Widgets: It’s a Plugin!

Let me begin by thanking the bloggers of WordPress.com. These excellent people are our most diligent (and unwitting) testing force, keeping our days free for the development of new bugs which, after enduring the careful, methodical abuse from our tireless testing force, eventually metamorphose into features.

Some of these young features are lucky enough to be released into the wild as plugins for anyone to capture and put to work in their own WordPress blogs on server farms all over the world. A plugin is happy in its toil and this makes us very proud parents!

We know, sadly, that some copies will stray into the dark corners of the web where vicious, hungry coders lurk, waiting to rip them up and sometimes reassemble them into towering, plug-necked monsters. Do not pity these copies! Their lives are not wasted, for this what the developer intended. We encourage mutation, even if it causes angry mobs to gather with pitchforks and torches. This, too, makes a parent proud.

Of special interest today is a new sidebar customization plugin called Widgets. Thousands of people are already using Widgets on their WordPress.com blogs (we keep track) and daily we receive requests to bring Widgets to the public, as we have promised to do all along.

The plugin named Widgets has come of age. It is now a plugin for all to enjoy. You can download it, read the documentation, update your themes and make new widgets like rabbits in the springtime.


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33 Comments

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  1. Pingback: 512 Megas » WordPress Widgets
  2. talkislam

    awesome. dude this is good, really good.

    Like

  3. talkislam

    *the calendar

    Like

  4. Abhijit Nadgouda

    Great!

    Like

  5. marcoss

    You do work fast! 😉

    I’ll see how to integrate it in my next theme upgrade.

    Like

  6. p|nK^bEe

    this is cool. I’m gonna try it!

    Like

  7. .i dream in red.

    awesome

    Like

  8. myscribbles

    This is a great new plug-in. Please keep up the hard work and know that we need MORE!

    Like

  9. einfach persoenlich Weblog

    WordPress Widgets Plugin – WordPress Blogging for Dummies?

    Ein neues WordPress-Plugin schickt sich an, das Blogging zu revolutionieren. Es entzieht dem Anwender den direkten Template-Zugriff und macht das Blogging für Dummies zum Kinderspiel. Raus aus der Beta-Phase ist ein neues WordPress-Plugin Wordpre…

    Like

  10. Pingback: » Wordpress Widgets — cne _LOG Archiv
  11. Lee Kelleher

    Great work Andy (and the WP.com team) – We’ve been waiting for this since the Widgets were released on WP.com – some of my friends where jealous, but not anymore! 🙂

    Like

  12. Qwerty Maniac

    Great! Finally all bloggers can enjoy those wonderful widgets 😀

    Like

  13. kat

    Great plugin we’ve been waiting for, thank you!

    Like

  14. swartzonmedia

    The larger variety of features that we have to put into our own blogs the better. Thank you.

    Like

  15. Pingback: Sidebar Widgets and Binary Blue | 4null4.de - Blog around the world
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  17. vjp

    Is Regulus 2 ever going to be updated to use widgets?

    Like

  18. farlane

    Cool! The work you automattic folks do is amazing – you really are among the best of the online world. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

    I posted a link from my blog to this that I think is on the right side of copyright law, but if it bugs you, let me know and I’ll remove it.

    Like

  19. Chrono Tron - 100%

    The Widget Wars!

    What’s super hot currently in the blogosphere? Without doubt it’s widgets, which are the latest features offered by 2 of the top Blogging Platforms WordPress & Typepad. So what exactly are Widgets you ask? Very simple, Widgets are small…

    Like

  20. 2optimize

    Easy and quick editing without stumbling through the code for non-coders, very nice.

    Like

  21. Jota A

    I follow the above question… where’s the update on Regulus 2??

    Like

  22. CountZero

    Great news that is. I didn’t think I could wait any much longer to see this stuff released, so I was finally able to implement Widgets support into the upcoming new release of Binary Blue 😉

    Like

  23. Liski

    When are we going to have the Flickr badge like this > http://automattic.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/widgets-sidebar1.png

    Like

  24. bfic

    Can widgets be used on hosted sites? {mysite}.wordpress.com?

    Like

  25. Pingback: Subversion at The Aquinas Hub
  26. myscribbles

    yeah, when? (Good question, Laski)

    Like

  27. osielnet

    great!

    very nice.

    Like

  28. David

    I’m with Lisky and myscribbles; Is Flickr in the works or plans? Also I’d be interested in AdSense.

    I’m loving it already, keep up the great work!

    Like

  29. swartzonmedia

    Hey, I started this new blog where I’m trying to promote random acts of kindness. I think this can make a difference to some people, so please take two minutes and check it and leave a comment if you can. http://makeadiff.wordpress.com/
    Thank you.

    Like

  30. Pingback: Ramblings of an Eccentric Soul | Wordpress themes and Fauna
  31. Pingback: Vaulted Memories » Blog Archive » Chaotic Soul
  32. Gymshoes

    THANK YOU!!!!! For updating the Regulus theme so that I can now use widgets AND use a custom header (any image I want!) AND fixing the bug in the way smileys were displayed. I hereby declare the Regulus theme officially PERFECT!!!! 🙂

    Like

  33. backdoor

    I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please, less attempts at wit and more plain writing.

    ric

    Like

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