New Wordpress theme is not showing widgets in admin area - php

Question

I am creating new Wordpress theme. It's working but not showing widgets bar in admin panel.
Here is my code:
<?php get_header(); ?>
<div class="wrapper">
<!--Navigation start-->
<div class="navigation_content">
<nav>
<ul>
<?php $args = array(
'depth' => 0,
'sort_column' => 'menu_order, post_title',
'menu_class' => 'menu',
'include' => '',
'exclude' => '',
'echo' => true,
'show_home' => true,
'link_before' => '',
'link_after' => '' );
?>
<li class=""><?php wp_page_menu( $args ); ?></li>
</ul>
</nav>
</div>
<!--Navigation start-->
<!-- body content start-->
<div class="body_content">
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>
<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
<div id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class(); ?>>
<!--end post header-->
<div class="entry clear">
<?php if ( function_exists( 'add_theme_support' ) ) the_post_thumbnail(); ?>
<p><?php the_content(); ?></p>
<?php //edit_post_link(); ?>
<?php wp_link_pages(); ?>
</div><!--end entry-->
</div><!--end post-->
<?php endwhile; /* rewind or continue if all posts have been fetched */ ?>
<?php else : ?>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>
And here is my function file code to register widgets:
function ccp_widgets_init() {
register_sidebar( array(
'name' => __( 'Main Widget Area', 'ccp' ),
'id' => 'sidebar-1',
'description' => __( 'Appears in the footer section of the site.', 'ccp' ),
'before_widget' => '<aside id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s">',
'after_widget' => '</aside>',
'before_title' => '<h3 class="widget-title">',
'after_title' => '</h3>',
) );
Am i missing code?
Thanks

Answer 1

Add the following code in functions.php after your ccp_widgets_init function.
add_action( 'widgets_init', 'ccp_widgets_init' );

Answer 2

There is another way.
Definitely use a child theme
In your child-theme folder:
Create a folder called widgets
Put your widget in there
ie.
wp-content/themes/my-child-theme/widgets/my_widget.php
at the end of your widget there is no need to 'hook' it into any action like this as most posts say
function register__my_widget() {
register_widget( 'my_widget_class_name_exends_WP_Widget_class' );
}
add_action( 'widgets_init', 'register__my_widget' );
So just register it as normal at the end with a single line:-
register_widget( 'my_widget_class_name_exends_WP_Widget_class' ) see below:
<?php function get_recent_post( $beforewidget, $afterwidget, $beforetitle, $aftertitle ){ ?>
<?php echo $beforewidget; ?>
<?php echo $beforetitle; ?>Recent Posts<?php echo $aftertitle; ?>
<ul class="rp-widget">
<?php query_posts( array ( 'category_name' => 'blog', 'posts_per_page' => -1 ) );
while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
<li>....
....very boring widget code, yawn...
...instance ) {
// outputs the content of the widget
get_recent_post( $args['before_widget'], $args['after_widget'], $args['before_title'], $args['after_title'] );
}
}
register_widget( 'my_widget_class_name_exends_WP_Widget_class' );
The important bit is the last line - the "register_widget" bit.
Nb. all widgets extend WP_widget class (I think it's a class - would be in java/c++) so you register your class name
3.Then in your child-themes's functions.php add this line
get_template_part('widgets/my_widget');
and you should be groovy!
Nb:
The line added to your child-theme functions.php should be added outside of any function
The path should exist ie. widgets/
It should be the name of your file MINUS the .php part
(It is not essential to use a separate folder but it helps keep code organised and so if you have added a widgets folder in your child theme and put my_widget.php in there then point is valid.
IF you didn't add a widgets folder to your child-theme folder then you would just use
get_template_part('my_widget');
in your child functions.php
)
What's the advantage of doing it this way??
You can separate your code to be more modular
You don't end up having a monster sized functions.php file
It should be easier to maintain or modify