Title: Widgitizing an existing template
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# Widgitizing an existing template

 *  [oetzitterd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oetzitterd/)
 * (@oetzitterd)
 * [18 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/widgitizing-an-existing-template/)
 * Hi All,
 * I have WP 2.3.3 and using an older template. Now I want to include widgets. I
   already followed the instructions on [http://automattic.com/code/widgets/themes/](http://automattic.com/code/widgets/themes/)
   and looked at some widget compatible templates but everything I try does not 
   work.
 * I added the following code:
 *     ```
       <?php
       if ( function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') && dynamic_sidebar(1) ) : else : ?>							<ul id="sidebar">
       <il> test </il>
       </ul>
       <?php endif;
       ?>
       ```
   
 * But nothing is changing. Test shows up nicely but still I a getting the following
   msg:
 * > You are seeing this message because the theme you are currently using isn’t
   > widget-aware, meaning that it has no sidebars that you are able to change. 
   > For information on making your theme widget-aware, please follow these instructions.
 * can somebody shed a light on it?

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [stanch](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stanch/)
 * (@stanch)
 * [18 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/widgitizing-an-existing-template/#post-693809)
 * or you can try this [Widgetizing Sidebar](http://www.wpdesigner.com/2007/03/06/wp-theme-lesson-6e-widgetizing-sidebar/)
   tutorial. anyway, sometime that problem occur caused by our browser cache, so
   try to clearing your browser cache.
 *  Thread Starter [oetzitterd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oetzitterd/)
 * (@oetzitterd)
 * [18 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/widgitizing-an-existing-template/#post-693886)
 * Hi Stanch,
 * that already helped a lot. I can see the widget option in the admin now but the
   widgets are not active on my site (nothing in the source code when I look at 
   my site)
 * I installed the default theme (Kubrick) and there the widgets work.
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [18 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/widgitizing-an-existing-template/#post-693888)
 * `<il> test </il>`
 * If you really have this in your sidebar – I don’t think it will ever work.
    What
   is “il”?
 *  Thread Starter [oetzitterd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oetzitterd/)
 * (@oetzitterd)
 * [18 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/widgitizing-an-existing-template/#post-693890)
 * Hi Moshu,
 * I took that out completly now and still it is not working:
 *     ```
       <ul id="sidebar"><?php if ( function_exists(’dynamic_sidebar’) && dynamic_sidebar() ) : else : ?>
       								<?php endif; ?></ul>
       ```
   
 * It was already in the template file before, so I left it in there.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘Widgitizing an existing template’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [Howto](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/howto/)
 * [template](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/template/)
 * [widget](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/widget/)
 * [widget-aware](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/widget-aware/)

 * 4 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [oetzitterd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/oetzitterd/)
 * Last activity: [18 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/widgitizing-an-existing-template/#post-693890)
 * Status: not resolved

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