WordPress Gurus...I need a little help please...

if ( function_exists('register_sidebar') ) {

    register_sidebar(array(

        'name' => 'Homepage Widget Area',

        'before_widget' => '<div class="widget-container"><div class="widget-inner">',

        'after_widget' => '</div></div>',

        'before_title' => '<h4 class="widget-header">',

        'after_title' => '</h4>',

    ));

} 

<?php
/**
 * Plugin Name: Category Feature Widget
 */

add_action( 'widgets_init', 'gd_catfeat_load_widgets' );

function gd_catfeat_load_widgets() {
    register_widget( 'gd_catfeat_widget' );
}

class gd_catfeat_widget extends WP_Widget {

    /**
     * Widget setup.
     */
    function gd_catfeat_widget() {
        /* Widget settings. */
        $widget_ops = array( 'classname' => 'gd_catfeat_widget', 'description' => __('A widget that displays posts from a category of your choice.', 'gd_catfeat_widget') );

        /* Widget control settings. */
        $control_ops = array( 'width' => 250, 'height' => 350, 'id_base' => 'gd_catfeat_widget' );

        /* Create the widget. */
        $this->WP_Widget( 'gd_catfeat_widget', __('Gameday: Category Feature', 'gd_catfeat_widget'), $widget_ops, $control_ops );
    }

    /**
     * How to display the widget on the screen.
     */
    function widget( $args, $instance ) {
        extract( $args );

        /* Our variables from the widget settings. */
        $title = apply_filters('widget_title', $instance['title'] );
        $categories = $instance['categories'];
        $links = $instance['links'];
        $links_num = $instance['links_num'];

        ?>

            <div class="widget-container">
                <span class="blog-cat-title"><?php echo $title; ?></span>
                <?php $recent = new WP_Query(array( 'cat' => $categories, 'showposts' => 1 )); while($recent->have_posts()) : $recent->the_post();?>
                <?php if (  (function_exists('has_post_thumbnail')) && (has_post_thumbnail())  ) { ?>
                <div class="widget-img">
                    <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_post_thumbnail('large-thumb'); ?></a>
                </div><!--widget-img-->
                <?php } ?>
                <div class="widget-inner">
                    <h3 class="home-title1"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h3>
                    <p class="gd-widgets"><?php echo excerpt(20); ?></p>
                    <?php endwhile; ?>

                    <?php if($links) { ?>
                    <ul class="home-links1">
                        <?php $recent = new WP_Query(array( 'cat' => $categories, 'showposts' => $links_num, 'offset' => 1 )); while($recent->have_posts()) : $recent->the_post();?>
                        <li><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
                        <?php endwhile; ?>
                    </ul>
                    <?php } ?>
                </div><!--widget-inner-->
            </div><!--widget-container-->

        <?php

    }

    /**
     * Update the widget settings.
     */
    function update( $new_instance, $old_instance ) {
        $instance = $old_instance;

        /* Strip tags for title and name to remove HTML (important for text inputs). */
        $instance['title'] = strip_tags( $new_instance['title'] );
        $instance['categories'] = strip_tags( $new_instance['categories'] );
        $instance['links'] = strip_tags( $new_instance['links'] );
        $instance['links_num'] = strip_tags( $new_instance['links_num'] );


        return $instance;
    }


    function form( $instance ) {

        /* Set up some default widget settings. */
        $defaults = array( 'title' => 'Category Title', 'links' => 'on', 'links_num' => 4);
        $instance = wp_parse_args( (array) $instance, $defaults ); ?>

        <!-- Widget Title: Text Input -->
        <p>
            <label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'title' ); ?>">Name of Category:</label>
            <input id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'title' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'title' ); ?>" value="<?php echo $instance['title']; ?>" style="width:90%;" />
        </p>

        <!-- Category -->
        <p>
            <label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('categories'); ?>">Select Category:</label>
            <select id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('categories'); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('categories'); ?>" style="width:100%;">
                <option value='all' <?php if ('all' == $instance['categories']) echo 'selected="selected"'; ?>>All Categories</option>
                <?php $categories = get_categories('hide_empty=0&depth=1&type=post'); ?>
                <?php foreach($categories as $category) { ?>
                <option value='<?php echo $category->term_id; ?>' <?php if ($category->term_id == $instance['categories']) echo 'selected="selected"'; ?>><?php echo $category->cat_name; ?></option>
                <?php } ?>
            </select>
        </p>

        <!-- Links -->
        <p>
            <label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'links' ); ?>">Show Links:</label>
            <input type="checkbox" id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'links' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'links' ); ?>" <?php checked( (bool) $instance['links'], true ); ?> />
        </p>

        <!-- Number of Links -->
        <p>
            <label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'links_num' ); ?>">Number of links:</label>
            <input id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'links_num' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'links_num' ); ?>" value="<?php echo $instance['links_num']; ?>" style="width:90%;" />
        </p>


    <?php
    }
}

?>