebar. With text widgets you can add things like:
- text
- images
- links
- affiliate code
Where is this handy little item? For purposes of this post I’m going to assume that you’re working with WordPress 2.7.1. To add a text widget to your sidebar click on the “Appearance” item in the menu on the left side of the dashboard. A submenu will appear that contains the link to Widget Heaven. OK, it really just says “Widgets”.
The number and type of widgets available to you will depend on what WordPress theme you’re using. If the theme you’re using isn’t widget enabled, then I’d advise you to upgrade to a theme that is.
Below is a partial list of the widgets available for the Atahualpa theme.
Click on the “Add” button for the text widget. It will add a text widget to the bottom of the list of widgets in your sidebar.
As you can see by this example you can have multiple types of widgets. You can even have multiple text widgets.
To add text or insert affiliate codes into the text widget just open the widget by clicking on “Edit”. The text widget will open up like so:
You enter the title text in the top box. If you don’t want to have a title, that’s fine. Just leave it blank. Put the rest of the text in the box below the title. Click on “Done” and then “Save Changes”.
That will add the following to the sidebar:
When working with widgets there are a few key points to remember:
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. See that little “Remove” button in the open text widget photo? Widgets are easy to put in and they’re easy to take out.
- Don’t forget to click on “Save Changes” when you’re done. I hear you saying, “That’s easy. I won’t forget that.” Trust me. You’ll forget and you’ll wonder why things aren’t working.
- Remember that you can drag the widgets around. Hover over a widget and the cursor will change into one with four arrows. At that point click and drag the widget into the order that you want.
- If your theme has more than one sidebar you’ll need to select what sidebar you’re widgetizing via the dropdown at the top right of the widget screen.
Check back on Friday for a lesson on inserting links and images into the text widget. I’ve got a secret that will enable you to generate HTML code for your text widget. You’ll love it!
May 8th, 2009 at 3:20 am
[...] an earlier post I explained what text widgets are and how to add them to the sidebar of your WordPress theme. Today we’re going to take a look using the text widget to add [...]
July 20th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
so glad that i found you. i am wanting to add an image to a text widget. is this your next post? hope so
July 20th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Hi Michelle – I’m so glad you found this useful.
Check out Text Widgets – Part Two
for a lesson on adding an image to your text widget.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:04 am
Excellent post, and by the way, nice blog. I’m definitely going to bookmark this site! I look forward to contributing. Thanks for sharing.
September 29th, 2009 at 2:59 am
great post i need some help i don’t want the text widget to show on one of my wordpress pages the contact page as i adsense ads on the text widget what should i do?
September 30th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Digital – Unless you’re working with a custom template or have some custom programming done, the sidebar is going to be the same on all of your pages. Sorry.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Thanks for yhe info.But it seems not all template the same.
October 8th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
That’s true. Some older templates may not be widget-enabled at all. If that’s the case, I’d change to a template that has that functionality.
November 25th, 2009 at 6:54 am
thanks for the help. Is the same principal used to add text widgets on different versions of WordPress too?
November 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Yes, use the page or post editor as a sort of a scratch pad. Work out what you want in your sidebar there. (Don’t publish it.) Then switch to HTML view and copy the code. Paste that in your text widget.
Be sure to update your WordPress software. There are some NASTY hacks going on.
December 10th, 2009 at 7:03 am
The text widget is by far the most used widget on my sites.
Just a tip, if you want to execute php from the text widget, you can install Exec PHP (I think that’s what it’s called)
December 14th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Great post thanks for taking the time to provide the info I had trouble trying to get an affiliate code on one of mine, a big help!
January 21st, 2010 at 8:51 pm
[...] you have a WordPress blog you can add links to aid organizations (via the text widget) to the sidebar of your blog. I’ve added one to the right side of this page. I’ll [...]
February 20th, 2010 at 2:43 am
great post. thanks for the help..
June 1st, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Great post thanks for taking the time to provide the info
July 27th, 2010 at 10:10 am
thanks for all information admin.