The product display widget has many display types. Some of them you can control, others which you can not...
Some that you can NOT technically control are:
New Items - Based upon entry date of the product. There is no override for this.
Hot Sellers - Based on total number of items sold. There is no override for this.
Sale Items - Based upon any sales you are running. There is no override for this. You must put the items on sale in the system for them to appear in this Widget.
There are many settings you can change as for how the products display. Explore which ones you want to alter...
Some that you CAN control...
You can also use the the Spotlight and Featured item flags in the Product Editor. Using this allows you to assign the product to a product display widget that show those products only. You can label those widgets whatever you like, such as "Sale Items." This gives you control to display only the items you want shown. Even though the product is technically a spotlight item, you can label it as a sale item or whatever you wish.
