{"id":1790,"date":"2020-02-27T16:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newmediaproduction.mynmi.net\/?page_id=1790"},"modified":"2022-06-10T02:14:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T02:14:46","slug":"wide-world-of-widgets","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wide-world-of-widgets\/","title":{"rendered":"The wide, wide world of widgets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/newmediaproduction\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/01\/gears.jpeg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@shimikumi32\">Kumiko SHIMIZU<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Widget:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>A small gadget or mechanical device, especially one whose name is unknown or unspecified.<\/li><li>An application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service.<\/li><li><strong>A small content block, often overlooked and forgotten in WordPress projects. <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Widgets are drag-and-drop <strong>blocks of content<\/strong> that you can place in different areas of your WordPress site. Widgets are not to be confused with <a href=\"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/block-editor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the block editor<\/a>, which adds blocks to pages and posts specifically. Instead, widgets are broader in scope. They&#8217;re placed consistently across your website&#8217;s design. Common hiding places for widgets include <strong>sidebars<\/strong>, <strong>footers<\/strong>, and sometimes <strong>headers<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hidden in plain sight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve ever seen a signup form on the side of someone&#8217;s site, or an &#8220;About the Author&#8221; on your favorite cooking blog, chances are, it&#8217;s a widget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2618\" height=\"1568\" src=\"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/newmediaproduction\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/grady-newsource-widgets.png\" alt=\"The homepage of Grady Newsource, featuring a weekly newsletter signup form and a Most Read column on the right sidebar. \" class=\"wp-image-2073\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/grady-newsource-widgets.png 2618w, https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/grady-newsource-widgets-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/grady-newsource-widgets-1024x613.png 1024w, https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/grady-newsource-widgets-768x460.png 768w, https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/grady-newsource-widgets-1536x920.png 1536w, https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/grady-newsource-widgets-2048x1227.png 2048w, https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/grady-newsource-widgets-1568x939.png 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2618px) 100vw, 2618px\" \/><figcaption>From <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Grady Newsource  (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/gradynewsource.uga.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">Grady Newsource<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you take a gander at the Grady Newsource, you&#8217;ll see two widgets in the sidebar: A weekly email newsletter signup form, and a &#8220;Most Read&#8221; list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/themesquare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Vibrant-Pro-Footer-Widgets.png\" alt=\"A website footer, featuring an About Us section, a Quick Links list, Popular Categories and an email signup form.  \"\/><figcaption>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/themesquare.com\/docs\/vibrant\/footer-widgets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Theme Square. (opens in a new tab)\">Theme Square.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another common area for widgets are in the <strong>footer<\/strong> of your site. Some common examples of what you might see in the footer include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Operating hours<\/li><li>Address<\/li><li>Call to action<\/li><li>Links to social media accounts<\/li><li>Email signup form <\/li><li>Popular articles<\/li><li>Copyright information <\/li><li>An &#8220;About the Team&#8221; section <\/li><li>Contact info<\/li><li>Upcoming events<\/li><li>And way more!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can expect to see widgets on pretty much every WordPress theme you use. The <strong>location<\/strong>, <strong>type<\/strong>, and <strong>amount<\/strong> of widgets will vary by theme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Clean house<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The majority of themes come with widgets installed by default. It&#8217;s your job as an and up-and-coming WordPress professional to be aware of what widgets your theme is using. More often than not, you&#8217;ll need to remove extra widgets that come pre-installed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s an example of what some of the default widgets on your site might include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neliosoftware.com\/es\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/12\/twentytwenty-widget-areas-1024x665.png\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Image by <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Nelio Software. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/neliosoftware.com\/blog\/twenty-twenty-on-wordpress-5-3\/?nab=0&amp;utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F\" target=\"_blank\">Nelio Software.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For many WordPress sites, the default widgets are <strong>not <\/strong>relevant and don&#8217;t add extra value to your site. Unless they serve a purpose, do not keep them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you install a new theme, be sure to check out the Widgets\u2014in your <strong>Dashboard, under Appearance &gt; Widgets<\/strong>\u2014and clean house if needed, dragging and dropping widgets that do not fit with the content and style of your site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Widgets can be a great way to add extra info to your site, create site consistency, or reinforce a call to action. But they can also be an easily overlooked element that clutters up a site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more on <strong>how <\/strong>to actually use widgets, check out: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wordpress-widgets\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>WordPress Widgets 101: What They Are and How to Use Them<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Widget: A small gadget or mechanical device, especially one whose name is unknown or unspecified. An application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service. A small content block, often overlooked and forgotten in WordPress projects. Widgets are drag-and-drop blocks of content that you can &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wide-world-of-widgets\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The wide, wide world of widgets<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1790","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1790"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3641,"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1790\/revisions\/3641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}