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Friday, July 6, 2012

WordPress Countdown Widget: A Simple and Customizable Countdown Plugin for Your WordPress Site

Countdown widgets make for an excellent addition to many sites. Because of this, many developers have created and released several different countdown plugins. With so many available plugins, how do you know which one is right for you? Well, you could download and install several random plugins before finding the one that you like, or you could save some time and give WordPress Countdown Widget a try first.

The WordPress Countdown Widget is a simple widget that lets you add unlimited countdowns to your WordPress site. Unlike some countdown widgets that function incorrectly when more than one instance is used on a page, WordPress Countdown Widget functions properly no matter how many times you wish to use it. Plus, having been developed by Shailan.com, a popular developer of WordPress themes, plugins, and widgets, you can rest assured that it’s a safe and reliable widget to add to your site.

With over 15,000 downloads and an average rating of 4/5 stars, the WordPress Countdown Widget requires that you use WordPress 2.8 version or higher. It is known to be compatible through to WordPress 3.1.4 and may work with other versions as well. When installing any new plugins on your current WordPress site, always be sure to back up your files just in case something should go wrong during installation.

As for the installation itself, it’s simple. After downloading the WordPress Countdown Widget, you’ll need to install it from the WP Admin > Plugins page. Upon completion, simply activate the plugin and drag and drop it onto the sidebar at your desired location. This can be done from the Appearance > Widgets page.

Next you’ll need to customize your widget, so that your new countdown clock looks and works the way you want. You’ll be asked to include a title and event title, plus the date and time to which you are counting down to. You are also given the option of formatting the date and time, plus asked to provide the appropriate time zone. Display properties like text color, background color, and width are also fully customizable. If you wish, you are given the option of removing the “powered by” link at the bottom of the widget.

Overall, the WordPress Countdown Widget is an excellent tool. Its only downfall is that, like most other plugins, it doesn’t work on all versions of WordPress. If you do however happen to have a compatible version and are in need of a basic countdown clock, then its ease of installation and customizable features makes it a simple, but worthy addition to your WordPress site.

Please note: This article is in reference to the WordPress Countdown Widget, which can be found at: http://www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-countdown-widget/

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