How do I put a category into my sidebar

jackiebk · 05-12-2009, 04:27 AM

I am using wordpress. I want to put an additional category into my sidebar. How do I get about doing that? I want to have a category for articles. Thanks

jackiebk · 05-12-2009, 06:47 AM

doesn't anyone know how to do this?

jackiebk · 05-13-2009, 12:25 AM

I feel really bad about this asking thrice but can some kind person out there help me with this. Thanks

Ken Shorey · 05-13-2009, 10:10 AM

Hi Jackie,

If you already have categories showing in your sidebar, then all you need to do is is create your new category and it will show up along with the current categories.

Admin...Categories...Add New

jackiebk · 05-13-2009, 10:33 AM

I think I have not made myself clear in what I actually wanted. I should have not used the term category. In my side bar are various headings (Archives, categories, meta etc). I want to know how I could get, say, articles or ebooks as one of those main headings and under those headings have the list of articles and the list of ebooks.

webdesigners · 05-13-2009, 10:57 AM

Contact me I'll do it for you free of charges you just write a good review for my work here!

Kezz · 05-13-2009, 08:07 PM

I think you're talking about adding new widgets. The easiest way to add your own custom widgets is to use the inbuilt 'text widget' function. You can put anything you like into a text widget, including links to whatever you want.

So you would add the text widget, give it whatever heading you wanted, and then insert some html into its body area. Most of the time widgets use lists, so you would do something like this:

HTML Code:

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.yourlink.com">Your item</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.yourlink2.com">Your item 2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.yourlink3.com">Your item 3</a></li>
</ul>

If a list doesn't come up looking right, you can just use line breaks instead, like this:

HTML Code:

<a href="http://www.yourlink.com">Your item</a><br />
<a href="http://www.yourlink2.com">Your item 2</a><br />
<a href="http://www.yourlink3.com">Your item 3</a><br />

That should do it for you.

jackiebk · 05-13-2009, 10:10 PM

Hi Kezz,

Yes that is what I want. I tried it out and it worked fine. However, I noticed that when I do that the other widgets like main menu, archives etc go missing.

Suppose I overcome the first problem and I then use this method is there anyway that when I have a widget called Articles and each time I write an article it automatically goes as a subheading of the main heading, namely, Article

Also how do I change the permalink. My permalink at the moment is http://www.mydomain.com/?p=123 How do I put the name of the specific page there. However my pages don't have names cos I want it that way.

Thanks.
Jackie

Kezz · 05-16-2009, 09:25 PM

On the disappearing widgets, the things you had there to begin with might have been the defaults told to display if you don't have your own widgets selected via the admin panel. Try re-adding the ones you want via the Widget management area and see how you go.

The easiest way to get your most recent articles automatically displaying in a list, is to use the inbuilt Recent Posts widget. You can then give it the name Recent Articles and it should do what you are describing.

As for your permalink setup, there are two steps. First, you need to have a file in the main root folder of your site called .htaccess. If you don't have one there already, create a notepad text file called htaccess.txt Then, upload that file to the root folder of your site. Once you have uploaded it, rename it to .htaccess You will need to check the file's permissions and make sure it is writable, which you can also do with your FTP client.

Once you have your writable .htaccess file in the root folder of your site, go into your admin panel to the area where you set up your permalink structure. Select 'custom' from the list of options, and paste in /%category%/%postname%/ Then save your settings and wordpress will write your permalink rewrite rules into the .htaccess file you created. From then on you should have nice SEF permalinks.

Hope that helps!

05-12-2009, 04:27 AM	#1
jackiebk HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 114 Thanks: 8 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	How do I put a category into my sidebar I am using wordpress. I want to put an additional category into my sidebar. How do I get about doing that? I want to have a category for articles. Thanks

05-12-2009, 06:47 AM	#2
jackiebk HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 114 Thanks: 8 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How do I put a category into my sidebar doesn't anyone know how to do this?

05-13-2009, 12:25 AM	#3
jackiebk HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 114 Thanks: 8 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How do I put a category into my sidebar I feel really bad about this asking thrice but can some kind person out there help me with this. Thanks

05-13-2009, 10:10 AM	#4
Ken Shorey HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: , , . Posts: 295 Thanks: 21 Thanked 15 Times in 11 Posts Social Networking	Re: How do I put a category into my sidebar Hi Jackie, If you already have categories showing in your sidebar, then all you need to do is is create your new category and it will show up along with the current categories. Admin...Categories...Add New

05-13-2009, 10:33 AM	#5
jackiebk HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 114 Thanks: 8 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How do I put a category into my sidebar I think I have not made myself clear in what I actually wanted. I should have not used the term category. In my side bar are various headings (Archives, categories, meta etc). I want to know how I could get, say, articles or ebooks as one of those main headings and under those headings have the list of articles and the list of ebooks.

05-13-2009, 10:57 AM	#6
webdesigners Active Warrior Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: US Posts: 35 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: How do I put a category into my sidebar Contact me I'll do it for you free of charges you just write a good review for my work here!

05-13-2009, 08:07 PM	#7
Kezz Kezz Bracey War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,291 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 323 Thanked 599 Times in 291 Posts	Re: How do I put a category into my sidebar I think you're talking about adding new widgets. The easiest way to add your own custom widgets is to use the inbuilt 'text widget' function. You can put anything you like into a text widget, including links to whatever you want. So you would add the text widget, give it whatever heading you wanted, and then insert some html into its body area. Most of the time widgets use lists, so you would do something like this: HTML Code: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.yourlink.com">Your item</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.yourlink2.com">Your item 2</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.yourlink3.com">Your item 3</a></li> </ul> If a list doesn't come up looking right, you can just use line breaks instead, like this: HTML Code: <a href="http://www.yourlink.com">Your item</a><br /> <a href="http://www.yourlink2.com">Your item 2</a><br /> <a href="http://www.yourlink3.com">Your item 3</a><br /> That should do it for you.

05-13-2009, 10:10 PM	#8
jackiebk HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 114 Thanks: 8 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How do I put a category into my sidebar Hi Kezz, Yes that is what I want. I tried it out and it worked fine. However, I noticed that when I do that the other widgets like main menu, archives etc go missing. Suppose I overcome the first problem and I then use this method is there anyway that when I have a widget called Articles and each time I write an article it automatically goes as a subheading of the main heading, namely, Article Also how do I change the permalink. My permalink at the moment is http://www.mydomain.com/?p=123 How do I put the name of the specific page there. However my pages don't have names cos I want it that way. Thanks. Jackie

05-16-2009, 09:25 PM	#9
Kezz Kezz Bracey War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,291 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 323 Thanked 599 Times in 291 Posts	Re: How do I put a category into my sidebar On the disappearing widgets, the things you had there to begin with might have been the defaults told to display if you don't have your own widgets selected via the admin panel. Try re-adding the ones you want via the Widget management area and see how you go. The easiest way to get your most recent articles automatically displaying in a list, is to use the inbuilt Recent Posts widget. You can then give it the name Recent Articles and it should do what you are describing. As for your permalink setup, there are two steps. First, you need to have a file in the main root folder of your site called .htaccess. If you don't have one there already, create a notepad text file called htaccess.txt Then, upload that file to the root folder of your site. Once you have uploaded it, rename it to .htaccess You will need to check the file's permissions and make sure it is writable, which you can also do with your FTP client. Once you have your writable .htaccess file in the root folder of your site, go into your admin panel to the area where you set up your permalink structure. Select 'custom' from the list of options, and paste in /%category%/%postname%/ Then save your settings and wordpress will write your permalink rewrite rules into the .htaccess file you created. From then on you should have nice SEF permalinks. Hope that helps!