Advanced Categories Widget for WordPress

The good stuff

What really clicked was how easy it was to pick which categories to show and reorder them however I wanted. Like, I could drop in just my top three sections and arrange them by post count instead of name. That mattered for my sidebar layout. And the thumbnail support? Huge win. I added small images to each category, sized them properly, and they looked sharp without breaking the design. The option to show descriptions with a set character limit was perfect - short enough to be readable, long enough to give context. The real bonus? It’s built for developers, but you don’t have to be one. I didn’t touch any hooks, but knowing they’re there makes me feel safer. If I ever want to tweak the output later, I can. The plugin doesn’t force anything. And honestly, the documentation isn’t fancy, but it gets the job done when you need to dig into filters.

The not-so-good

It’s not pretty in the admin panel. The form is functional but feels dated. No visual preview, so you’re guessing how things will look until you hit save. Also, zero screenshots in the plugin directory - that’s weird when you’re trying to figure out what it does. And yeah, it’s not actively maintained. The last update was over two years ago. That’s a red flag if you’re paranoid about security, though I haven’t had issues running it on a site with 10K+ monthly visitors. If you’re looking for something with live previews, drag-and-drop sorting, or tons of built-in styling options, this isn’t it. It’s more like a barebones toolkit than a polished UI experience. You’ll need to do some legwork to get it looking just right.

Bottom line

If you’re okay with a simple, no-frills tool that gives you real control over category display, this is worth downloading. It’s free, lightweight, and does exactly what it promises. Not the flashiest option, but better than the default widget. For anyone using Advanced Categories Widget for WordPress for Wordpress who wants more than the basics, this is a solid stopgap. Just know it’s not going to win any design awards. But hey - sometimes that’s exactly what you need.