hackadelic

When you use a shortcode in a text widget to dynamically create its content, the shortcode may yield empty content in some contexts, leaving you with an ugly looking empty widget in your sidebar with nothing more than a title and a blank rectange.
What you want is a text widget that will only show up when it does have content. This is such a widget.
A use case when you will immediately benefit from <a href="http://hackadelic.com/solutions/wordpress/discreet-text-widget" title="Discreet Text Widget" rel="nofollow ugc">Discreet Text Widget</a> is when you want a <a href="http://hackadelic.com/solutions/wordpress/toc-boxes" title="Hackadelic SEO Table Of Contents" rel="nofollow ugc">Table of Contents</a> <a href="http://hackadelic.com/table-of-contents-in-the-sidebar" title="How To Add a Table Of Contents to the Sidebar" rel="nofollow ugc">in the sidebar</a>.
Check out the <a href="http://hackadelic.com/solutions/wordpress/discreet-text-widget" title="Discreet Text Widget" rel="nofollow ugc">plug-in homepage</a> for in-depth information about the plug-in.
<h3>License</h3>
This file is part of the Hackadelic Discreet Text Widget WordPress plugin.
Hackadelic Discreet Text Widget is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the <a href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html" rel="nofollow ugc">GNU Affero General Public License</a> as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
Hackadelic Discreet Text Widget is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License along with Hackadelic Discreet Text Widget. If not, see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/</a>.

Hackadelic Discreet Text Widget

A smarter text widget that can be used to display table of contents in the sidebar.

Jeremy Green

Random Content is the easiest way to keep your WordPress site feeling fresh and dynamic. Create content groups, add as many items as you want, and display a random selection anywhere on your site with a single shortcode or widget.
Every time a visitor loads the page, they see something different. That means higher engagement, more clicks, and a site that never feels stale.
<h4>What can you do with it?</h4>
<ul>
<li>Rotate testimonials — Show a different customer quote on every page load</li>
<li>Randomize banners — Keep sidebar and header promotions fresh without manual updates</li>
<li>Cycle CTAs — Test different calls-to-action to see what gets clicks</li>
<li>Display tips or quotes — Add variety to any page, post, or widget area</li>
<li>Shuffle FAQs — Surface different questions each visit</li>
</ul>
<h4>Free features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Display random content anywhere with the <code>[random_content]</code> shortcode</li>
<li>Use in posts, pages, sidebars, or widget areas</li>
<li>Organize content into groups for separate rotation sets</li>
<li>Control how many items display at once</li>
<li>Full WordPress editor support — text, images, HTML, shortcodes, embeds</li>
<li>Lightweight and fast with built-in caching</li>
<li>No coding required</li>
</ul>
<h4>Getting started</h4>
<ol>
<li>Create entries under the Random Content post type</li>
<li>Organize them into Groups (works like categories)</li>
<li>Add <code>[random_content group_id="123"]</code> wherever you want random content to appear</li>
</ol>
That’s it. Your content rotates automatically on every page load.
<h4>Need more control?</h4>
<a href="https://randomcontentpro.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Random Content Pro</a> gives you complete control over what visitors see and when they see it:
<ul>
<li>Scheduling — Set start and end dates so content appears and disappears automatically. Run time-limited campaigns without touching your site.</li>
<li>Visitor targeting — Show different content based on user role, login status, UTM parameters, referrer, or page type.</li>
<li>Frequency controls — Prevent the same item from showing twice in a row. Set cooldown periods between displays.</li>
<li>Weighted selection — Assign weights (1–10) to each item. Higher weight = shown more often. Perfect for A/B testing.</li>
<li>Display rules — Control visibility per group: logged-in only, specific roles, specific page types.</li>
<li>Fallback content — Define what shows when all items are filtered out. Never display an empty space.</li>
<li>Automatic updates — Get new features and fixes delivered directly to your WordPress dashboard.</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://randomcontentpro.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Learn more about Random Content Pro →</a>
<h4>Shortcode usage</h4>
Display a random item from all entries: 
 [random_content]
Display from a specific group: 
 [random_content group_id=”64″]
Display multiple items at once: 
 [random_content group_id=”13″ num_posts=”3″]
Load content via AJAX (useful for sites with page caching): 
 [random_content group_id=”64″ ajax=”yes”]
<h4>Widget usage</h4>
Navigate to Appearance → Widgets, add the Random Content widget to any sidebar, and select a group from the dropdown. Leave the group empty to pull from all entries.

Random Content

Display random content anywhere on your WordPress site. Rotate testimonials, banners, CTAs, and more with a simple shortcode or widget.

Hackadelic Discreet Text Widget vs Random Content