With newer versions of WordPress being released with widgets, it is no longer necessary to download widgets from Automattic and install the plugin on your current Wordpress install. Modern versions of WordPress already come widgets ready. However, there are some situations where you find a WordPress theme that you really like, but soon discover that its not widgets ready. This article will teach you how to Wigetize a WordPress theme so that you can enjoy all the neat and robust features includes with Wordpress widgets.

You will know fairly quickly if your current theme isn’t widgets ready. You will see a screen like this:

Your screen will say, “No Sidebars Defined”. It will prompt you to visit a site called Automattic for instructions on how to widgetize your WordPress theme. Don’t worry, making a WordPress theme widgets ready isn’t difficult at all. I would recommend that you make a back up of your current theme before you do any modifications to the files within. Below are some easy and simple to follow instructions that will help you make your current WordPress theme widgets ready.

If you want detailed instructions on how to do this, I would visit the site titled Automattic. However, their page tend to make a mountain out of a mole hill. The hard part of widgets has already been done. With WordPress adopting the technology and including widgets into their program, widgeting themes couldn’t be any easier.

<?php
if ( function_exists(’register_sidebar’) )
register_sidebar();
?>

and…

<?php if ( !function_exists(’dynamic_sidebar’)
|| !dynamic_sidebar() ) : ?>

is the magic code that transforms your boring and featureless theme into something fun, exciting and packed full of options. It really doesn’t get much easier. Here are the steps to wigetizing your current WordPress theme.

• Step One: Make a backup copy of your current theme.
• Step Two: Open your functions.php file and add the follow code to the top of the page and then save and upload the file.

  <?php
  if ( function_exists(’register_sidebar’) )
  register_sidebar();
  ?>

• Step Three: Open your sidebar.php file and add this line of code directly below the <ul> tag. If your sidebar doesn’t use unordered lists, then you will need to read Automattic for further instructions. Keep in mind that using unordered lists have become the standardized way to code WordPress themes. You might want to consider using a different theme.

  <?php if ( !function_exists(’dynamic_sidebar’)
  || !dynamic_sidebar() ) : ?>

• Step Four: Still working on the sidebar.php file. Scroll down to the bottom until you see the closing </ul> tag. Directly above it, add this line and then save and upload your file.

  <?php endif; ?>

That is it! Pretty simple? More to come. In a future article I will show you how to widgetize multiple areas of your current theme. Perhaps you have two sidebars, maybe you want to widgetize your footer or even your header. Any section of your blog can become widgetized. It’s just a matter of adding the right code in the right spot. Keep an eye out for some more posts about widgetizing other areas of your WordPress theme in the near future.

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