Widgets are independent
sections of content that can be placed into any widgetized area provided by
your theme. Although these widgetized areas are commonly called ‘Sidebars’ and
are quite often located in the left or right-hand column, they can be also
located anywhere within your site and are entirely dependent on the current
theme as to their location. Lots of themes use these widgetized sidebars in the
footer area.
There are numerous widgets
available by default which allow you to add extra content to your site, such as
Recent Comments, Categories or Custom Menus, just to name a few. New Widgets
can also be installed via plugins and again, depending what the plugin is used for the extra
functionality it brings to your site will vary.
The Available Widgets section contains all the widgets you may choose
from. To populate one of your Sidebars, drag and drop a widget to the desired
location. Once the Widget is dragged to a Sidebar, the widget will open up to
allow you to configure its settings. Click the Save button within the Widget to save your settings.
If you want to remove a
widget from a Sidebar but save its settings for future use, drag it into the Inactive Widgets section. If you simply
want to delete the Widget from your Sidebar, click the Delete link within the Widget.
The small arrow next to the Sidebar title will
toggle the sidebar open and closed. If you drag and drop a widget onto a closed
sidebar, the sidebar and widget will automatically open.