Title: Widget Instance Author: Global Published: June 11, 2012 Last modified: July 11, 2018 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/widget-instance/assets/banner-772x250.jpg?rev=1187239) This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**. It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when used with more recent versions of WordPress. ![](https://ps.w.org/widget-instance/assets/icon-256x256.jpg?rev=1187239) # Widget Instance By [Global](https://profiles.wordpress.org/global_1981/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/widget-instance.zip) * [Details](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/widget-instance/#description) * [Reviews](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/widget-instance/#reviews) * [Installation](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/widget-instance/#installation) * [Development](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/widget-instance/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/) ## Description Widgets are normally displayed as part of a sidebar using the dynamic_sidebar() function. There is the_widget function for static widgets, but there is no equivalent for specific widgets configured in the Appearance > Widgets area. The Widget Instance plugin allows WordPress users of all abilities to display these widgets outside of the sidebars they have been assigned to. Features 1. A wysiwyg editor button for selecting available widgets, 2. A shortcode [widget_instance id=”[widget_id]”], 3. A theme action do_action(‘widget_instance’, [widget_id]) and finally 4. Utility functions for developers get_widget_instance and widget_instance Usage * [widget_instance id=”[widget_id]”] * do_action(‘widget_instance’, ‘[widget_id]’); * the_widget_instance(‘[widget_id]’); * get_the_widget_instance(‘[widget_id]’); ## Screenshots * [[ * The Widget Instance editor button * [[ * The editor dialog for inserting a specific widget instance ## Installation This section describes how to install the plugin and get it working. 1. Upload `widget-instance` to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory 2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress 3. Within the editor, you can use the Widget Instance editor button to select from available widgets or enter a shortcode following the syntax: [widget_instance id =”[widget_id]”] 4. Optional step: If you would like to retain the sidebar format of the widget, check the Include Sidebar format checkbox 5. Within template files you can use the following php snippets: * Action: do_action(‘widget_instance’, ‘[widget_id]’); * Function: the_widget_instance(‘[widget_id]’); * Function: get_the_widget_instance(‘[widget_id]’); ## FAQ How do I get the widget id? Of course the editor button automagically retrieves all the available widgets ( and their ids) for you, but if you are using one of the PHP functions, you can get the available widget ids by looping over the array returned by the function wp_get_sidebars_widgets() ## Reviews ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6dbf7eec55bede15de45e3ffe70c64119ebcfc1ed578a8f847bef939b02eef35? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Works, but not with widgets that need parameters](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/works-but-not-with-widgets-that-need-parameters/)󠁿 [jeroenm77](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeroenm77/) September 3, 2018 Works, if you need a widget that doesn’t need parameters. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/02f1f7a1add6beadf074cfe6c5957fde3be39f84739263a073b84e538e8988dd? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Works as expected!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/works-as-expected-303/)󠁿 [luigitec](https://profiles.wordpress.org/luigitec/) May 9, 2017 Nice plugin, it does what I needed. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cecc642a78e07c4546e7a53a71ae2b1dba80ea102cac14441f23f93cebdf3e59? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[good](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/good-2413/)󠁿 [pierrechecy](https://profiles.wordpress.org/pierrechecy/) March 13, 2017 use with other plugin “Category Posts Widget” and template Customizr very easy ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/96f3c753920654ef8d0690b3edd5f63b2639318d9262eccf4ae94932ddbad7b6? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[5 Stars Plugin. Great Great](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/5-stars-plugin-great-great/)󠁿 [ireneml](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ireneml/) September 3, 2016 This plugin has saved me a lot of work and has given me all the answers I was looking for a long time ago. Thank you very much Ben. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6a5c88c71ae27ce729c94c08888d7bf109298f4ae13d6667161eff14567da8f0? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Great plugin, thank you! Also provided a solution for the dropdown issue](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-thank-you-also-provided-a-solution-for-the-dropdown-issue/)󠁿 [Immánuel Fodor](https://profiles.wordpress.org/immanuelfactor/) September 3, 2016 If anybody has the no widges in the dropdown issue, I posted a solution, just see here: [SOLVED] No widgets in the dropdown I hope this helps! 🙂 [ Read all 9 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/reviews/) ## Contributors & Developers “Widget Instance” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Global ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/global_1981/) [Translate “Widget Instance” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/widget-instance) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/widget-instance/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/widget-instance/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/widget-instance/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/widget-instance/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 0.9.5 * Tested in WordPress 4.9.7 #### 0.9.4 * Included Immánuel Fodor’s fix for empty dropdown #### 0.9.3 * Tested in WordPress 4.2.2, new banner, icons and tinymce button created. #### 0.9.2 * Added javascript loader, fix for wordpress installs where wp-includes url is not in the root. #### 0.9.1 * Can now select a widget by it’s title as well as its id. The title is in parenthesis after the id. #### 0.9 * Tested on 3.5.1 * Fixed php warnign typo #### 0.8 * Tested on 3.4.1 * Added option for including sidebar formatting * The widget’s title will now include the sidebar title markup (More useful than having a plain text title) #### 0.5 * Initial release ## Meta * Version **0.9.4** * Last updated **8 years ago** * Active installations **500+** * WordPress version ** 2.9.1 or higher ** * Tested up to **4.9.29** * Language * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/widget-instance/) * Tags * [display widget](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/display-widget/)[widget](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/widget/) [widget instance](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/widget-instance/)[widgets](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/widgets/) * [Advanced View](https://zul.wordpress.org/plugins/widget-instance/advanced/) ## Ratings 3.4 out of 5 stars. * [ 5 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/reviews/?filter=5) * [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/reviews/?filter=4) * [ 1 3-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/reviews/?filter=3) * [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/reviews/?filter=2) * [ 3 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/reviews/?filter=1) [Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Global ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/global_1981/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/widget-instance/) ## Donate Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin? [ Donate to this plugin ](http://bcooling.com.au)