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How to Use Widgets and Sidebars in WordPress

Widgets are the bits of content that sit outside your main page content, usually in a sidebar or footer: a search box, recent posts, a short "about us" blurb, your hours. Where you edit them depends on your theme. These steps are for WordPress 6.x and later.

Which kind of theme do you have?

Go to Appearance.

  • If you see Widgets, you have a classic theme (or a theme with widget areas). Follow the classic steps below.
  • If you see Editor and no Widgets, you have a block theme. Block themes don't have widget areas. You edit sidebars and footers as template parts in the Site Editor instead.

Classic themes: edit widgets

  1. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
  2. You'll see your theme's widget areas, like Sidebar or Footer 1. The names depend on the theme.
  3. Click an area to open it.
  4. Click the + button to add a block, like Paragraph, Image, Search, Latest Posts, or Categories.
  5. Edit, move, or remove blocks the same way you do in the block editor.
  6. Click Update to save.

You can also edit widgets in Appearance > Customize > Widgets, which shows a live preview.

Widgets screen looks old-fashioned? Some sites use the Classic Widgets plugin, which brings back the older drag-and-drop screen. It works the same idea: drag a widget into an area, fill it in, and save.

Block themes: edit the sidebar or footer

  1. Go to Appearance > Editor.
  2. Click Patterns, then look under All template parts for your Footer, Header, or Sidebar (if your theme has one).
  3. Click the part to open it, then click to edit.
  4. Add, change, or remove blocks.
  5. Click Save.

Template parts show on every page that uses them, so a change to the footer changes it site-wide.

Show different sidebars on different pages

WordPress doesn't do this out of the box with classic widgets. With a block theme, you can make a separate template (for example, one for blog posts) that uses a different sidebar. With a classic theme, you'll need a plugin or theme option that controls widget visibility. Ask your web team if you're not sure.

Tips

  • Keep sidebars short. People skim them.
  • Don't put the same info in the sidebar, header, and footer.
  • If you switch themes, check your widgets afterward. Widget areas don't always carry over.

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