Justin Tadlock

Widgets Reloaded: WordPress Plugin

Written by Justin Tadlock on December 9, 2008

The default WordPress widgets have always been a bit limiting, but that’s all about to change. The Widgets Reloaded plugin will give your widgets the boost they’ve been needing.

Widgets are actually useful now
Widgets are actually useful now

This plugin replaces several of the default WordPress widgets with new widgets that’ll give you far more control than you’re accustomed to.

Take a look at a screenshot of the widgets.

The Widgets

Archives
The Archives widget replaces the default Archives and Recent Posts widgets.
The controls are based on the wp_get_archives() function.
Authors
The Authors widget is an additional widget and not one of the default WordPress widgets.
The controls are based on the wp_list_authors() function.
Bookmarks
This widget replaces the default Links widget.
The controls are based on the wp_list_bookmarks() function.
Calendar
This widget replaces the default Calendar widget.
The controls are based on the get_calendar() function.
Categories
Replaces the default Categories widget.
The controls are based on the wp_list_categories() function.
Pages
Replaces the default Pages widget.
The controls are based on the wp_list_pages() function.
Search
Replaces the default Search widget.
The option to use the theme search form depends on whether your theme has a searchform.php, and it will only work for WordPress 2.7+.
Tags
Replaces the default Tag Cloud widget.
The controls are based on the wp_tag_cloud() function.

Some things to note

This plugin was developed on WordPress 2.7+, but it should be backward compatible down to 2.5.

Widgets are based on their corresponding template tags, so you need to be familiar with the parameters to be able to use this plugin effectively.

The option to use the theme’s search form in the Search widget means that your theme must have a file named searchform.php, located in the theme root. It’s also a WordPress 2.7-only feature. Also, if the theme’s search form has been loaded once, it will not load again in the widget.

The Archives widget replaces both the default Archives and Recent Posts widget. You can display your recent posts by selecting postbypost as the Type.

Do not use this plugin if you’re using the Hybrid WordPress theme. These widgets are built into your theme.

Download the plugin

Please don’t use the comments or my contact page to ask support questions. Use my support forums at Theme Hybrid, which is where I handle all support questions for my WordPress projects. Feel free to report any bugs you come across though.

Now, go ahead and enjoy your new widgets.