Widgets are incredibly useful modular blocks of specialized content you can add to any widgetized area of your site—that is, special sections in your theme coded to contain widget content. (Usually referred to as sidebars, widgetized areas can be placed anywhere in your page layout.)
The Widgets Panel
Log into your Wordpress dashboard and select Appearance»Widgets in your left-hand menu. You see the Widgets panel.
(Click the image to view it full size.)
The boxes in the center of the page are the widgets. The darker boxes on the right side of the screen represent the widgetized areas available in this theme.
Adding a Widget
You can easily add and remove widgets by dragging and dropping them with your mouse.
- Expand the widgetized area by clicking the arrrow icon to the right of the area’s title.
- Place your cursor on the widget you want to add, hold down the mouse button, and drag the widget into the expanded widgetized area box. When it “sticks,” you’ll see a dotted outline. Let go of the mouse button.
- The widget may have additional options to fill in. In this example, you need to define a title.
- Click Save. You’ve added a widget!
You can have multiple widgets in a widgetized area.
Removing a Widget
You can remove a widget in two ways. Either expand the widget and click the Delete link in the bottom left corner of it, or simply drag it out of the widgetized area.
