Some simple notes about widgetizing a theme

  • I followed the advice in https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Widgetizing_Themes but found the text a little confusing. So I thought I would write some notes about what I found out when I made a theme widget aware.

    I am using a customised version of theme neo-sapien version 0.6 which was not widget aware. It did not have a functions.php file in its theme folder (that’s /var/www/wordpress/wp-content/themes/neo-sapien-dev on my computer), so I copied the one from the Classic theme.

    Amongst other things, that contains the code

    if ( function_exists(‘register_sidebar’) )
    register_sidebar(array(
    ‘before_widget’ => ‘<li id=”%1$s” class=”widget %2$s”>’,
    ‘after_widget’ => ”,
    ‘before_title’ => ”,
    ‘after_title’ => ”,
    ));

    In wp-admin -> Appearance -> Widgets, widgets are now enabled, so I added a text widget to the sidebar, put some stuff in it and saved it.

    (As expected, nothing yet appears on the site.)

    I added

    <?php if ( !function_exists(‘dynamic_sidebar’)
    || !dynamic_sidebar() ) : ?>
    <?php endif; ?>

    into my php code and saved it.

    (On refreshing the web page of the site, the widget appears.)

    It does not matter where you put it, widget(s) appear at that place.

    If you put it in more than once, the same widget(s) appear more than once.

    You can omit the static alternative to the dynamic widgets.

    If you want more than one widget area, edit functions.php to use the simpler version described in the codex, e.g.:

    if ( function_exists(‘register_sidebars’) )
    register_sidebars(2);

    If you put the same call to e.g. dynamic_sidebar(1) more than once, the same widget(s) appear more than once.

    More usual is to have dynamic_sidebar(1) in one place and dynamic_sidebar(2) in another.

Viewing 5 replies - 16 through 20 (of 20 total)
  • esmi

    (@esmi)

    @drew10: Please post a new topic. Your question has nothing to do with this topic.

    drew10

    (@drew10)

    Esmi, Sorry but I beg to differ if you read the original post I am just trying to get my head around how the widgets work on this theme which is what was being discussed.

    technically, this thread is about writing code to add widget areas to a theme.

    www.ads-software.com only has a limied amount of included widgets. And most themes don’t come with any widgets at all, though some do. But a good theme should be widget aware.

    To get widgets you install plugins if they don’t come with wordpress

    Thread Starter roadie

    (@roadie)

    @drew10:

    It’s confusing because the .com version appears to be version .05 while I am using version .06 using .org software. You would think the later version would not lose widgetability.

    Maybe the .com version of WordPress (which is later than the version I am using) adds the ability to use widgets onto any theme?

    esmi

    (@esmi)

    Themes on wordpress.com are often significantly enhanced compared to their downloadable counterparts.

Viewing 5 replies - 16 through 20 (of 20 total)
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