As part of playing with the widget system in the newer versions of wordpress, I decided to take some of my sidebar content and widgetize it.
My first try is a widget that allows you to add the Lijit Search Wijit to your sidebar.
- Simply download the file below and unzip the plugin
- Upload the myLijit.php file to your /wp-content/plugins directory
- Login to your wordpress admin console and activate the plugin
- Go to Presentation management, click on the Widgets tab, and you can drag it to any location on your sidebar
- Edit the widget by clicking
, select the title for the widget block, and specify your Lijit username.
- Enjoy
If you want to learn how to build your own wordpress widget, I followed the code and the tutorial at Blue-Anvil .
UPDATE:
Something I should have mentioned about this plugin. This is built to work with Wordpress 2.2.* automatically . The latest version of WP contains a built-in sidebar widget plugin.
For earlier 2.* versions, you need to install the Wordpress Widgets plugin before your sidebar will be “widget” enabled.
A full tutorial and links to download the plugin, are available at http://automattic.com/code/widgets/use/ .
It should be fairly easy to install , if you have access to your wordpress installation, and use either the Classic, or Kubrick themes.
Some things to remember when following the tutorial:
- Backup your default theme files before copying the new theme files to your wp-content/themes folder.
- Activate the Wordpress Widgets plugin
If you really want a widget enabled sidebar, you can also go the route of upgrading to 2.2.
Hi:
Thanks for publishing this.
I’m self-hosting WP 2.0.3. Uploaded myLijit.php into /wp-content/plugins directory and successfully “activated” in the “Plugin Management” panel. Clicked over to Presentation / Sidebar Widgets and mylijit widget was not in evidence. Thoughts? Is this the final straw that I need to upgrade to WP 2.2.x? Thanks in advance.
Hi:
Thanks for publishing this.
I’m self-hosting WP 2.0.3. Uploaded myLijit.php into /wp-content/plugins directory and successfully “activated” in the “Plugin Management” panel. Clicked over to Presentation / Sidebar Widgets and mylijit widget was not in evidence. Thoughts? Is this the final straw that I need to upgrade to WP 2.2.x? Thanks in advance.
This widget was specifically for WP 2.2.* . I will take a look and see if it is possible to get it working in 2.0.* I will update the post if I find a solution.
This widget was specifically for WP 2.2.* . I will take a look and see if it is possible to get it working in 2.0.* I will update the post if I find a solution.
An update to your issue John. I tested my plugin against WP 2.04, with the Sidebar Widget plugin from http://automattic.com/code/widgets/use/ .
It worked fine for me.
If the Lijit plugin is activated, you should see it listed in the “Available Widgets” section on the Presentation->Sidebar Widgets tab. You can then drag the “Lijit Wijit” box onto the sidebar area, and edit the section title and customize it with your lijit username.
I couldn’t find release 2.03 anywhere, so I wasn’t able to test against that version.
Good luck—I hope it works for you.
An update to your issue John. I tested my plugin against WP 2.04, with the Sidebar Widget plugin from http://automattic.com/code/widgets/use/ .
It worked fine for me.
If the Lijit plugin is activated, you should see it listed in the “Available Widgets” section on the Presentation->Sidebar Widgets tab. You can then drag the “Lijit Wijit” box onto the sidebar area, and edit the section title and customize it with your lijit username.
I couldn’t find release 2.03 anywhere, so I wasn’t able to test against that version.
Good luck—I hope it works for you.
hey, I am not sure exactly how to do this- probably because my husband is the one who installed the other buttons, etc to my site. I have a mac- are there different steps I need to take? Thanks for your help!
hey, I am not sure exactly how to do this- probably because my husband is the one who installed the other buttons, etc to my site. I have a mac- are there different steps I need to take? Thanks for your help!
Hey Molly–you have three options based on the wordpress version you are running.
1. You can install the widget plugin (http://automattic.com/code/widgets/use/ ), and follow the instructions in the above comments.
2. You can manually add the code for the lijit wijit by logging into your profile on lijit.com, and getting the code by clicking “My Search Wijit”->”Need to Install the Wijit?” .
3. Worst option–upgrade to wordpress 2.2, and the widgets plugin is installed by default, so you can add the lijit wijit by following the intructions in the post.
Having a Mac doesn’t make a difference. The key, is having access to your wordpress installation, to be able to upload files.
Hey Molly–you have three options based on the wordpress version you are running.
1. You can install the widget plugin (http://automattic.com/code/widgets/use/ ), and follow the instructions in the above comments.
2. You can manually add the code for the lijit wijit by logging into your profile on lijit.com, and getting the code by clicking “My Search Wijit”->”Need to Install the Wijit?” .
3. Worst option–upgrade to wordpress 2.2, and the widgets plugin is installed by default, so you can add the lijit wijit by following the intructions in the post.
Having a Mac doesn’t make a difference. The key, is having access to your wordpress installation, to be able to upload files.
hi, thanks for the great plugin!
I have some issues with XHTML and this plugin. WIll you be able to make it W3C friendly? I think once it has that all my errors would be gone
hi, thanks for the great plugin!
I have some issues with XHTML and this plugin. WIll you be able to make it W3C friendly? I think once it has that all my errors would be gone