How to customize the Archives widget?

Hi @bigmoxy
To create an archive widget that displays a date list for a specific category in your WordPress website, you will need to follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the “Appearance” section.
2. Click on the “Widgets” option in the left-hand menu.
3. In the available widgets section, find the “Archives” widget and click on it.
4. Drag and drop the “Archives” widget into the sidebar or footer area where you want it to appear on your website.
5. In the widget settings, you can choose to display the archive as a dropdown menu or as a list of links. You can also choose to show the post count for each month and whether to show the year or not.
6. To display a date list for a specific category, click on the “Category” dropdown menu and select the category you want to display.
7. Click the “Save” button to save your changes.

Your archive widget should now display a date list for the selected category on your WordPress website.

I don’t have a categories option in my Archives widget. If it were that easy I wouldn’t be asking for help.

Please see screenshot.

Hi @bigmoxy
It looks like you are using an older version of WordPress that does not have the category filter option in the Archives widget. In this case, you can try the following workaround:

1. Create a new custom menu in WordPress and add the categories you want to include in the archive widget as menu items.

2. Add the custom menu to your sidebar or footer area using the “Custom Menu” widget.

3. In the widget settings, select the custom menu you created and click on the “Save” button.

This will create a list of links to the selected categories, allowing you to display a date list for a specific category on your WordPress website.

Alternatively, you can use a plugin like “Advanced Archive Widget” or “Category Posts Widget” to add a category filter to the Archives widget or to display a list of posts from a specific category. These plugins can be found in the WordPress plugin repository and can be easily installed and activated from your WordPress dashboard.

Hello @faisalahammad,

I hate to disappoint you but your assumption of an older version of WordPress is incorrect. I am using version 6.1.1.

If the Archives widget is supposed to have a category option, perhaps you can explain why it is missing.

Here is my system info report:

### wp-core ###

version: 6.1.1
site_language: en_US
user_language: en_US
timezone: America/New_York
permalink: /%postname%/
https_status: true
multisite: false
user_registration: 0
blog_public: 0
default_comment_status: closed
environment_type: production
user_count: 3
dotorg_communication: true

### wp-paths-sizes ###

wordpress_path: /home/dot832dev1/public_html/collabsion
wordpress_size: 50.67 MB (53136383 bytes)
uploads_path: /home/dot832dev1/public_html/collabsion/wp-content/uploads
uploads_size: 52.07 MB (54602551 bytes)
themes_path: /home/dot832dev1/public_html/collabsion/wp-content/themes
themes_size: 4.47 MB (4690904 bytes)
plugins_path: /home/dot832dev1/public_html/collabsion/wp-content/plugins
plugins_size: 75.28 MB (78938198 bytes)
database_size: 3.99 MB (4180665 bytes)
total_size: 186.49 MB (195548701 bytes)

### wp-dropins (2) ###

advanced-cache.php: true
install.php: true

### wp-active-theme ###

name: Mai Achieve (mai-achieve)
version: 2.1.1
author: BizBudding
author_website: https://bizbudding.com/
parent_theme: Genesis (genesis)
theme_features: core-block-patterns, genesis-breadcrumbs, mai-engine, widgets-block-editor, editor-style, sticky-header, post-thumbnails, title-tag, automatic-feed-links, body-open, genesis-inpost-layouts, genesis-archive-layouts, genesis-admin-menu, genesis-seo-settings-menu, genesis-import-export-menu, genesis-readme-menu, genesis-customizer-theme-settings, genesis-customizer-seo-settings, genesis-auto-updates, align-wide, editor-styles, genesis-accessibility, , genesis-custom-logo, genesis-menus, genesis-structural-wraps, gutenberg, html5, responsive-embeds, rank-math-breadcrumbs, woocommerce, wc-product-gallery-zoom, wc-product-gallery-lightbox, wc-product-gallery-slider, wp-block-styles, widgets, custom-logo, menus, editor-color-palette, editor-font-sizes
theme_path: /home/dot832dev1/public_html/collabsion/wp-content/themes/mai-achieve
auto_update: Auto-updates are not available for this theme.
genesis_recommendations: This theme uses theme supports that are no longer required in Genesis: "404-page" no longer required in "genesis-accessibility" theme support array

### wp-parent-theme ###

name: Genesis (genesis)
version: 3.4.0
author: StudioPress
author_website: https://www.studiopress.com/
theme_path: /home/dot832dev1/public_html/collabsion/wp-content/themes/genesis
auto_update: Enable update checks at Appearance → Customize → Theme Settings → Updates.

### wp-themes-inactive (1) ###

Twenty Twenty-Three: version: 1.0, author: the WordPress team, Auto-updates disabled

### wp-plugins-active (12) ###

Akismet Anti-Spam: version: 5.0.2, author: Automattic, Auto-updates enabled
Better Search Replace: version: 1.4.1, author: Delicious Brains, Auto-updates disabled
Duplicator Pro: version: 4.5.9, author: Snap Creek, Auto-updates disabled
Filester - File Manager Pro: version: 1.7.6, author: Ninja Team, Auto-updates disabled
Genesis Simple Sidebars: version: 2.2.2, author: StudioPress, Auto-updates disabled
Gravity Forms: version: 2.6.8.1, author: Gravity Forms, Auto-updates disabled
Gravity Forms Akismet Add-On: version: 1.0, author: Gravity Forms, Auto-updates disabled
Mai Archive Pages: version: 1.2.1, author: BizBudding, Auto-updates disabled
Mai Engine: version: 2.25.5, author: BizBudding, Auto-updates disabled
Mai Icons: version: 2.0.0, author: BizBudding, Auto-updates disabled
Post Type Switcher: version: 3.2.1, author: Triple J Software, Inc., Auto-updates disabled
WP Rocket: version: 3.12.3.3, author: WP Media, Auto-updates disabled

### wp-media ###

image_editor: WP_Image_Editor_Imagick
imagick_module_version: 1690
imagemagick_version: ImageMagick 6.9.10-68 Q16 x86_64 2021-10-14 https://imagemagick.org
imagick_version: 3.5.1
file_uploads: File uploads is turned off
post_max_size: 512M
upload_max_filesize: 512M
max_effective_size: 512 MB
max_file_uploads: 20
imagick_limits: 
	imagick::RESOURCETYPE_AREA: 16 GB
	imagick::RESOURCETYPE_DISK: 9.2233720368548E+18
	imagick::RESOURCETYPE_FILE: 786432
	imagick::RESOURCETYPE_MAP: 16 GB
	imagick::RESOURCETYPE_MEMORY: 8 GB
	imagick::RESOURCETYPE_THREAD: 1
imagemagick_file_formats: 3FR, 3G2, 3GP, AAI, AI, ART, ARW, AVI, AVS, BGR, BGRA, BGRO, BMP, BMP2, BMP3, BRF, CAL, CALS, CANVAS, CAPTION, CIN, CIP, CLIP, CMYK, CMYKA, CR2, CRW, CUR, CUT, DATA, DCM, DCR, DCX, DDS, DFONT, DNG, DOT, DPX, DXT1, DXT5, EPDF, EPI, EPS, EPS2, EPS3, EPSF, EPSI, EPT, EPT2, EPT3, ERF, EXR, FAX, FILE, FITS, FRACTAL, FTP, FTS, G3, G4, GIF, GIF87, GRADIENT, GRAY, GRAYA, GROUP4, GV, H, HALD, HDR, HISTOGRAM, HRZ, HTM, HTML, HTTP, HTTPS, ICB, ICO, ICON, IIQ, INFO, INLINE, IPL, ISOBRL, ISOBRL6, J2C, J2K, JNG, JNX, JP2, JPC, JPE, JPEG, JPG, JPM, JPS, JPT, JSON, K25, KDC, LABEL, M2V, M4V, MAC, MAGICK, MAP, MASK, MAT, MATTE, MEF, MIFF, MKV, MNG, MONO, MOV, MP4, MPC, MPEG, MPG, MRW, MSL, MSVG, MTV, MVG, NEF, NRW, NULL, ORF, OTB, OTF, PAL, PALM, PAM, PANGO, PATTERN, PBM, PCD, PCDS, PCL, PCT, PCX, PDB, PDF, PDFA, PEF, PES, PFA, PFB, PFM, PGM, PGX, PICON, PICT, PIX, PJPEG, PLASMA, PNG, PNG00, PNG24, PNG32, PNG48, PNG64, PNG8, PNM, PPM, PREVIEW, PS, PS2, PS3, PSB, PSD, PTIF, PWP, RADIAL-GRADIENT, RAF, RAS, RAW, RGB, RGBA, RGBO, RGF, RLA, RLE, RMF, RW2, SCR, SCT, SFW, SGI, SHTML, SIX, SIXEL, SPARSE-COLOR, SR2, SRF, STEGANO, SUN, SVG, SVGZ, TEXT, TGA, THUMBNAIL, TIFF, TIFF64, TILE, TIM, TTC, TTF, TXT, UBRL, UBRL6, UIL, UYVY, VDA, VICAR, VID, VIFF, VIPS, VST, WBMP, WMF, WMV, WMZ, WPG, X, X3F, XBM, XC, XCF, XPM, XPS, XV, XWD, YCbCr, YCbCrA, YUV
gd_version: bundled (2.1.0 compatible)
gd_formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, XPM
ghostscript_version: 9.25

### wp-server ###

server_architecture: Linux 3.10.0-957.27.2.el7.x86_64 x86_64
httpd_software: Apache
php_version: 8.0.26 64bit
php_sapi: fpm-fcgi
max_input_variables: 1000
time_limit: 300
memory_limit: 1024M
max_input_time: 300
upload_max_filesize: 512M
php_post_max_size: 512M
curl_version: 7.86.0 OpenSSL/1.1.1s
suhosin: false
imagick_availability: true
pretty_permalinks: true
htaccess_extra_rules: true

### wp-database ###

extension: mysqli
server_version: 10.3.37-MariaDB
client_version: mysqlnd 8.0.26
max_allowed_packet: 268435456
max_connections: 151

### wp-constants ###

WP_HOME: undefined
WP_SITEURL: undefined
WP_CONTENT_DIR: /home/dot832dev1/public_html/collabsion/wp-content
WP_PLUGIN_DIR: /home/dot832dev1/public_html/collabsion/wp-content/plugins
WP_MEMORY_LIMIT: 40M
WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT: 1024M
WP_DEBUG: false
WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY: true
WP_DEBUG_LOG: false
SCRIPT_DEBUG: false
WP_CACHE: true
CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_CSS: undefined
WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE: Undefined
DB_CHARSET: utf8
DB_COLLATE: undefined

### wp-filesystem ###

wordpress: writable
wp-content: writable
uploads: writable
plugins: writable
themes: writable

### genesis ###

update: 1
blog_title: text
site_layout: content-sidebar
comments_posts: 1
entry_meta_before_content: [post_date] by [post_author_posts_link] [post_comments] [post_edit]
entry_meta_after_content: [post_categories] [post_tags]
trackbacks_posts: 1
content_archive: full
image_alignment: alignleft
posts_nav: numeric
footer_text: [footer_copyright before="Copyright "] · [footer_childtheme_link before="" after=" on"] [footer_genesis_link url="https://www.studiopress.com/" before=""] · [footer_wordpress_link] · [footer_loginout]
theme_version: 3.4.0
db_version: 3301
first_version: 3.4.0