Widgets Vs Plugins: Everything You Need To Know

WordPress beginners most often than never have difficulty understanding widgets and plugins. While these are the basics, the question is still there. What exactly are the differences between a WordPress plugin and a WordPress widget? Before we move on to the actual differentiating points, I think it might be better to get a better understanding of each one first.

WordPress, as we all know, has become one of the largest CMS platforms now owning over 30% of sites all over the internet. Although first launched as a simple blogging platform, it has managed to broaden the horizon of their purpose ranging from blogs to professional business sites. And thus with each niche, the necessity and the requirement of more features has also expanded. Therefore, the introduction to WordPress plugins and widgets.

As a beginner, some might come across difficulty understanding the differences between plugins and widgets. While both of these are there to extend functionality, it works as different elements. So while we are at it, today we wanted to talk in-depth about the topic. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you fully understand how each of it works to expand the features of a WordPress website.

Introduction: WordPress Plugin & WordPress Widgets

A WordPress plugin is an extension or a piece of software, which is usually there to add additional features to a specific website. Users are required to install and activate the plugin before being able to use it. Depending on the purpose of the plugin, the functions vary. Unlike a WordPress widget, these introduce additional “global functionality to your website which is not available by default.

Plugins are usually written using the PHP programming language which makes it easy to seamlessly integrate with WordPress. It could also serve as a back-end function and can be hidden from the public users to see. Some of the plugins work in the background and require no additional customization and settings while some will add a new menu on the Dashboard.

A WordPress widget, however, is a representational form of a plugin which is usually visible on the website. Users can place these elements on the widget-friendly areas on a site usually on the Footers and sidebars. It was originally created to provide an easy yet efficient way to add design and structure. And by default, WordPress comes with a range of WordPress widgets like tags, categories, calendar and more.

Where To Find WordPress Plugins & WordPress Widgets?

There are hundreds and thousands of options for free and premium WordPress Plugins and Widgets that you can find on the internet. However, the largest Free repository is surely the official WordPress repository. From basics to advanced, these places have a collection of plugins dedicated to all niche. You can find plugins and widgets to extend features related to security, SEO, social media and so much more.

Other popular marketplaces for these elements are ThemeForest, CodeCanyon, WooCommerce, ThemeIsle, and more.

Installation & Activation: WordPress Plugins Vs Widgets!

We have already discussed this topic previously and you can easily refer to the post here. 

For easier understanding, here is a video tutorial as well.

While the process is pretty similar, here is the link to help you understand the process of adding widgets here. 

Conclusion

With this post today, we hope that we have cleared any queries on your mind regarding the subject of what are the differences between a WordPress widget and a WordPress plugin. From the whole structure to the installation process, while it may seem similar, it is pretty distinct. Basically, all widgets are kind of like a plugin but not all plugins necessarily are widgets.

If you liked this post, feel free to leave a comment down below. And as we strive to provide our readers with nothing but the best, we also appreciate your feedback! If this post was helpful and interesting enough for you, why not check out more of our WordPress related articles down below!

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