Purely vertical and lateral wires for circuitikz

Question

I am attempting to diagram a simple approach to an equality testing circuit for two four-bit inputs. Instead of the wires being at an oblique angle to connect the two points of gate inputs and outputs, can I force the lines to be purely vertical and lateral with right angles as necessary to connect the points. I need to do this while maintaining the ability to label the wires as shown. When I first made the diagram, the wires were as I had hoped with the '-|' argument or operator in place of 'to', but I could not find a way to get wires instantiated with that method to accept labels. Thank you very much for your assistance and consideration.

\documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage{circuitikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{circuitikz} \draw
    (0,0) node[xor port] (g7) {$g_7$}
    (0,2) node[xor port] (g6) {$g_6$}
    (0,4) node[xor port] (g5) {$g_5$}
    (0,6) node[xor port] (g4) {$g_4$}
    (3,1) node[or port] (g3) {$g_3$}
    (3,5) node[or port] (g2) {$g_2$}
    (6,3) node[or port] (g1) {$g_1$}
    (g4.out) to [short,l=${w_4}$] (g2.in 1)
    (g5.out) to [short,l=${w_5}$] (g2.in 2)
    (g6.out) to [short,l=${w_6}$] (g3.in 1)
    (g7.out) to [short,l=${w_7}$] (g3.in 2)
    (g2.out) to [short,l=${w_2}$] (g1.in 1)
    (g3.out) to [short,l=${w_3}$] (g1.in 2)
    (g1.out) node[anchor=west] {$output$}
    (g4.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_3$}
    (g4.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_3$}
    (g5.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_2$}
    (g5.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_2$}
    (g6.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_1$}
    (g6.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_1$}
    (g7.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_0$}
    (g7.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_0$}

;\end{circuitikz}
\end{document}

Answer 1

You can place a label on a line by adding a node. See section 17.8 (Placing Nodes on a Line or Curve Explicitly) of the pgf/tikz manual.

\documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage{circuitikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{circuitikz} \draw
    (0,0) node[xor port] (g7) {$g_7$}
    (0,2) node[xor port] (g6) {$g_6$}
    (0,4) node[xor port] (g5) {$g_5$}
    (0,6) node[xor port] (g4) {$g_4$}
    (3,1) node[or port] (g3) {$g_3$}
    (3,5) node[or port] (g2) {$g_2$}
    (6,3) node[or port] (g1) {$g_1$}
    (g4.out) -| (g2.in 1) node[midway, above] {$w_4$}
    (g5.out) -| (g2.in 2) node[midway, below] {$w_5$}
    (g6.out) -| (g3.in 1) node[midway, above] {$w_6$}
    (g7.out) -| (g3.in 2) node[midway, below] {$w_7$}
    (g2.out) -| (g1.in 1) node[midway, above] {$w_2$}
    (g3.out) -| (g1.in 2) node[midway, below] {$w_3$}
    (g1.out) node[anchor=west] {$output$}
    (g4.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_3$}
    (g4.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_3$}
    (g5.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_2$}
    (g5.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_2$}
    (g6.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_1$}
    (g6.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_1$}
    (g7.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_0$}
    (g7.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_0$}

;\end{circuitikz}
\end{document}

In this example I used midway, but there are other keys to fine tune the position of the label.

Answer 2

You can \draw lines with |- and -|.

Here is an extract of your example:

\documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage{circuitikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{circuitikz} \draw
    (0,4) node[xor port] (g5) {$g_5$}
    (0,6) node[xor port] (g4) {$g_4$}
    (3,5) node[or port] (g2) {$g_2$}
    (g4.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_3$}
    (g4.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_3$}
    (g5.in 1) node[anchor=east] {$a_2$}
    (g5.in 2) node[anchor=east] {$b_2$}

    (g4.out) |- node[above right]{${w_4}$} (g2.in 1)
    (g5.out) |- node[below right]{${w_3}$} (g2.in 2)
    ;
\end{circuitikz}
\end{document}