WordPress Widgets add additional content and features to your WordPress site’s sidebars. Examples are the default widgets that come with WordPress — like those for archives, post categories, search bars and custom menus.
One of the great things about WordPress widgets is that they require no code experience or expertise. Thanks to WordPress, they can simply be added, removed and rearranged.
The actual location of widgets on your site depends on your WordPress theme. Most WordPress themes offer several different page templates that decide where widget locations are in the page design.
In addition to the default WordPress widgets, WordPress plugins often add their own widgets as well. Some may add additional options for customization features.
To see how widgets work, log in to your WordPress site and visit the Appearance > Widgets panel. On the left side of the page, you’ll see all available widgets. Default widgets will be visible here, plus any additional widgets that have been added by your installed plugins. On the right, you’ll see all of your widget available widget locations.
To add a widget to a location, simply drag the widget from its place on the left into the right section to activate them. To remove them, simply drag the widget back or click delete.
For our current active theme, we have several widget locations. Say you want to add a search bar. Just drag the search widget over. Now, if you return to your site, you’ll see that a search bar has been added to the sidebar.
If you ever have questions or need help using widgets, just click the help tab from the top of the screen. Here you’ll find an overview, information on removing and reusing widgets and how to handle missing widgets if you change your WordPress theme.
Kristen has been writing tutorials to help WordPress users since 2011. You can usually find her working on new articles for the iThemes blog or developing resources for #WPprosper. Outside of work, Kristen enjoys journaling (she’s written two books!), hiking and camping, cooking, and daily adventures with her family, hoping to live a more present life.
