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Styling WordPress with Widgets and Plugins
Tips and tools that can make these design options work best for you
If you've uploaded and installed Wordpress (WP), you're probably anxious to style your site with widgets and plugins. In this article, Linda provides tips and tools that can make these design options work best for you.
Itchy Fingers
If you've already uploaded and installed WordPress (WP), I'll bet your fingers are itching to install and use widgets and plugins. Really, the best way to figure out those options is to play with them for a bit. If you open a new window (or tab) that shows your home page, you can install and activate widgets and plugins in one window and refresh the other home page window to learn how those tools look like as you go along.
The worst issue I've run across with clients is that they feel the urge to install every widget and plugin that comes with WP or that is offered online. It is NOT necessary to use every widget and plugin that you find. In fact, some plugins may prove difficult to upgrade if the developer does not stay on top of WP upgrades as well. Keeping it simple from the start can make your design life easy so you can concentrate on content.
That said, I'll go over a few widget tips. I already provided a list of plugins that I use consistently in the previous article, but there are a few more that I want to add this week as well.
Take a look at your widgets
If you still have the default template on your site, you will notice that the only place you can install widgets is in the sidebar. The following image is from a default template, but I have added the Hybrid Hook plugin from Justin Tadlock's Web site for his Theme Hybrid. This plugin adds a new dimension to the design process from the developer's angle, but only if you're using one of Justin's themes. I'll cover this plugin more in depth in a moment. For now, take a look at what this plugin does with the default WP theme when you click on "Appearances" in the left sidebar of your dashboard and then click on "Widgets":
Without the Hybrid Hook plugin, you would not see all the "hook" link availability that you see in the upper right of the image above. You would only see the top tab for the sidebar. Without the Hybrid Hook, you could only add widgets to the sidebar. Even then, you might notice that your right sidebar on your homepage is filled with information, such as the one shown below (without a static page):
The image above shows pages already constructed for this site, archives, categories, a blogroll and Meta information. While you could add more widgets to that sidebar, I'd rather show you how to eliminate some of the information already on that page.
Linda Goin
Linda Goin carries an A.A. in graphic design, a B.F.A. in visual communications with a minor in business and marketing and an M.A. in American History with a minor in the Reformation. While the latter degree doesn't seem to fit with the first two educational experiences, Linda used her 25-year design expertise on archaeological digs and in the study of material culture. Now she uses her education and experiences in social media experiments.
Accolades for her work include fifteen first-place Colorado Press Association awards, numerous fine art and graphic design awards, and interviews about content development with The Wall St. Journal, Chicago Tribune, Psychology Today, and L.A. Times.