Displaying list of categories and tags in Wordpress

Question

I'd like to display a list of categories and tags, that are picked manually. So I'd pre-define what categories and tags are to be shown.

So there'd two blocks in the sidebar:

Major Categories
- category 1
- category 2
- category 3
... upto 7

and Tags:

Quick Links
- tag 1
- tag 2
- tag 3
... upto 20

Answer 1

Look for a sidebar widget. I don't think this is default functionality, because it is necessary to pick the tags and categires beforehand in the admin.

Answer 2

WordPress › WordPress Plugins << Search Plugins "dropdown categories"

Answer 3

Why not use the Categories Widget and this plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/list-tags/