Pretty Sidebar Categories 1.3.0 is a full rework of a WordPress plugin that first shipped in 2012. The classic job is unchanged—show posts from selected categories and taxonomies in a sidebar with list or image layouts—but the codebase now meets current WordPress, Plugin Check, and security expectations, and it adds an optional Elementor widget that shares the same renderer as the Appearance → Widgets experience.
Everything in this release lives under 1.3.0: the modernization pass, the shared front-end renderer, and the Elementor addition. There is no separate “Elementor-only” version number.
1. Headers, requirements, and Plugin Check readiness
The first change area is identity and compliance. Version 1.3.0 adds a clear GPL license header, Requires PHP, ABSPATH guards on loaded PHP files, and a Stable tag aligned with WordPress 6.4+ and Tested up to 7.1.
That baseline matters for the WordPress.org directory and for Plugin Check. It also keeps Pretty Sidebar Categories consistent with newer GrandSlambert plugins that already ship the same requirements.
- License and Requires PHP in the plugin header
- ABSPATH exits on every PHP entry file
- Stable tag and Tested up to kept in sync for 1.3.0
2. Escaping, sanitization, and a quieter settings screen
The second change area is security hygiene around the sidebar widget and its options. Admin and front-end output is escaped; settings and widget updates are sanitized; and the settings screen no longer pulls remote CDN assets or contributor XML for filler content.
Your sidebars still use the same templates—list, image left, image right, and full-width image—but the data path into those templates is stricter. That is the kind of rework a 2012 plugin needs before it belongs on a modern production site.
3. Shared renderer, Elementor widget, and deprecated API cleanup
The third change area is the biggest user-facing addition in 1.3.0: a shared front-end renderer powering both the classic widget and a new Elementor widget. When Elementor is active, you get Content, Query, and Display controls that match the classic widget, plus Style tabs for title, description, items, dates, excerpts, and images.
Under the hood, old PHP and WordPress habits are gone. Calls that relied on create_function are removed, widget registration uses a normal constructor path, and term counting uses current wp_count_terms arguments. Editors who stay on Appearance → Widgets keep the same workflow; builders who live in Elementor get the same lists without a second rendering path.
- Shared renderer for classic widget and Elementor
- Optional Elementor widget with Content / Query / Display and Style tabs
- No
create_function; modern widget bootstrap and term-count handling
Who should update to 1.3.0
If you already use Pretty Sidebar Categories on an older site, 1.3.0 is the release to install before you lean on newer WordPress and PHP versions—or before you place the same category lists inside Elementor. If you are choosing a taxonomy sidebar widget for a new GrandSlambert-built site, start on 1.3.0 so you inherit Plugin Check cleanup and Elementor support from day one.
In short: this is the 2012 plugin, rebuilt as 1.3.0—safer on modern WordPress, cleaner for Plugin Check, and ready for Elementor when you want the sidebar category lists inside the builder.
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