Finding and Installing Widgets in WordPress

Widgets add functionality to the sidebar of your WordPress website. Follow the steps below to add new widgets to your website.

1. First, login to your WordPress dashboard. After you have logged in, click "Widgets" under "Appearance"

This screen contains three areas of interest:

• Available Widgets
• Inactive Widgets
• Primary Widget Area

How to activate Widgets

Widgets that are listed in the Primary Widget Area are widgets on your website the you are currently using. To use another widget, simply drag the widget you want to use from the Available or Inactive list to the Primary Widget Area. Your theme may contain multiple areas that use widgets. If this is the case, you can add widgets into the Secondary, First Footer, and Second Footer areas.

changing the Order in which Widgets Appear

Widgets load in the order in which they are listed in the sections. If you wish to change the order of the widgets simply drag the widgets under "Primary Widget" to the order you wish to have them display. 

Please check the next article on How to use the WordPress Text Widget. If you missed our previous article, please see the Updating a WordPress Plugin tutorial. For more information on this course please visit Introduction to Plugins & Widgets.