How to Show or Hide Widgets on Specific Pages in WordPress

Whether you’re running a private or business site, it’s natural to strive for a unique website with attractive pages. To keep visitors as long as possible and to encourage them to browse the pages, We use everything that has been proven to work – engaging articles, stunning images, various media types, and such. We strive to make our pages not only beautiful, but also functional. That’s when most of us realize how powerful widgets are in terms of user experience and functionality. It’s also a great way to customize your WordPress theme and stand out from others using the same template. But, not all widgets required on all pagesand sometimes they can actually get in the way of conveying a message or achieving a certain effect. For this reason Sometimes we need to hide certain widgets as they are not suitable for all pages.

Since WordPress does not come with a native feature to control the visibility of widgets on certain pages, posts or archives, hiding and showing widgets may require advanced coding skills. Or at least it seems so. However, There is also a simple solution in the form of a plugin. And even if you’re good with code, sometimes the plugin offers a simpler solution.

In this article, we’ll show you how to hide widgets using a plugin, but before we get into the details, let’s take a look at some situations that require a widget to be hidden on certain pages.

Why Isn’t It a Good Idea to Display All Widgets on Every Page?

One of the aspects of a good user experience is smart widget placement – ​​knowing where and why a particular widget will be displayed. For example, you probably won’t need a login widget on the login page, as this page usually has some kind of login form and it’s not necessary to add another to the sidebar or header. Consider carefully where a particular plugin will naturally extend the purpose of a page and avoid adding a widget to have a widget. For example, adding a search box widget to your custom 404 error page can be a great way to keep the visitor on your website, but that page will likely not benefit from a weather widget, for example, nor will it benefit your home page. . As for the homepage, the last place you want to populate with too many widgets is – a very busy and messy homepage can turn visitors off and prevent them from browsing your website further, especially if they can’t find the content they’re really looking for.

The key to smart widget placement is tailor yourself to the needs of your usersand practical ideas will come.

Managing Widgets Visibility Using a Plugin

When it comes to showing or hiding widgets on certain pages, we wanted to provide a solution accessible to everyone, so we tested a few free plugins. According to us, Widget Context plugin turned out to be The most reliable and easy to use plugin. Intuitive and flexible and allows you to hide and show widgets on selected pages and sections of your website in just a few steps. It is also a lightweight tool that does not affect your website performance.

To get started, you need to install the plugin. We will not go into details about its installation, as the process is the same as with other add-ons. If you need more help with this step, it is best to read our detailed tutorial for installing a WordPress plugin by clicking the link above.

After installing and activating the plugin, you will see the new Widget Context option under Widgets in your Dashboard menu, but you have to click on it to access the new settings. Appearance » Widgets.

Once you get to the Widgets page, select any widget you want to adjust its settings for and click on it. A Widget Context dropdown with various options will be shown.

You can set the widget to show or hide it on all pages, but the most important options for us here are the options to show/hide widgets only on certain pages or sections. If you select the private show/hide option, below will open two lists where you mark where you want the widget to be hidden or shown:

As you can see, the list of places where you can choose to show/hide your widgets is very precise and varied.

If you want to show/hide widgets on specific URLs there are options for that too, just scroll down:

In target by URL In the field, enter the URL where you want the widgets to be displayed. To hide widgets at specific URLs, enter these URLs in the field Exclude by URL.

When you have adjusted all the settings according to your needs, do not forget to click on it. Save.

Also note that the procedure to hide/show them in certain places is the same for every widget, regardless of their location or function.

Let’s wrap it up!

Every WordPress theme has a different structure, features and design. Widgets bring more freedom to theme users by allowing them to customize. it would be a shame not to benefit from the ability to individually manage the visibility of widgets, considering how easily it can be achieved. Showing/hiding widgets on certain pages of your website brings you one step closer to a great user experience.