Feature A Page Widget

Yes.

Because this is a widget, there is no direct integration with the WordPress post editor and the basic features of this plugin are uneffected. However, if you are using the new editor, note the new location of the Excerpt field in the sidebar.

The widget gets its image from the “Featured Image” field on the page you are featuring.

1. 01Go to the page you’re featuring.
2. 02In the right sidebar, look for the “Set Featured Image” link.
3. 03Use the media picker to find the image and then select “Use as Featured Image.”
4. 04Update the page and you’re ready to go.

The widget gets its text from the “Excerpt” field on the page you are featuring. See also: “Can I use HTML or a WYSIWYG/TinyMCE Editor with the Excerpt Field?”

1. 01Go to the page you want to featured.
2. 02Below the body field, look for the “Excerpt” field.
3. 03Fill it in.
4. 04Update the page.

The Featured Image and Excerpt fields are found on the Page editing screen of the Page you want to feature. If you don’t see them:

1. 01In the top right corner of any Page , click “Screen Options.”
2. 02From the menu that slides down, make sure the “Excerpt” and “Featured Image” are both checked.
3. 03WordPress will remember this choice on all pages.

Indeed! Pages and Posts are feature-able by default. Use fpw_post_types filter to add support for custom post types or remove Posts or Pages.

The widget offers three ways to customize its design and output. The right method for you depends on what you want to accomplish and what you’re comfortable doing technically.

1. 01Write your own CSS rules. The plugin’s CSS selectors have as low a priority as possible, so you should be able to override styles easily. See /css/fpw_start_styles.css for a starter stylesheet you can copy and modify.
2. 02Filter the Title, Excerpt, or Image. Version 1.0 included the fpw_page_title , fpw_excerpt , and fpw_featured_image filters. Version 2.0 adds new filters fpw_post_types , fpw_widget_templates , fpw_read_more_text , and fpw_image_size .
3. 03Override the Widget’s output template. Each widget layout can be overridden by a template in any parent or child theme. Create an /fpw2_views/ in the active theme’s folder and copy any layout files from /wp-content/plugins/feature-a-page-widget/fpw2_views/ into the new folder to modify.
4. 04Create a custom layout. See this example for using the fpw_widget_templates filter . You can add new custom layouts or remove installed ones. Using the filter to only return a single layout removes the layout option from the widget and automatically uses the remaining layout.

Install the Rich Text Excerpts plugin or Advanced Excerpt plugins. Either plugin should take note and display your nicely formatted excerpt.

Use the fpw_read_more_text filter .

Use the fpw_image_size filter .

There’s a filter for that too. See fpw_auto_excerpt .

When selecting the page to feature in the widget settings, the list of pages includes two icons. The first icon is the featured image, and the second is the excerpt. If the icon is “lit-up,” that means that page has that piece of information. If both are lit-up, the page is ready for optimal use in the widget. See this interface in the “Screenshots” tab.

This widget is intended to be straightforward and avoid melting into “option soup.” However, that means it might not be perfect for what you need.

If you think the widget is almost right , double-check that can’t use the one of the plugin’s filters or the widget view template (see “I want to modify how the widget looks/works”). If that doesn’t work, submit some feedback for future versions of the plugins. And of course, there’s always the support forum .

If this plugin is more than a little off, you might be looking for a different plugin like Posts in Sidebar or Genesis Featured Page Advanced (Genesis only).