Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
3
The creator of the theme specifies the values for any data that goes
with each widget. For instance, in Contempt, for the Links widget
(titled “Blogroll”), the link name is shown, but not the link descrip-
tion or rating.
As soon as you add widgets to the sidebar, the widgets that were
already there are removed from your blog. You have to re-add them
if you want to keep them.
If you want to change the settings for a widget in your blog, you
need to re-add it, and then set the values as you desire.
caution
When you visit the Widgets
page for your blog, the widgets
included in your blog do not
show up in the sidebar area to
which you drag widgets you
want to add. If you add a wid-
get to the sidebar, all the exist-
ing widgets are removed. You
have to re-add them to the
sidebar.
Adding New Widgets
From the perspective of a WordPress.com user using a theme that
can accommodate widgets, there are three types of widgets:
•
Widgets already built in to your theme and, therefore, already part of your blog.
•
Additional widgets available to WordPress.com users (about 25 total). You can add any of these
additional widgets to your blog. A few can be modified by using HTML and text. We describe
these widgets in this section and tell you how to modify them in Chapter 9.
•
Plug-ins, which are super-widgets, only available to WordPress.org users. WordPress.org users
can choose from a much larger set of plug-ins available to WordPress.com users, modify any of
them, and create their own as well.
Even though there are only about 25 widgets available to WordPress.com users—far less than the
70-odd themes to choose from—each one presents a separate “Nero” decision for you to make—
yea or nay?
We've provided Table 3.6 (located in the next section) to help you decide. The table has a lot of
information about each widget. However, although the table will help you eliminate many widgets
from consideration, there will still be several that you won't be sure of. We suggest that you try
adding the widgets you're not sure about to your blog (yes, all of them). Only then can you decide
which ones you really want and delete the rest.
Having used trial and error, we further recommend that you consider as many additional rounds of
trial and error as needed to settle on the right order for the widgets.
Here's how to add additional widgets to your WordPress.com blog, assuming your theme permits it
(as nearly all do):
1.
Begin by visiting your blog (from a user's point of view) and writing down the names and con-
tent of any widgets that are already part of your blog. You might want to capture a screenshot
so you have a record of the status quo ante and to help you preserve the aspects you like as you
make changes to your widgets. (See the following sidebar, “Capturing the Screen,” for details.)
2.
Go to your blog's Administration area.
3.
In the Appearance menu, click Widgets. The available widgets are listed; see Table 3.6.
