In this Plugin Picks we look at plugins for widgets. Widgets “…add visitor visual and interactivity options and features, such as sidebar widgets for post categories, tag clouds, navigation, search, etc. They were originally designed to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress Theme to the user in the sidebar, which is now available on properly “widgetized” WordPress Themes to include the header, footer, and elsewhere in the WordPress design and structure.”

Below are three plugins which expand WordPress’s already robust widget support and allow you to further customize your site and visitor experience.

Advanced Random Thumb Plugin: Displays thumbnails grabbed randomly from posts. Each thumbnail is hyperlinked to the post it is taken from or optionally hyperlinked to its post’s category. The widget is easy to configure. Visit Appearance > Widgets and drag the Advanced Random Post Thumb widget to a widget area.

Collapsible Widget Area:  This plugin allows you to combine multiple widgets into a single tabbed/accordion-style interface in your theme, saving valuable screen real estate while providing dynamic user interface for users to access various widgets.

Timed Widget: The Timed Widget WordPress plugin provides a widget which can display different content at different times of day. For example, suppose you have a WordPress site for your radio station, and you want to display a badge that changes as the different shows come on the air. The Timed Widget plugin provides a way to set up a schedule for your shows, and display different images at different times.

Plugins

Ever wished a piece of software had just one more feature to make it perfect for your needs? WordPress gives you that option. Instead of trying to stuff every conceivable feature into their releases, WordPress focuses on providing a solid, community perfected platform that is EXPANDABLE. Drawing upon millions of users and thousands of developers, Plugins are custom modules that can be added to an existing WordPress installation to completely change existing WordPress features or add brand new ones.

Need help implementing this plugin in your WordPress site?  Contact us for our professional services.  We can also provide support & expertise in convenient “blocks” to suit your short and long term needs.