How To: Add More Sidebar Widgets to Thesis

April 18, 2010 By Greg Rickaby 2 Comments

Adding more sidebar widgets in Thesis (or any WordPress theme) is REALLY easy! It’s only two steps using custom_functions.php

Step #1: Insert the following code into custom_functions.php

register_sidebar( array(
	'id'			=> 'footer-1',
	'name'			=> __( 'Footer 1', 'thesis' ),
	'description'		=> __( 'This is the first footer widget.', 'thesis' ),
	'before_title'		=>'<h3 class="widgettitle">',
	'after_title'		=>'</h3>',
) );

This code simply tells WordPress to “add a new widget space”.

Step #2: Insert the following code into custom_functions.php

// Footer Widget
function footer_widget_html() { ?>
   <div class="widget-wrap">
    <ul>
       <?php if ( !function_exists( 'dynamic_sidebar' ) || !dynamic_sidebar( 'footer-1' ) ){ ?><?php } ?>
    </ul>
   </div>
<?php }
add_action( 'thesis_hook_after_footer','footer_widget_html' );

That’s it! Easy huh?

Greg Rickaby runs on the Genesis Framework

The theme you're viewing is the eleven40 Child Theme, which was built on Genesis.

Genesis empowers you to quickly and easily build incredible websites with WordPress. Whether you're a novice or advanced developer, Genesis provides the secure and search-engine-optimized foundation that takes WordPress to places you never thought it could go. It's that simple - start using Genesis now!

Take advantage of the 6 default layout options, comprehensive SEO settings, rock-solid security, flexible theme options, cool custom widgets, custom design hooks, and a huge selection of child themes ("skins") that make your site look the way you want it to. With automatic theme updates and world-class support included, Genesis is the smart choice for your WordPress website or blog.

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Comments

1
Lyndon :
April 18, 2010 at 20:29
Thanks for the very clear and concise post about how to add widgets :)
I’ve always wondered how to do it and even tried before and messed up my site. So it’s nice to finally get it to work!!
Reply
2
Ed :
March 11, 2011 at 11:01
I’m just getting into creating a Genesis child theme. I registered a sidebar, stuck a text widget in then used dynamic_sidebar(sidebar_name) to display it. The problem: both the sidebar name and widget contents are displayed. How do I just print the widget contents?
Reply