WordPress widgets are incredibly useful. They allow you to add all kinds of additional content to your website outside of the post or page body, encouraging users to get information, follow links, or take action.
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In this article, I'll show you everything you need to know about WordPress widgets. How to add them to your site, how to create widget areas to put them in, how to install extensions that give you more, how to code your own widgets, and more.
Contents
What are WordPress widgets?
When to use WordPress widgets
11 Examples of Widgets in WordPress
How to add widgets to your WordPress site
How to add a new widget area to your theme
How to code widgets using the Widgets API
What are WordPress widgets?
In WordPress, widgets are content that lives outside of the page or post content.
Widgets contain information, navigation, or media that is distinct from an article or page. In most cases, each widget will be displayed on each page of the site, but you can also save widget areas for specific pages such as the home page.
To add a widget to your site, you must add it to a widget area. Widget areas are created by your theme because they relate to the design and layout of your site, not its functionality.
Most WordPress themes have widget areas in the sidebar and footer, although some have multiple widget areas in many places, such as below or above the content or in the header. .
The screenshot below, from one of my own sites, shows widgets in the sidebar and footer.