The Genesis Widgetized Archive plugin is a nifty little helper tool from David Decker which assists you in creating a personalized archive page for your Genesis powered website.
The Genesis framework itself comes with an archive page template file named
page_archive.php which displays the following:- a list of your site’s pages
- category list
- author list
- a monthly archive list
- and a list of 100 of your recent posts
One way to alter this behaviour is to add your own
page_archive.php file to your child theme and modify it as you see fit. Another way, my preferred method, is to use the Genesis Widgetized Archive plugin.
You install the plugin the same way you install any plugin – by searching for it while in the Add Plugins screen then clicking install or by downloading it to your hard drive and then uploading to your site.
Once activated, the plugin adds 3 new widget areas called Archive Page Template #1, Archive Page Template #2 and Archive Page Template #3 as seen in the image below.
To start using it, publish a blank page and apply the Archive Page template to it. Next, go to your Widgets screen and start adding widgets. It’s as easy as that!
Aside from the fact that adding content is as simple as adding a widget, what I really like about this plugin is that it displays your content in columns rather than having a potentially huge list running the length of the page. For instance, if you insert 5 widgets into the Archive Page Template #1 widget area it will display the content of all 5 widgets in a single column. However, if you insert 5 widgets into the Archive Page Template #1 widget area and another 5 into the Archive Page Template #2 widget area the content will be split into 2 columns. If you then place an additional number of widgets into the Archive Page Template #3 widget area the content will be split into 3 columns.
Here on this very site I use a Pages widget in the Archive Page Template #1 widget area and in the Archive Page Template #2 widget area I use both a Categories and Archives widget as seen in the image below.
And this is the result …
You can see it in action live by clicking the Archive link in the menu at the top of the page.
As you can see, the content is shown in a neat and compact manner. And in case you’re wondering, yes the columns are responsive.
Because content is added to the archive page via widgets, you can add practically anything you want. Add a pages widget, multiple text widgets, a search form – whatever. You’re limited only by your imagination.
The plugin comes with some very basic CSS. Any additional style requirements should be done via your child theme. I like this plugin so much that all of the free child themes offered here on WPCanada come with appropriate styles ensuring complete compatibility. For more in-depth customization the plugin also comes with 2 action hooks and 6 filters – check the plugin documentation to see exactly what you can do.
If you’re a Genesis fan and use it on your own site be sure to give this plugin a go. You’ll love it.
