Widget Alias

Compatible with PHP 8.2

Widget Alias allows you to create an “alias” of any existing widget, effectively reproducing / duplicating it. This can be especially handy when you want the same widget to appear in multiple sidebars. Normally you would have to edit each widget independently, but Widget Alias means you’ll only have to edit one.

A MIGHTYminnow plugin.

Features

This plugin is similar to Duplicate Widget, with a few key differences:

• Widget Alias gives you the option to override the aliased widget’s title.
• Widget Alias uses AJAX to update the drop-down <select> menus on the fly, which means you see widget changes (adding widgets, deleting widgets, re-ordering widgets, etc) in real time.
• If you delete a widget that is being aliased, the aliased copies simply revert to “None”, instead of being deleted. This allows you to keep track of where you’ve used Widget Alias widgets, if need be.

Usage

Widget Alias can be used in one of two ways:

1. Widget
In Appearances > Widgets you’ll see a new widget called “Widget Alias”, in which you can specify an override title if desired, and use the drop-down <select> menu to choose the ID of the widget you would like to alias.

2. Shortcode
Widget Alias also comes packaged with a shortcode that looks like this:
[widget_alias id=”target-widget-id” title=”Override Title”]

To use the shortcode simply enter the ID of the widget you would like to alias (id parameter), and an override title (title parameter) if you would like to change the aliased widget’s title.

Widget IDs

Widget Alias makes it super-easy for you to find the ID of any widget you would like to alias. In Appearance > Widgets, all active widgets now have their ID appended below the widget title. Note: these IDs are added using jQuery, and will not appear if JavaScript is disabled.

Removing / Deleting Aliased Widgets

Widget Alias makes it easy to tell which widgets are being aliased – each aliased widget has a note below its widget controls letting you know how many times it is aliased. If you delete an aliased widget, the Widget Alias widgets that previously pointed to it will revert to the default alias value of “None.”

Banner photo by Susannah Kay.