Widgets For Dummies?

[Jeffro]

How does Jeff usually like those? Can it be a cross-post, or does he want original content only?

I prefer if it's going to be a guest blog post, to be published on WPTavern only because of the duplicate content issue. However, I have no problem creating my own little post and linking to your site if you publish the article their. Also, if it's published on WPTavern.com you can publish an excerpt or what have you on your own site linking to it.

I'm pretty sure the submission form will not work unless you say blue lol.

[JohnM]

Outside the Tavern the sky is always blue ;)

[chipbennett]

Outside the Tavern the sky is always blue ;)

And Inside the Tavern the Skyy is always clear. ;)

[chipbennett]

And now for a more advanced Widget question:

How do I add an option to the widget, in which the user selects a category, and then the Category name is used as the Widget title, and the CatID is returned for other purposes?

I would like the option to be something intuitive, like a dropdown list of categories.

[dancole]

And now for a more advanced Widget question:

How do I add an option to the widget, in which the user selects a category, and then the Category name is used as the Widget title, and the CatID is returned for other purposes?

I would like the option to be something intuitive, like a dropdown list of categories.

The function your looking for is wp_dropdown_categories();

To make the Widget title and CatID the value people select, you just use the $instance['your_field_name'] within the widget function.

EDIT:
WPTavern just linked to http://wpseek.com, which is a nice site for looking up functions. I tested it with "dropdown categories" and it found the function I gave above.

[chipbennett]

The function your looking for is wp_dropdown_categories();

To make the Widget title and CatID the value people select, you just use the $instance['your_field_name'] within the widget function.

EDIT:
WPTavern just linked to http://wpseek.com, which is a nice site for looking up functions. I tested it with "dropdown categories" and it found the function I gave above.

Will that function work for linkroll (bookmark) categories?

(Off to research at wpseek...)

On second thought, I think I can modify the existing "Links" widget, to get what I'm looking for.

[dancole]

Will that function work for linkroll (bookmark) categories?

The function your looking for is: get_bookmarks();

It's not exactly the same as the last function. You will have to generate the dropdown.

[chipbennett]

The function your looking for is: get_bookmarks();

It's not exactly the same as the last function. You will have to generate the dropdown.

Okay, so I'm having difficulty figuring out how to generate a dropdown using get_bookmarks()... any suggestions?

[chipbennett]

And a related question: how do I return the unique instance id for a given instance of a widget? I assume it is something in the instance array ( $instance['something'] ), but I can't find any documentation on what 'something' might be.

[chipbennett]

And a related question: how do I return the unique instance id for a given instance of a widget? I assume it is something in the instance array ( $instance['something'] ), but I can't find any documentation on what 'something' might be.

I think I found it: $instance['id']

Correct?