How can I alter the display of category listings via sidebar.php?

Question

I would like to alter the default categories widget code so that it does not show any categories which are children of the uncategorized (id=1) category.

Can I do this via my sidebar.php or functions.php code?

Answer 1

If memory serves, there's an exclude argument, which isn't available in the widget but which should be around for the category list template tag.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/wp_list_categories

It should hide subcategories if you're listing them hierarchically.

Answer 2

Try Widgets Reloaded plugin. It replicates native WP widgets, but gives more control over setup and argument of internal functions.