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Widget CSS Classes

By Jory Hogeveen

Design & Themes / Themes & Templates

Widget CSS Classes Review - In-Depth Analysis

Easily add custom classes and IDs to your WordPress widgets. Enhance styling with first, last, even, odd, and numbered classes.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.72/10

User Rating

4.9/5 (based on 74+ reviews)

Active Installations

90,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

Widget CSS Classes gives you the ability to add custom classes and ids to your WordPress widgets.

Please note that this plugin doesn't enable you to enter custom CSS. You'll need to edit your theme's style.css or add another plugin that allows you to input custom CSS.

This plugin also adds additional classes to widgets to help you style them easier. It adds classes such as widget-first for the first widget, widget-last for the last widget, widget-odd for odd numbered widgets, widget-even for even numbered widgets, and numbered classes like widget-1, widget-2, etc.

Features include adding a text field to define a class, specifying multiple classes, checkboxes for predefined classes, and more. It is fully translatable and compatible with various widget plugins.

Comparing to Alternatives

Widget CSS Classes is a straightforward plugin designed to add custom CSS classes to widgets, enhancing styling flexibility. Compared to other plugins, it focuses solely on this functionality without additional features.

Top alternatives

Widget CSS Classes

Strengths

Simple and easy to use interface.
Allows direct addition of CSS classes to widgets.
Lightweight with no unnecessary features.
Highly appreciated by front-end developers for precise styling.

Weaknesses

Lacks compatibility with the latest WordPress widget management in version 5.8 and above.
No advanced features beyond adding CSS classes.
No official support for newer WordPress versions.
No premium or extended version available.

User Sentiment Analysis

Users generally praise the plugin for its simplicity and effectiveness, though some have noted compatibility issues with recent WordPress updates.

Positive highlights

'Works, simply and well…' - crzyhrse
'Great! 🙂' - xszejdi
'Very useful for front-end developers to target widgets directly.' - Damiaan van Vliet
'Invaluable help for frontend developers!' - andiszek
'Works as expected.' - Kasp

Common complaints

Not working with WordPress 5.8's new widget management.
Lack of updates to support latest WordPress versions.

Weaknesses

Compatibility issues with newer WordPress releases.
No ongoing development or feature enhancements.
Limited to basic CSS class addition without extra functionality.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Front-end developers and site designers who need a simple way to add custom CSS classes to widgets for styling purposes.

Not ideal for

Users running the latest WordPress versions (5.8 and above) who require compatibility with the new widget management system or need more advanced widget styling features.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version provides the core functionality of adding custom CSS classes to any widget, offering essential styling flexibility without cost.

Final Verdict

Widget CSS Classes is a simple and effective plugin for adding custom CSS classes to widgets, highly valued by front-end developers for its ease of use.

However, it currently lacks compatibility with the latest WordPress widget system and does not offer a premium version or additional features, which may limit its usefulness for some users.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Widget CSS Classes plugin.

Custom classes

Widget styling

WordPress widgets

Screenshots

FAQ

You need to make sure you have an HTML element defined for before_widget and after_widget in your active theme’s register_sidebar functions,
usually located in your theme’s functions.php (/wp-content/themes/yourtheme/functions.php).

This HTML element must have class and id attributes. This plugin will not work if before_widget and after_widget are blank.

Example:
register_sidebar( array( 'name' => 'Sidebar', 'before_widget' => '<div id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s">', 'after_widget' => '</div>', 'before_title' => '<h2 class="widget-title">', 'after_title' => '</h2>' ) );