How to Edit Widgets
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I want to edit (add another link to) the sidebar widget with the title ‘More Bio Links’ on this page: https://sarahbowmansite.wordpress.com/my-bio/. The page and the widget were made with the classical editor. I found instructions on how to use the Block Editor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWfZFF1TNeU) but not how to edit existing widgets.
To organize my content, I have to be able to edit existing widgets. How? I was able to edit widgets with the classical editor. I am using the free version of WordPress.
Site: https://sarahbowmansite.wordpress.com.
WP.com: Yes
Correct account: Yes -
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It occurs to me that if nothing else, possibly I can copy and paste the content of the existing widget into a new block widget. I am hoping the new block widgets can be edited. I’ll wait and see if a staff member replies with a better solution.
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Hi @srbowm
Classic widgets should still be editable within the new interface by going to https://wordpress.com/customize/ the clicking on the widgets tab
Once you are there you can scroll down and find your “More Bio Links” widget and click to edit it. Is the issue that you are not able to find it in your list of widgets?
Or is the issue something else, some strange behaviour you see when you try to edit the widget to add a link? Thanks for the additional info!
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@lindacassidylewis, since this is a different issue from the one in the original post, could you start a new topic here?
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/?new=1Sometimes issues that look the same can be very different when we look under the surface, so having your issue as a separate thread will mean that your issue gets the individual attention it deserves, Thanks!
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Hello Jerry,
Thanks for getting back to me. I am confused for a lot of reasons. It’s a long story and I will try to explain. Please bear with me. But you’re right, I can’t find the widget I want to edit.
First of all, I am confused because that link that you gave opens on the home page, not on the page where I want to make the edit. I should note that the Homepage has edit icons (little pencils) all over it. But I don’t want to edit that page! All the same, I click on the Widgets tab. Now I am asked to select the kind of widget. I select Sidebar.
A window opens (beside the homepage) that says Customizing Widgets Sidebar. I am waiting for something to happen. Sixteen blocks appeared in a long column; I have to scroll way down to see them all. Each block has a wheel in it. All the wheels are going round and round. I’ve waited for several minutes (did not check time so I can’t prove if it’s five minutes or more) and nothing changes.
I got a message about an autosave that I didn’t save, but I don’t want it. I clicked on the x to make it go away. But the wheels still just go around. I am sure if I refresh the page the autosave message will be there again because it always is. I’ve been playing at this stage of customizing widgets a lot over the past 24 hours, trying different things. I can’t find the widget I want to edit. None of the things I did are right so I don’t want to save them.
I can’t think of any more information to give at the moment. Let me know if you need more.
Just so you know, this is a desktop computer so I am not online all the time and may not find out immediately when a new message comes in but I do regularly check my email. I have no cell phone.
Sarah
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Thanks for clarifying. In the customizer all widgets are show (even though you have some only showing on specific pages) and this is done so you can see and more easily access their settings. In your case I see a lot of widgets are loading at once because of this.
On my computer they do not take long to load, and the from there you can scroll to find the More Bio Links widget and edit it by clicking on it. But I am wondering do you use an older computer perhaps? I could see this creating an issue where the widgets do not seem to load. Can you visit this page and let us know what you see for “Operating System” and “Web Browser”?
This will give us some extra troubleshooting info about your computer.
Also I would like you to run the following network test to check your connection speed: http://www.speedtest.net/
Can you tell me the results you get for:
– Latency (ping)
– Download speed
– Upload speedThanks for the extra info!
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Yes, it is an old computer, bought in Oct. 2013, Windows 7, using Google Chrome. Desktop with keyboard and mouse. Here are the numbers you asked for:
“Operating System” Windows 7 and “Web Browser” Chrome 93.0.4577.82
– Latency (ping) 7 ms
– Download speed 15.12 mbps
– Upload speed 10.76 mbpsI wasn’t sure about adding the letters. The appeared above the numbers. I hope you can make sense of it.
I’ll mention another issue in case it is related to the above problem; it happens only on WordPress. When I highlight a few lines of text to copy or change font, very often, it “drops” a lot of the content so that I have to repeat the process 3-6 times to get all of it. This occurs only since using the block editor.
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Hi there!
Thank you for the additional details! I tried replicating this on the Chrome browser on my end and I can see those loading icons as well, but they don’t keep loading for more than a few seconds. After a few seconds, I’m able to see and edit the widgets. See this animated gif to see what I see: https://d.pr/i/2O29U2
So it looks like it’s not a widespread issue on Chrome, but something specific on your computer. Would you be able to test this out on a different browser (like Firefox) and see if the widgets can be edited there? If you don’t have Firefox on your computer, you can download it here, install it, and then log in to your WordPress.com account on Firefox and open the Customizer by clicking My Site → Appearance → Customize → Widgets → Sidebar.
Please let us know how that goes once you’ve tested it.
Regarding the problem with highlighting text, we are aware of a bug with the text selection in the block editor. The workaround is to highlight and be careful not to move the cursor outside of the paragraph block that you’re highlighting the text in. It’s a little tricky to explain in words, but you can see two videos here: https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/53609#issuecomment-898976124
The first video shows the issue when your cursor moves outside the box. The second video shows the highlight working fine when the cursor remains inside the box. Can you try following the second video and see if that works for you too?
Regards
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@srbowm, et al
I have to scroll way down to see them all. Each block has a wheel in it. All the wheels are going round and round. I’ve waited for several minutes…
You’re not alone. I’ve been steaming about this for weeks, that is, ever since the change. I first tested it on the old wp-admin widgets page (which I’ve got a link to, but can be reached by adding /widgets.php to the site URL) of my primary site, the one I’ve been using for ten years or so, and it took an average of about 3 minutes for all of the widgets to load. Also, as soon as I open the widgets page my CPU usage shoots up to close to 100% and remains there throughout the loading, the tower cooling fans growling angrily the whole time. After the widgets are fully loaded, the CPU usage comes down to close to normal levels, but simply scrolling within the widgets window causes them to spike back up to very high levels.
Before the change I never noticed the loading time of the wp-admin widgets page or any noticeable effect on my CPU usage. I’d guess it took 3 seconds, but it might have been a little longer. Let’s say it took 6 seconds. That would mean that the loading time is now about 30 times longer. If it previously took 3 secs, then it’s now 60 times longer!
Today I tested again on the wp-admin widgets page and got similar results. Then I tested in the Customize widgets window, and while the loading speed was reduced by about 1/3, then effect on my CPU was comparable. An additional issue at the Customize widgets page is that at first the side option doesn’t appear, and instead there is text telling me that “Your theme has 1 other widget area, but this particular page doesn’t display it,” which isn’t true. In my tests it has taken an average of about 30 seconds for the sidebar widget option to appear. Below is a summary of the loading speeds in my tests on two different days.
classic wp-admin widgets page
test 1…..3 min, 15 sec
test 2…..2 min, 50 sec
test 3…..3 min, 30 sec
test 4…..about 3 minCustomize widgets window
test 1….2 min, 15 sec (35 secs for sidebar widget area option to appear)
test 2….2 min, 0 sec (24 secs for sidebar widget area option to appear)specs:
Windows 7, Firefox 92.0
Speedtests — I haven’t done any recently, but typically my results are similar to those reported by @srbowm above. -
correction:
“An additional issue at the Customize widgets page is that at first the sidebar option doesn’t appear…” -
Replying to Staff,
Thank you for all your tips, etc. The work around for highlighting text works for me.
Re editing widgets. From another page (not homepage) the customizer worked in that I was able to see and edit the widget insofar as I was able to add the new title that I wanted, but I am unable to make it into a live link. I highlight the text, click on the link so that the box appears where it says to enter URL. I paste the URL into that box and click on the square arrow that says “apply.” Instantly, the entire “apply link setup” disappears and has not been applied. It works when I am making posts. So what am I doing wrong here?
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Hm, that should work. What type of block are you using for the widget where that happens?
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Re “what type of block.” So that was my mistake. I did not choose a block. Done that now and inserted the link. I am still not happy with the widget. I experimented with a lot of stuff that didn’t work. Now I can’t get rid of my mistakes.
1. How do I remove the bullets? At one point I tried using the List format, but changed my mind. Now it no longer shows so I can’t remove the bullets.
2. The font is not the same in all the links. How do I fix that?
3. The formatting is bad; too much space between the photo and the text beneath. Not enough space between separate items on the list. How do I fix that?
4. The widget appears on all the pages; it should appear only on https://sarahbowmansite.wordpress.com/my-bio/. How do I fix that?Long story short, I am very, very frustrated. I don’t understand why anyone thinks blocks are easier. The classical editor worked perfectly. However, I do appreciate that staff is helping me work this through. I take pride in my blog and appreciate that Word Press provides this free software. I look forward to your response.
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Hi there,
1. How do I remove the bullets? At one point I tried using the List format, but changed my mind. Now it no longer shows so I can’t remove the bullets.
For that, you need to edit the HTML code of the block. Click on the three dots and then select the “Edit as HTML” option.
From there you need to remove all the
<li>and</li>tags. I’ve highlighted them for you in the following screenshot:2. The font is not the same in all the links. How do I fix that?
This is happening because some entries are bold while others are not. To fix that select the ones you want to change and either make them bold or unbold.
3. The formatting is bad; too much space between the photo and the text beneath. Not enough space between separate items on the list. How do I fix that?
This requires some CSS coding that might affect other widgets as well, so it’s not something I recommend.
4. The widget appears on all the pages; it should appear only on https://sarahbowmansite.wordpress.com/my-bio/. How do I fix that?
I’m only seeing it on that specific page. Are you seeing something different?
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Thank you! It’s looking pretty good now, but this widget (More Bio Links) is still appearing on all pages, including on all posts. On some pages with other sidebar widgets I have to scroll down to see it but it’s there.
It should appear only on https://sarahbowmansite.wordpress.com/my-bio/. In the old classical editor, I could set the “visibility” of a widget. I cannot find that setting.
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Ah, I see what you mean. Visibility control is only available on the legacy widgets. You can read more here:
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My website chapelstoneltd.co.uk looks very strange and a new footer saying “powered by WordPress”, I’ve tried all I can to remove it but I can’t can I get assistance with this please.
I can’t seem to write on the forum as well. Which is why I’m attempting to reply this comment and hope I get a reply.
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Hey @chapelstoneltd,
I would love to assist you, but in order to keep threads on topic and prevent the OP from receiving email notifications, I wanted to see if you could create a new post?:
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/?new=1
Feel free to add the
modlooktag to the thread so staff can respond immediately.Thanks!
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