A widget puts content on your website in a particular place, usually a sidebar. Your DS site comes with a variety of widgets you can use, and there are many others you’ll want to consider, including (if activated) Jetpack’s Extra Sidebar Widgets module and widgets that come with plugins you activate.
Editing/Adding Widgets
There are two ways to edit or add widgets. You can now readily edit widgets via the Customize menu. Alternatively, navigate from your Dashboard to Appearance > Widget:
- Click on the widget you want on the right side.
- Select where you want the new widget and click Add Widget. In general, most of your widgets will go in the Primary Sidebar.
- The widget will then show up in the sidebar area on the right. Click on the widget to edit the content and click Save.
Beginning Widget Recommendations
Here we have compiled a list of nine easy, useful, and highly functional widgets that we recommend anyone consider putting on a new site. Give them a try on yours; widgets are easy to get rid of if you decide you don’t need them.
- Archive: Display a simple summary of posts by date.
- Categories: Display post categories with links to related posts.
- Genesis—User Profile: Display a profile telling the visitor about yourself.
- Genesis—Featured Posts: Display an advanced listing of recent or featured posts.
- Image: Quickly display an image from your media library.
- Recent Posts: Display a simple listing of your recent posts.
- RSS Feed: Display an RSS feed (see here for help).
- Search: Search your site’s posts and pages for content.
- Text: Display unformatted text, HTML text, and/or shortcode.