- Version: 1.2
- Other Versions »
- Last Updated: 2009-02-03
- Plays Well with WordPress Version: 2.5-2.7
- Donate to Support this Plugin »
Spruce up your sidebar with this WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) widget. We’ve taken the fancy editor you know and love from the “Write Post” screen and added it to the text widget. This means you can add colors, links, and even images to your sidebar without knowing code.
How to use the plugin
- Download the plugin and unzip it on your computer
- Upload the
wysiwyg-text-widgetfolder to your WordPresspluginsdirectory - Go to the “Plugins” section in your WordPress admin panel and look through the list for “WYSIWYG Text Widget” (it’s usually near the bottom)
- Activate the “WYSIWYG Text Widget”
- Go to the “Appearance” section and the “Widgets” sub-section; if all went well, you now have a “WYSIWYG Text 1″ widget
- Use the widget or create more at the bottom of the “Widgets” screen as you like
Get help
If you need help customizing this plugin to suit your specific needs, by all means, contact us for a quote. If you find a bug or need general assistance, please post on the WordPress forum.
Donate to support WYSIWYG Text Widget
If you find this plugin useful, please consider sending a small donation (you choose how much!) via PayPal.
Known issues
- The plugin doesn’t work (on the admin end) in Google Chrome
- The widget is a bit odd in Firefox. There’s sometimes an intermediate page that shows when you edit a widget, and you might have to click the “Visual” link to see the editor buttons. I’d like to fix these things but don’t have time at the moment (new baby = no time!).
History
- 2009-02-03
Updated with fixes from the fine folks at Healthcare Jobs that make the plugin work with WordPress 2.5-2.7 - 2008-02-11
Fixed bug that caused other widgets’ text fields to be WYSIWYG’d - 2008-02-05
Initial release


One of the best, if it only worked on 2.5.x
please update this absolutly nice plugin for 2.5 an mu wordpress !!!!!!
thanks a lot
This would be the best plugin for WordPress if it worked in 2.5+. Any idea when you’ll have time to update it?
This looks awesome. I just upgraded MU and it is linked with 2.5. This would be a great tool for those that are using the widgets sidebar so that they can customize their blog without coding. Nice job!
i wonder why i upgrade to the wordpress new version. I am lack of this nice widget.
I have pledged a 25.00 donation for a 2.5 compatible version. Maybe if others follow suit, we can encourage a speedy conversion.
I just pledged $50 for the support and hopeful upgrade of this plugin to WP 2.6+
In either case, thanks so much for your work and I look forward to a new version in the future!
- Jonah
Hi
This is exactly what I have been looking for – great idea. I wish it worked with Wordpress 2.7 – any ideas when you are planning on rolling it out?
Keep up the good work!
Kash
Having trouble with adding more than 1 Text Widget.
As soon as I add a second one (Text Widget 2, 3, 4, etc) my entry will not save, though Text Widget 1 is unchanged and works perfectly.
Has anyone see this problem?
- Mike
The download button here is broken. Other versions link goes to WP.
@WPPR: Thanks for letting me know. I updated the link and it should work now; let me know if you have any trouble!
The problem I have is that it only installs to the sidebar 1, even if you have several. For example, if I switch to Sidebar 4 and install it, it ends up installed on Sidebar 1. This is on 2.7.1 using the Revolution Magazine theme. It works great when on the first sidebar but I don’t need it there.
Thanks.
Seems to do text ok but I can’t seem to add and images. I click on the “add image icon” which then on to media library after selecting the image from library insert into post I am sent to a blank page. Only way back is back arrow. No image is in to post area. Runing WP 2.7.1
It doesn’t work right with WP 2.7.1 – It wouldn’t let me go back in and edit. In fact when I went back in the text was gone leaving only the title. I tried removing the widget and starting over. It wouldn’t let me. The only way I could get rid of it was to uninstall the plugin.
Oh, how I wish it worked!
There have been problems in 2.7.1
I wish to share what i did to make it work:
i added a few lines to the wysiqyg-text-widget.php
at line ~ 115 in function widget_wys_text_init()
wp_admin_css( ‘thickbox’ );
add_thickbox();
wp_enqueue_script(‘media-upload’);
I hope this works for you guys
I added the following to the widget and it was able to display pictures fine.. this is around line 115 of the php file.. just copy and paste this over the old function
function widget_wys_text_init()
{
wp_admin_css( ‘thickbox’ );
add_thickbox();
wp_enqueue_script(‘editor’);
wp_enqueue_script(‘editor_functions’);
wp_enqueue_script(‘quicktags’);
wp_enqueue_script(‘media-upload’);
}
I still cannot add the widget to the right sidebar. It keeps defaulting to the left no matter what… any ideas?
Hi, I too downlioaded this fantastic plugin…
Alas, it doesn’t work, BECAUSE:
1- Once you have create a nice piece of text and saved it, youcan’t edit it!!!!!
Actually, if you click on the modify link for this text, your text WILL BE LOST!
And 2 – Image upload doesn’t work.
Worse than that, you will be struck when uploading, having to close session and reconnect!
Have you seen this topic on wordpress.org : http://wordpress.org/support/topic/242624?replies=4 ?
I hope you’ll upgrade this plugin. Simple ideas make great usable experiences !
Sorry, I just read the comments above and thought I should let you know that the same issues of:
1. failure to install in the right sidebar
2. not holding the changes
I am quite a newbie with this, but somewhat computer savvy and I think that something may not be friendly with the text editor in WordPress.
I am having an issue in viewing HTML/Visual in their text editor after plugin became unstable.
Love the plugin…if I could help, I would, but I am not anywhere close to being able to.
Kristina
great plugin man – totally broke on 2.7.1, but it’s the only one of it’s kind, thanks for putting it together
Wp 2.7 pretty pretty please
I thought this was exactly what I was looking for – but unfortunately it does not seem to be working correctly.
I can not add it to any sidebar besides sidebar1 in Fire Fox, so I have to use IE for that part.
Then after putting a few lines of text in, if I go back to edit that text it removes all the tags and I am left with one paragraph of text.
Hopefully an update will fix this though soon. Thank for the work you have done though.
Hi and thanks for the plugin!
I’ve also got the issue mentioned above, that I can’t swap over to a different sidebar and add a second widget – it gets added to the first sidebar no matter what.
I’ve also got a problem with missing tags. Adding a list for example, outputs etc., but I seem to be missing standard paragraph tags, so text seems to collapse.
Would be great to see some of these issues fixed, but we’re awaiting our first kid – so I can surely sympathise with the new baby = no time. One has to prioritise!!
I also cannot add the wysiwyg text widget into widget columns #2 and #3 in Wordpress v2.7.1 Whenever I try it gets added to column #1 instead. Is this a bug? This widget is a good idea…but it does not seem to work in the latest release of Wordpress.
Great idea, would love to use it, but in an absolutely default [new] clean install of 2.7.1 or 2.8 [beta] the widget does not display the default visual editor toolbar; it simply displays a text area with the media links above it.
Adding TinyMCE advanced to the plugins and forcing the WP cache to clear down also makes no difference.
Great word. Can you tell us how to insert this widget to the sidebar by code not from the admin panel? such as <php if…..
Can I add the WYSIWYG Text to other place not sidebar? how to?
In WP version 2.7.1, using FF 2.0.0.20, the widget cannot be arranged once added to the sidebar. Arranging must be done by arranging all other widgets relative this one. If I try to drag the widget, it will immediately reload the whole page.
Amazing plugin! Do you think you’ll be able to update it for 2.8 and firefox. That would be really awesome!!! Thanks again
Great plugin! Any chance this will work well with Wordpress 2.8 and Firefox anytime soon? It would be greatly appreciated!
Looked like exactly what I was looking for, but does not work with the current version of Wordpress. Updated Version?
I would REALLY love to have this plug-in for WP 2.8 and will pledge $20 toward it when you create it – I’ll donate!
This is an awesome plugin. Unfortunately it doesn’t work for me now with the lastest Wordpress. Is there a particular reason it isn’t being upgraded? How much of a donation do you need to upgrade it for all of us who love it and use it so much? I would be happy to raise the money.
Thanks!
Excellent idea. This is the plugin I have been looking for.
But does not work with 2.8.6
Any update soon?
Didn’t work on my WP2.9
( Hope will be updated version!
Still not working with 2.9…bummer