When creating content for your store, you certainly want to make it user-friendly and easy to browse through. The visual appeal is as critical as the content. Thus, to liven things up you may need to add a block of products here or there or display some other dynamic info.
Usually, you would need to dive into code to achieve this. But not in Magento 2 which offers you widgets instead.
Today, you'll explore Magento widgets in more detail and learn key features that will help you use them to the fullest.
What are Magento Widgets?
Magento widgets are pieces of code which allow you to place content in a specific place in your store. Widgets can feature various types of content from dynamic product blocks and CMS blocks to images, videos, text and other elements. In Magento, you can add widgets via the admin panel by setting specific display options.
Widgets are incredibly flexible, highly functional and easy to manage. You can place them at any block reference in your store and use them for various purposes. The best part? Adding widgets doesn't require coding. So anyone can add them.
Why Do You Need Widgets?
Magento 2 widgets offer lots of benefits to both store owners and customers. We've touched on some positive aspects of using widgets above. But there's even more.
Customer experience
By displaying dynamic content, your website becomes more engaging. Customers see the hottest offers as well as the new arrivals and immediately get into the flow. Besides, you can display relevant widgets in the customers' accounts to deliver the message outside the catalog.
Improved navigation
With the help of widgets, you can also improve your website's navigation. Eye-catching blocks are much easier to follow, especially if you personalize them. Customers can easily view and follow the product collections and other content you add via widgets.
Easy management
On the management side, widgets in Magento 2 do not require complex configuration. You don't need in-depth coding knowledge. You set everything up in the admin panel specifying what, where and how to display.
Additionally, widgets are flexible in terms of the content types they offer. Thus, you can play around to create the most engaging combinations.
Magento Widget Types
Magento 2 comes with a great collection of default widgets. They are more than enough to get started and make your content more compelling.
The available widgets differ in Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. The latter offers more advanced options in addition to those in Magento Open Source.
Magento Open Source widgets
| Widget | Description |
|---|---|
| CMS Page Link | Allows to define custom text/title for CMS page links |
| CMS Static Block | Displays a previously created CMS block in the specific location |
| Catalog Category Link | Allows to add custom text/title for a category link |
| Catalog New Products List | Displays a block of products marked as 'New' in their settings |
| Catalog Product Link | Enables adding a title/text to a product link |
| Catalog Products List | Shows a list of products in the defined place |
| Orders and Returns | Displays the status of orders and allows customers to submit refund requests |
| Recently Compared Products | Displays a block of product a customer recently compared |
| Recently Viewed Products | Shows a block of the recently viewed products |
Adobe Commerce widgets
| Widget | Description |
|---|---|
| CMS Hierarchy Node Link | Displays a link to a particular node |
| Catalog Events Carousel | Shows a list of the catalog events |
| Dynamic Blocks Rotator | Displays a dynamic block of products which are added to the block based on specific conditions |
| Gift Registry Search | Allows customers to search public gift registries |
| Order by SKU | Shows a block where customers can place orders by entering SKUs and specifying qty |
| Wish List Search | Allows customers to search and view wish lists which are available publicly |
Third-party widgets
As varied as default Magento widgets are, they aren't always enough to meet specific requirements. That's where third-party Magento widgets come to the rescue and help you achieve ultimate results.
Here are some of the useful widgets to have in an online store.
FAQ rich snippet
Providing answers to frequently asked questions is a common practice to improve user experience. At the same time, you can benefit from your FAQ blocks in the search results if they are properly marked.
No code editing is required with the FAQ rich snippet. You can insert it via widgets in any location in your store and let your answers appear in the search results. As easy as that!
HowTo rich snippet
Following the topic of the rich snippets, we cannot but mention the HowTo rich snippet. It's another chance for you to appear in the targeted Google search results.
You can add the HowTo rich snippet to the content pages describing a set of steps to take to achieve a certain result. It's a small widget but the results are excellent.
Featured and recent blog posts
If a blog is an integral part of your strategy, the featured and recent posts widgets are just for you. It's a great tool to drive attention to your blog posts and keep a dialogue with your audience.
Just take a few simple steps and add blog post widgets at any block reference in your store. This way, you can highlight your products with the relevant blog posts in a matter of minutes.
How to Add Widgets in Magento 2?
Since you already know what are Magento 2 widgets and how many are there, let's get to the practical part. The approach depends on the result you are going for.
Page builder and WYSIWYG editor
If you'd like to add a widget to a single CMS page, you can easily do that via the page builder or WYSIWYG editor.
1. Navigate to Content > Pages and start editing the needed page.
2. Press the widget icon in the editor and choose the Widget Type to insert from the dropdown list.
3. Fill out the corresponding fields and hit the Insert Widget button.
Once you save a page, go and check how the widget is displayed on the storefront. You can add widgets to the product, category and blog pages if any, using the same steps.
Magento widgets
If you have many products, categories and pages, adding widgets to them one by one is not an option. There's a more time-saving alternative for you.
1. Navigate to Content > Widgets and press the Add Widget button.
2. Select the widget Type and Design Theme and hit Continue.
2. Set a Widget Title and specify what Store View to display it on.
3. Define where exactly to display the widget using the same steps.
4. Switch to the Widget Options tab and fill out the necessary fields.
Save your settings and check the widget on the specified pages. As you can see, Magento widgets can be placed at any block in your store.
Can it get any better? You bet!
Optimize Widgets to Display CMS Blocks
Regardless of all the benefits, Magento widgets still have some flaws. Especially when displaying CMS blocks.
You can place a widget almost anywhere in your store, that's true. But not for a specific period of time or specific customers. Widgets alone aren't enough here.
Yet, the take care of that. It allows you to define display CMS blocks based on product and cart attributes. Moreover, you can restrict the display by customer group and make your content even more targeted.
e.g. display a 'Free Shipping...' banner if the subtotal is more than $200 for the Wholesale customer group.
At the same time, advertising or sales banners won't be relevant forever. It means that you would need to go and disable each block manually. Imagine if you have dozens of them for different campaigns.
Again, not a problem for the Dynamic Blocks extension. You can schedule CMS blocks specifying the display dates for them. Then, they will be displayed and disabled automatically accordingly.
This way you don't have to constantly monitor CMS blocks display. The extension does this for you.
All in all, Magento 2 widgets are really effective in the content display. There are many options to benefit from by default. Yet, with the helpful extensions, you can make your widgets even more convenient.
