Genesis & WordPress 5.8 Widgets Update

With the new 5.8 release of WordPress, the widgets experience in WordPress is undergoing a big change. Widgets are now block-based.

If you have a Genesis child theme and want to use this new feature in the customizer, make sure you have updated WordPress & Genesis to the latest versions.

Then add the following line of code in the functions.php file of your theme:

add_filter( 'use_widgets_block_editor', '__return_true' );

To edit your functions.php file, simply go to Appearance > Theme Editor and click on  functions.php on the right.

If you don't have access to the Theme Editor from your dashboard, you can navigate to your theme folder via your hosting account or FTP.

*This tutorial is for Genesis child themes only. If you have a Kadence child theme, you do not need to add this code.