Widgets Reloaded

Uzip the widgets-reloaded.zip folder.
Upload the widgets-reloaded folder to your /wp-content/plugins directory.
In your WordPress dashboard, head over to the Plugins section.
Activate Widgets Reloaded.

Why was this plugin created?
For me and many of my theme users, we wanted the ability to have more control over the output of the default WordPress widgets, which didn't have enough flexibility.

This functionality is easily done with PHP code. But, for someone unfamiliar with editing theme files and working with PHP, it is not so easy and not nearly as fun as widgets.

Therefore, the original widgets for this plugin were created as a part of my theme framework, Hybrid Core. However, I wanted to provide a way for users of my themes to also be able to use these widgets, even if they were no longer using my themes. Plus, it would be cool if other WordPress users could use them too. Thus, this plugin was born.
How does this plugin work?
Widgets Reloaded works by giving you more advanced versiosn of the default WordPress widgets. Each widget has many options to allow you to customize the output of widgets on your site. You'll see many more checkboxes, input boxes, select boxes, and other options to choose from.
What custom widgets does the plugin provide?

Reloaded - Archives
Reloaded - Authors
Reloaded - Bookmarks (if link manager is enabled)
Reloaded - Calendar
Reloaded - Categories
Reloaded - Menu
Reloaded - Pages
Reloaded - Posts
Reloaded - Tags

What do all the widget options mean?
First, you should understand that you don't have to use all of the widget options. The defaults are already set up for you when you add a widget to the sidebar. You only need to configure the options that you need.

One thing many people don't realize is that most widgets are just "pretty" versions of WordPress template tags. They allow you to use the widgets screen to configure the parameters of functions that are normally written in PHP code. The Widgets Reloaded plugin merely exposes most, if not all, of these parameters in widget form. That way, you don't have to worry about writing code.

The following is a list of the widgets and their associated template tag, which links to a Codex page that explains how each option (i.e., parameter) works.

Archives: wp_get_archives
Authors: wp_list_authors
Bookmarks: wp_list_bookmarks
Calendar: get_calendar
Categories: wp_list_categories
Menu: wp_nav_menu
Pages: wp_list_pages
Posts: WP_Query
Tags: wp_tag_cloud

The widgets are coded according to WordPress standards. The HTML output by them is no different than the HTML output by the default WordPress widgets. All correctly-coded themes will output the widgets perfectly.
Are there plans for more widgets?
I have a few ideas, but feel free to share your own. If there are other widgets you'd like to see in this plugin, let me know. I probably won't add every widget idea, but I'm more than willing to consider each one carefully.

Also, remember that this plugin is meant to overwrite the default WordPress widgets. If you'd like to see a new widget that's not in WordPress, it probably won't get added to this plugin. However, I might be willing to code a new plugin just for that widget. I love WordPress widgets and am always interested in creating new, fun stuff.