[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #27404: Widget Customizer: Allow adding inactive widgets to widget areas

[WordPress Trac]

#27404: Widget Customizer: Allow adding inactive widgets to widget areas
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 Reporter:  westonruter      |       Owner:
     Type:  feature request  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:  Future Release
Component:  Widgets          |     Version:  3.9
 Severity:  normal           |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-patch      |     Focuses:  ui, javascript
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Comment (by Joel MMCC):

 How about this method instead or in addition? You know the “Remove” link
 that appears at the bottom of a widget in the Customizer (next to the
 redundant “Close” link)? Right now, as @westonruter said, it just moves
 the widget to the Widget Trash, known to users as “Inactive Widgets” but
 which is for all intents and purposes a Widget Zone (is that the proper
 term?) that isn’t displayed on the site.

 How about replacing that link with (or adding) a “Move Widget to…” drop-
 down menu that shows all of the other Widget Zones ''including'' the
 “Inactive Widgets” Trash Zone (at the bottom of the list)? Then with a
 single mouse move, any Widget can be quickly and easily moved from its
 current zone to the bottom of any other zone, or made Inactive. It could
 either not show the current Widget Zone at all, or show it but disable it
 (gray it out and make it non-selectable).

 With this in mind, the “Inactive Widgets” could simply appear as just
 another Widget Zone at the bottom of the list of Widget Zones that users
 first see after going to the Widgets Customizer. No need to add an
 Inactive Widget. Just go there to see all of your Inactive Widgets, click
 the one you want, then move it to the Zone you want. Then move back to
 that Zone and re-order its widgets as desired.

 I fully agree with @mrjarbenne that the importance of this has greatly
 increased now that we can preview Themes other than the currently Active
 Theme in the Customizer.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/27404#comment:4>
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