WordPress Widgets are specific WordPress theme areas where you can add some static texts like Author’s biography, Email Subscription forms, Images, or dynamic texts like Most Recent Posts, Recent Comments in your Theme’s sidebar, header and footer area mainly.

According to WordPress.org, Widgets were first introduced to control the design and structure of a WordPress site specific areas in a WordPress theme, but later the active community of WordPress developers made Widgets even more important and function. With WordPress Widgets, you can imagine any functionality across your Widget Specific Areas.

WordPress Widgets

Widgets can be added or removed very easily. Widgets are among the best features in WordPress and they are created from the code in core WordPress, themes and  in plugins.

Widgets in WordPress allow us to add content and features in specific areas such as sidebar, header, footer and below content. WordPress widgets make all the tasks for the bloggers in the field of custom sidebar and drop down menu. WordPress has over 30,000 plugins, each of different features and functions of which many are essentially for the widgets. You can install a widget within a second without disturbing users on your blog or website.

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In this post, I would like to show you How to add a WordPress widget step by step.

How to Add a WordPress Widget

Step: 1   Just log in to your WordPress website and go to dashboard, you’ll see a menu of options on the left side of your screen  and locate the appearance button just shown in the below image and then click on widgets sub menu button.

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Step: 2   Once you click on the ‘widgets’ button then the page appears showing the available widgets on your website. Each and every widgets have a different role in WordPress. Below image shows the available Widget in the blog or website.

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Step : 3  In the next step you have to do is just drag the widget from the available or inactive widgets area into the sidebar area on the right. When you see the dotted line appearing drop the widget into the respective place. After that you have to add title to the  widget (note: not mandatory to write title.) and save it, then go to your blog or website and you will find out a new widget out there.

When you Install WordPress for first time, it provides you with some good and necessary widgets. For e.g :-

  • Archives
  • Categories
  • Recent Posts
  • Search
  • Tag cloud
  • Text

If you think you need more widgets and you are not able to find out the right one, then all you need to do is to search for a new Widget. To do so here are the following points. Read carefully.

Step 1:  Click on the “Plugins” button located on left side of your admin which is also under the Appearance button, then click on the “Add New” button as shown in the below image.

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Step 2: After that you have to click on “Widget” which is tagged in the plugin directory  and you would be redirected to page which is shown in the below image.

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Step 3:  Then, click on any widget and press the “Install Now” button same like in image.

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Step 4:  By clicking on “Install Now” button you are almost done, then select the “Activate Plugin”. The newly installed and activated widget will be listed in the available widget. After that if you want to add the widget in your site, drag and drop the widget into your target sidebar. Then visit your blog or website and see the changes.

Its quite easy and simple task. I hope this post would help you, please don’t forget to leave your wonderful comments.

Extra Tips

  1. Add an Author Biography in the sidebar, a lot of people wants to see who is the author or owner of this blog. By giving your blog a face and name to love, you are in the race of earning name and fame quickly.
  2. Once the blog is established, you can run Advertisements in the Sidebar Widgets and make money online.
  3. Give your readers an email subscription form in the sidebar to subscribe to your blog for more traffic and email list.
  4. Feature your Services and sell products by recommending them to your readers to get maximum attraction.
  5. You can sell your ad space in the sidebar using WordPress Widgets. Check out some good affiliate networks and join them to get their ad code.
  6. Give your blog a taste of some premium WordPress widgets like Social Count Pro, Engadget like Most Viewed bar etc. and enhance your website and traffic.