Widgets and How they Function
What does the word ‘widget’ mean? How does a widget work? How can I edit a widget?
Widgets function as small blocks of content that perform specific functions in WordPress. The exact location of where you can place widgets depends on the theme that you are using. For instance, in all of our themes, you can place widgets on the home page, the footers, and the sidebar. Some of our themes also have widget-ready areas in the header space and content pages. Widgets provide a simple way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user.
How Widgets Function
To work with widgets you will need to navigate to your admin panel and find “Appearance” and “Widgets”. Click on Widgets and you will be directed to the widgets page. You can also access “widgets” from the top admin bar when you hover over your sites name.
Once you arrive on the widgets page you will notice that to the left there are pre-installed WordPress widgets. Some examples of pre-installed WordPress widgets include Text, Pages, User, Recent Posts, Categories and so forth. If you have the Genesis Framework installed you will find additional Genesis exclusive widgets like Genesis User Profile, Genesis Featured Page, Genesis Featured Posts and so on. Lastly, some plugins you install will create available widgets. For example, if you install the Genesis eNews Extended plugin then you will see a Genesis eNews Extended widget under your available widgets.
When you are on the widgets page, notice all of the available widgets on the left and the different areas you can drag them to on the right. You can place widgets in any location, however, the way they are styled will depend upon the child theme you are running on your site.
How Widgets Function on the Home Page
The home page of every Restored 316 theme can be built in the widgets area of WordPress. The only exception is if you would like your home page to be a full blog with no other features, you would remove the widgets from the home widget areas and it will default to the blog. However, if you want to set your homepage up like our demos you will place the widgets you want to be displayed in the areas you want them to appear on your home page. The styling of the widget will often depend on the theme itself and the space that is pre-coded for that widget area. Our suggestion is to follow your themes setup instructions for the best results.
How Widgets Function on the Sidebar
Widgets can also be placed in the Primary Sidebar area. All of these widgets will appear on the pages that display a sidebar like your blog page, blog posts, or any other page with a sidebar layout selected. This includes themes that have sidebars on the homepage.
How Widgets Function in other Areas
Many of our themes also have footer, header right, announcement, and above content widget spaces. Widgets can be added to these locations in order to display content as well. Keep in mind most of these areas will display on every page. For example, if you place an Instagram widget in the footer it will show on all pages and not just the home page.
In Summary
Widgets are an easy way to add features to your website. Depending on which theme you have will determine the location of where you can place widgets. Remember, with our themes your home page is built in the widgets section, as well as your sidebar and footer.
