Here is the second iteration of the UX update for the Widget Context plugin. Please check out the live demo and let me know what you think! 

The Concept

The number of locations where you might want to show or hide a widget can vary significantly — having “Related Posts” widget on all blog entries except on posts that are tagged “twitter” (many); or showing the “About Me” widget only on the front page of a blog (few). However, the combinations are endless.

Therefore, I realized that the most important feature should be the ability to find those groups of locations very fast. So there will be only two ways to sort through the content: (1) search, or (2) choose one of the core locations such as homepage, blog index, all pages/(custom)posts or their indices (archives).

Once you have found and selected the sections, it is only a matter of ordering (or chaining) them according to their “power” — low power locations sink to the bottom and are overwritten by the ones floating above them. This is done via drag-and-drop.

The question is — can you think of a combination of locations that can’t be covered using this approach?

Related posts

1. Request for Feedback: Widget Context UI Update 2011, v1
2. Widget Context Update — Word Count Check
3. Widget Context Update for WordPress 2.8

For the next release of the Widget Context plugin I have two goals — simplified user interface and code clean-up to eliminate PHP notices.

However, due to the complex logic of combined ‘show’ and ‘hide’ visibility rules, I haven’t yet settled on the final layout and naming of various buttons and labels. Therefore, it would be really great if you could take a look at this video and leave your feedback in the comments. There is also a working demo of the UI.

Video:

Related posts

1. Widget Context UI Update 2011, Version 2
2. Widget Context User Interface Update
3. Widget Context Update — Word Count Check

If you like this plugin, support the development by a donation.

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2. WordPress, GPL and Widget Context
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For the next version I planing to implement filters that allows developers to add custom context rules.

Related posts

1. Widget Context UI Update 2011, Version 2
2. Request for Feedback: Widget Context UI Update 2011, v1
3. Widget Context User Interface Update

Related posts

1. Widget Context User Interface Update
2. Widget Context UI Update 2011, Version 2
3. WordPress, GPL and Widget Context

I am finally publishing my Widget Context plugin as an α release at the official plugin repository. If you find a bug, or if you know how to fix that bug where the context settings are not saved for widgets that are added fresh to the sidebar on the first ‘Save’, then please leave a comment.

Widget Context Plugin in Action

Here is what this plugin adds at the end of every widget in the Widget Management area:

Widget Context in Action

Related posts

1. Display Widgets Only on Certain Pages
2. Widget Context Update for WordPress 2.8
3. Widget Logic plugin for WordPress