If you’re just tuning in, be sure to read my Disclaimers before going any further! And, check out my earlier posts too!
So, let’s talk widgets. As I started working my way through my blog layout, its sections, features, and fancy-schmancy stuff that was pre-loaded for me, I couldn’t figure out how some things worked. I kept running across the words “Plug-in” and “Widget.” While I’m not THE brightest bulb in the pack, I am pretty bright. But, every time I saw the word widget, my old economics professor flashed in front of my eyes (not pretty, I might add!). “Plug-in” left me clueless. Back to my handy, free iMarkInteractive course to learn about Widgets and how to use them. For the record, I do not get any compensation from iMarkInteractive. I just feel so strongly that this is the best resource I found!
Here we go…Plug-ins are like applications (apps) that you add to your site to give it functionality. They’re tiny little things that have monster power behind them, and they’re what you use to add customized features to your blog. Who knew!? Want to add social media buttons? Plug-in. Want to insert advertising space? Plug-in. Want to have a signup form? Plug-in. Want to interface with an email program? Plug-in. Want to back up your site (and you must!)? Plug-in. You name it, there’s a plug-in for it, and there are thousands of them…literally. Know that not every plug-in will be visible on your blog. Some run in the background, never to be seen by the naked eye!
Widgets, on the other hand, are used to create the feature or function and where you want it to land on your site. There are two parts to Widgets – Widget Areas and Widgets. A Widget Area is a defined space in your theme in which you will place the Widget. On my site, my Widget Areas are my header, footer and right column sidebar. For example, take a look to the right column sidebar of this page. My “Let’s Connect” is a Widget Area containing the Widget for my Social Icons plug-in. See what I mean….totally corn-fusing, isn’t it?! (stock tip – invest in hair color – you’ll make millions off of my turning gray through this! LOL!)
I am, by no means, an expert on Plug-ins or Widgets. I’ll leave expert status to the experts. But, here are my
Top 5 Newbie Pointers for Plugins & Widgets
- Know how you want your overall blog to lay out. This will help determine where you want, or don’t want, your Widget Areas (i.e. header, footer, left column sidebar, right column sidebar, middle of page, etc). This might be different on your pages versus your posts. By the way, Pages are static, meaning they don’t change. Posts are all the great stuff you’re putting on your blog.
- Know what you want your blog to do. What kind of features do you want? How do you want your site to function? This will help determine which plug-ins you need.
- Know what you don’t want on your blog. This will help you delete/deactivate anything that may have come pre-loaded, and could improve your site loading speed.
- Know that some plug-ins are speed-sucks. If you connect with a great blogging community, the experts can tell you not only what takes a lot of speed, but a better alternative to replace it.
- Know that if you can think it, there’s probably a plug-in for it! If you’re not sure what to use, tap your blogger community for input.
It’s pretty clear by how short this particular post is that I’m definitely not in my comfort zone, and only know enough to be dangerous…and believe me I’m dangerous. I just lost something on my site I’m trying to find…I figure it’ll be like my closet…If I don’t touch it for a year, I don’t need it anyway!
I include this post only because figuring out what the heck a plug-in was versus a widget had me upside down for a bit until I could wrap my head at least a bit around it. Use your resources. Head on over to iMarkInteractive.com for more info. Then comment below on your best tidbit so we all can learn! Look forward to hearing from you!
P.S. Old Meriam-Webster must be having fits with all these new definitions to old words…don’t you think?
