Issues with Block-based Widgets

  • Hello, I’m using the “new” widgets workflow: the Block-based Widgets that were was introduced in WordPress v5.8. But I have noticed several problems:

    1) The post page template must be made to receive a widget area. In my theme, I have a template called “Full Width Boxed”. If a add a widget area using the Widget Editor or the customizer, it will never appear on the post or page. The only template that will accept widget areas is “Default Template”, because it has a sidebar that can host a widget area. Is it normal this template is the only one compatible with Widget Areas?

    2) I want to add widgets as blocks inside a post/page. So I edit a post, add a block with the “+” button, click on “browse all”, then tab “Blocks”, then category “Widgets’, and then I can’t find all the widgets there. I installed the widget “Recent Posts Extended” and it is nowhere to be found. Why?

    3) If I can’t use my favorite template to add widgets areas, I told myself I would just need to add an empty block and register it as a widget area. I couldn’t find how to do that so I installed a plugin : “Content Aware Sidebars”. But I was wondering if I really need to overload my website with one more plugin? Is there a way to do this “natively”?

    Thanks and see you soon,

    David

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

  • Hi davidsaber,

    1) The post page template must be made to receive a widget area.

    3) If I can’t use my favorite template to add widgets areas, I told myself I would just need to add an empty block and register it as a widget area.

    Yes, to use widgets on a legacy WordPress theme, specific widget areas must be registered within that theme. However, on newer themes that are compatible with the new WordPress Site Editor, no such manual work is necessary, as the whole theme is editable in the Site Editor itself. The new WordPress Site Editor does not have a concept of widget areas, as (on themes that support it) the whole site including headers, footers, and sidebars can be edited directly in the Site Editor, using templates, patterns, and blocks.

    The theme you are using appears to be Child theme for Hellomouse – Ignition , customized by DreamCraft, and this does not seem to be a theme that’s compatible with the new WordPress Site Editor. To use Block-based Widgets with your existing legacy WordPress (non-Site-Editor-compatible) theme, you will indeed need to register Widget Areas within the theme.

    2) I want to add widgets as blocks inside a post/page. So I edit a post, add a block with the “+” button, click on “browse all”, then tab “Blocks”, then category “Widgets’, and then I can’t find all the widgets there. I installed the widget “Recent Posts Extended” and it is nowhere to be found. Why?

    Could you please link us to the Recent Posts Extended widget you installed? Happy to have a closer look, but based on what you have said, this is likely a legacy widget that is not compatible with Block-based Widgets. If you want to go back to using legacy widgets, you can use the Classic Widgets plugin.

    • This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by Mahangu Weerasinghe. Reason: Accidentally posted before reply was done
    • This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by Mahangu Weerasinghe. Reason: Clarity
    Thread Starter davidsaber

    (@davidsaber)

    Hello Mahangu,

    Thanks for this very informative answer!!

    The widget plugin I use is this one : https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/recent-posts-widget-extended/

    About “Block themes”, how do I know if a theme I choose is a “Block theme”? As you said, I doubt my current theme is a “Block theme”, but if I want to change it for another theme, how can I know if the new theme is a “Block theme”? For example, is Astra a “Block theme”?

    Thanks

    David

    The widget plugin I use is this one : https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/recent-posts-widget-extended/

    Yes, this does appear to be a legacy widget and once installed, does not show up for me either when using Block-based widgets. However, if you are using Block-based widgets, you can try and use the Latest Posts block instead, as it has similar functionality.

    About “Block themes”, how do I know if a theme I choose is a “Block theme”?

    You can find block themes in the WordPress theme directory by selecting Block Themes in the toolbar. This automatically takes you to a filtered view of all themes with Full Site Editing functionality. If you’re unsure of which theme to pick, the current default WordPress theme Twenty Twenty-Four may be a good starting point.

    Block Themes are also compatible with Block Patterns that you can copy and paste directly into your theme’s templates, so there is a lot off flexibility here, regardless of which theme you start from. For more on how to edit Block Themes, see the Site Editor documentation.

    • This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by Mahangu Weerasinghe. Reason: Added Twenty Twenty-Four link
    Thread Starter davidsaber

    (@davidsaber)

    Thanks again.

    About the Latest Posts block widget, should I install it as a plugin? When I go to my wordpress site > Dashboard > plugins > add new plugin > search plugins , I can’t find “Latest Posts block”.

    About Block Themes, in the WordPress theme directory, I can’t find Astra in the “block themes” tab, but I can find it in the “popular” tab. This means Astra is not a Block Theme I guess?

    Thanks and greetings,

    David

    About the Latest Posts block widget, should I install it as a plugin?

    The Latest Posts block comes with the WordPress Block Editor and the WordPress Site Editor. You can click the block inserter (+) and then search for the Latest Posts block to find and insert it.

    About Block Themes, in the WordPress theme directory, I can’t find Astra in the “block themes” tab, but I can find it in the “popular” tab. This means Astra is not a Block Theme I guess?

    That’s correct. If a theme doesn’t appear under Block themes in the WordPress theme directory, then it is not a block theme and is not compatible with the WordPress Site Editor.

    Thread Starter davidsaber

    (@davidsaber)

    oK I finally found the “Latest Posts block” but it is really not as good as “recent-posts-widget-extended”, has very few useful functions and it’s almost impossible to make it look good.

    Thanks again for all this useful information.

    Right! If you need more customization, the Query Loop block may be worth a look. It is an advanced block that allows you to display posts based on specified parameters. You can think of it as a more complex and powerful Latest Posts Block. See the Query Loop block documentation for more.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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