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Wordpress Widgets... Please Help

by Matthew Keith
6 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
I just started a Wordpress blog hosted on my own domain and am trying to put a widget on the sidebar, but when I add the widget it makes the other content in the sidebar disappear (non-widgets, ie: categories, archives etc). Any ideas of what I might be doing wrong?
#widgets #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author jonhel
    I've found widgets a bit fiddly and unpredictable at times. Have you tried adding and removing them via the Widget section of the Wordpress control panel?
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    • Profile picture of the author Matthew Keith
      Yes, that's how I added it. I created it, then had to save it because it wouldn't let me edit it right away. Then I went back to the widgets cp and was able to edit it. Then I saved it, but it seems to have covered the other content, so I had to delete it. I tried it again to be sure it wasn't just a fluke but got the same thing.

      I'm not really sure if it's covering it or what it's doing as it's just script for my stat tracker.

      EDIT: Ok, I did some research and realized that wp themes need to be "wigetizable", or made "widget ready". A simple google search got my answer
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      • Profile picture of the author Matthew Keith
        I think I really messed up now. I decided to just scrap the idea of making the current theme wiget ready and to go with a new theme that already was. I deleted all the wp files and tried uploading wp all over again because the new theme had no style to it... it was just a plain white bg with the words... but when I went to re-upload wp I got a message saying "you cannot have more than 2 in the root directory" or something to that effect. Now I'm stuck with no index page at all.

        Is there an easy fix to this or should I just start fresh with a new domain?

        This is what I get for trying to mess with wp and css on my own
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  • Profile picture of the author Leanne King
    Next time ... if you don't like the theme just upload a new one to your wp-content/themes folder you don't need to delete anything. You can then activate your new theme from Appearance/Themes.

    You are getting that message because either you didn't delete wp (which you did not need to do) or you didn't delete the database that was created when you installed. So, when you try and reinstall over it WP says hey I've already got a database for that. So, you can edit WP to include the database that was already created or you can go to PHP my admin and delete the db that you created and then re-install. That should work. Failing that, your web host should be able to give you a hand having a bit of a clean up.

    Leanne
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    • Profile picture of the author Matthew Keith
      Next time ... if you don't like the theme just upload a new one to your wp-content/themes folder you don't need to delete anything. You can then activate your new theme from Appearance/Themes.
      Yeah, I accidentally saved the files in the same directory as the old one so it deleted them. I think that's why the new one had the blank background... something was conflicting. I'll definitely remember this next time, thanks. I'm gonna get in touch with my host as I already deleted the database and everything else I was told needed deleted in fantastico but with no fix.


      As soon as you put a widget in the rest disappear and you have to add them into the sidebar inividually.
      Once I get things sorted out I'll give that a shot. Makes sense, thanks.


      EDIT: I just ended up going with a completely new domain and used a widget-ready template. Everything is working great now. Thanks for the help!
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  • Profile picture of the author justinkaiser
    The default configuration for Wordpress widgets is to remove the default sidebar when you insert a widget. So by default you'll probably see Pages, categories, archive, and login/out info. As soon as you put a widget in the rest disappear and you have to add them into the sidebar inividually.

    Or you could have coded it wrong...

    Either way they can be a bit finnicky. The first thing I do after inserting a widget, especially a text box, is to hit save, then edit and save again.
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