Genesis - How to choose specific posts to display in Featured Posts widgets

Several of our themes prominently display Genesis Featured Posts widgets on the homepage. By default, Genesis Featured Posts displays your most recent posts in reverse chronological order. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to choose specific posts to display in the Genesis Featured Posts widget.

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Posts > Categories. Create a new category and give it a name such as "Featured." (Note: it doesn't have to be called Featured — you can name it whatever you'd like. This category will contain only posts you want to appear in your featured posts widget).
2. Assign your new Featured category to the blog posts you would like to display in the Genesis Featured Posts widget. How to add categories to posts
3. Go to Appearance > Widgets. Open the widget area containing your Genesis Featured Posts widget.
4. Open the Genesis Featured Posts widget to access the settings. Under "Category," select the Featured category you created. Save changes.

Now, only the posts you assigned to the special Featured category will appear in the featured posts section on your site!

This same "trick" can also be used to choose specific posts to display in the Genesis Responsive Slider (used in Amelia, Pippa, and Vivienne themes). Follow steps 1-3 above, then go to Genesis > Slider Settings. Under "By Taxonomy and Terms", select the Featured category. Save changes.