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Admin Skill #5: Widgets

Badge icon "Dice (6077)" provided by Drew Ellis, from The Noun Project under Creative Commons - Attribution (CC BY 3.0)
20 Points

In the Widget Skill you will learn to add widgets to your theme, adding new display and functionality options.

  • Have you completed the Themes Skill and retained the original theme or adopted a new sidebar-based theme? (Necessary for most widgets!) If not, go here and come back later. Note that you do need a sidebar theme in order to readily add widgets, but you can still choose to display some posts/pages as full-width.

To earn this Skill, follow the below steps, then follow the submission requirements at bottom.

  1. First, consult the Widgets help page for a quick overview.
  2. Then, in the dashboard go to Appearance > Widgets, and on your main sidebar (the one that displays on each post or page), add and configure any three of the following widgets:
    • Archive: Display a simple summary of posts by date.
    • Audio: Display an audio player for file URL or in media library.
    • Calendar: Your site posts accessed by calendar date.
    • Categories: Display post categories with links to related posts.
    • Classic Text or Custom HTML: Display unformatted text or HTML, or execute shortcode.
    • Custom Menu: Develop a custom menu (e.g., to certain pages) and display here.
    • 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 formatted text with editor you see on posts/pages.
    • Video: Display video for file URL or in media library.

There are lots more widgets you will be able to use once you activate plugins (part of the next Skill!), many of which come with their own widgets.

Submission requirements: Please attach a screenshot showing your new sidebar widgets. Additionally, in the submission box list each widget you chose and why. This Skill will be approved by a student helper checking your submission, so make sure it’s fully complete.