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In this video we'll explore how to add widgets to the sidebar and footer of your site. Widgets are independent blocks of content that can be placed into any widget ready area provided by your theme. Widgets can be used to display your most recent posts and comments, blog categories, and more. The Widgets sub-panel in the Appearance menu enables you to add, rearrange, and edit the contents of your widgets. On the left hand side is a list of available widgets, and to the right is a visual representation of the widget area supported by your current theme. Along with the widgets they currently contain. Now remember, your theme may have more, or fewer widget areas and they might be named differently. This theme includes three widget areas. The sidebar, which runs along the right hand side of the blog pages. And then two widget areas, at the bottom of the page in the footer. In this panel, you can reorder the widgets by simply dragging and dropping them into a new order. And, you can edit the details, or settings for each widget by clicking the arrow to the right of the widget's title. Or, anywhere in the widget title area.
To deactivate a widget, click the Delete link at the bottom. Or, simply drag it out of the widget area and back to the available widgets box. Or, if you want to save the settings for later use to the inactive widgets box at the bottom. To add a new widget simple drag and drop it into the widget area where you want it to appear. And then you can edit its contents or configure the options. Now, this panel enables you to make quick changes to your widgets but it's a little challenging because you won't see the effects of your changes until you return to the public view of your site. So you'll be happy to learn that you can also manage your widgets in the customizer which provides a real time preview of your changes. Again, if you have multiple widget areas they'll appear in a list here. Open the widget area you wish to edit and you'll find a list of widgets corresponding to that area on your site. Again, you can drag and drop the widgets to change the order in which they appear and you'll see those changes take place in real time.
To quickly edit the contents of a widget click the Edit icon next to the widget you wish to edit. You could edit the content or settings for each widget and your changes will be automatically saved. And, you can remove a widget at any time by simply clicking the Remove link at the bottom. Now let's add a new widget to the footer of our site. I'll choose the second widget area in the footer and then click the Add a Widget button. You might want to take a few minutes to experiment with the various widgets that are available to you. There are widgets to display an audio player. Insert a custom image.Or even add a video.But, perhaps the single most flexible widget is the text widget. Because it allows you to add any text or HTML content that you like. I've pasted some content into this widget that contains our contact information. You can use the formatting tools to make text bold, or italic, add lists, and even create links. WordPress will even help you convert URLs or email addresses into the appropriate type of link. And, if you're comfortable editing HTML you can still switch to the text editor to edit the code manually. When you're finished editing the widget you could either click the arrow in the top left hand corner to return to the customizer. Or, just click the Save and Publish button. Widgets provide a great deal of flexibility when it comes to personalizing your site. So, feel free to experiment and become familiar with the widget areas available on your site.