Built-in text widget for Visual theme is dysfunctional
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I have many WordPress sites, including my latest: Eternity Architecture. For this site I’m using the Visual theme and am having a problem changing the text in the built-in Text side widget for blog posts. I went into the customizer, under Widgets, and this is what it says:
Your theme has 1 widget area, but this particular page doesn’t display it.
You can navigate to other pages on your site while using the Customizer to view and edit the widgets displayed on those pages.
So, there is no actual widget there. And exactly what does that statement mean, and how is it suppose to help me change the text in the built-in Text widget?
Best,
Max
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there Max!
I installed the Visual theme on my site and noticed the same message you are seeing under Widgets. This is what’s happening: You’re most likely on a page in the Customizer’s site preview that does not have the sidebar widget area displayed.
If you’d like to edit a widget in the sidebar for your posts, here is what you can do:
While in the Customizer, click on one of your posts in the site preview to display it, instead of being on the page that lists all your posts. Once you are on a page/post that displays the sidebar with that widget in the preview, you should see an option to edit the sidebar under the Customizer’s Widgets menu item.
Hope this helped! Please let us know if you’re still having issues.
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Hello,
When you’re in your customizer page, please try going to a webpage where the widget is visible such as ‘About’ and then try to change the text/HTML inside of it.
Hope that helps.
Best of luck.
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Hi samva8c,
Wow, what a curious approach to designing a built-in widget with a cryptic note about how to use it. Visual is a nice theme, but what were they (not) thinking !?
Nevertheless, thank you for figuring this out – problem solved! And while I have you attention, how do I change my avatar on forum?
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Problem solved…although I think Gravitar could make this much easier by allowing users to simply click on their member icon to change it.
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Glad you’re all set.
Wow, what a curious approach to designing a built-in widget with a cryptic note about how to use it. Visual is a nice theme, but what were they (not) thinking !?
I agree it can be confusing. Just to clarify a bit, it’s not Visual’s fault — that’s how WordPress widgets work in the Customizer: you must navigate to a page or post that displays a widget for it to be available in the Customizer for editing. It’s called “contextual display” and there’s been quite a bit discussion about changing the way that works over here, if you’re interested.
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To: kathrynwp et all,
I followed the link you sent, and it’s good to know that this Customizer dilemma is being discussed, because it definitely deserves some attention. I did notice, however, that many of those discussing seems to think that this issue is only or primarily a problem for those new to WordPress. I’ve been using WordPress intensively since 2008, so I can hardly be considered a newbie, and in the past I’ve even served as a WordPress webmaster for others. So in short, the issue here (as I see it) is not about being a newbie or even about the evolution of the Customizer panel, but with the strength and clarity of the instructional notation(s) provided therein, which should be more intuitive so as to improve efficiency.
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You’re very welcome to chime in on the Trac ticket with your well-thought out take on the situation. :) WordPress is open-source software and all are welcome to participate in the discussion of its development. First-hand comments such as yours are highly valuable.
You’ll need a free WordPress.org account to post – if you don’t already have one, you can register here:
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