Create your own sidebar on your WordPress site

Custom sidebar is undoubtedly one of the must-have modules that you should not miss on the site, especially if your visitors can become members and create an account on it.

What is a sidebar?

I tried to replace the English term custom sidebar with Slovak, because in Slovakia in Slovak. This means that we could replace the term sidebar with something like the sidebar .

The sidebar or sidebar looks something like this: it is most often located on the right side of the website. In this case, we consider the “Most Read” section to be the sidebar on the dennikaN website.

Let’s look at the meaning and essence of the sidebar. Sidebar should offer logged-in users different content than those who are not logged in, or those who are on your site for the first time. For users who are currently logged in, it makes sense to view information such as account details, news, their own settings or widgets. Unregistered users may see completely different content.

The Custom Sidebar Module is available at wordpress.org along with Custom Sidebars Pro .

In this post, we’ll look at a few ways you can work with sidebars to keep track of all the widgets you need. We’ll also talk about how to set this all up properly.

Why use side panels at all?

With Sidebars, you can create as many configurations for your site as you need. In the first version, only for visitors who have their own account on the site, for specific sites, for special landing pages …. In addition, you will be able to run these sidebars exactly when you want and need them.

How can you use the side panels?

1. If you’re running a blog that contains reviews, you can run your own sidebar for each category.
2. Share a calendar or special offer for self-signed users.
3. For example, if you have an e-commerce or blog, you may have lists of recently added products in your sidebar.
4. Show your ad only to logged-in users.

What can you check in the free version?

1. Sidebar for all posts that belong to a certain category.
2. Sidebar for all posts that belong to one type of post.
3. Sidebar for all posts that belong to the archive.
4. Sidebar for all posts that fall under the main blog page.
5. Sidebar for all posts that fall under search results.

Instructions – how to create your own sidebar

Let’s create a sidebar sidebar:

When you download and install the module, go to Appearance → Widgets in the admin section.

You will see two new columns in the sidebar section on the right. If you’ve already set up your sidebar the way you need it, look for it in the Theme sidebars on the right side of the column. You’ll see a new Custom sidebars column on the left side of the column. This is where your other sidebars will also appear.

Click on create a new sidebar in the hornet section of the page. You will be prompted to enter a name and description for the sidebar. This information will later help you orient yourself better in the created sidebars.

After adding a sidebar, you can communicate with it like any other sidebar in the admin. Just play with customization options. When you have a new sidebar downloaded, set up only the pages you want it to appear for.

Post or page sidebar settings

First, make sure your sidebar has a checkbox that allows it to be moved.
This box is located at the bottom of the page. If you have a specific post or page where you want the sidebar to appear, go to the edit page in the admin and look for new options. Choose where you want to place the sidebar, update your changes, and see if they’re reflected on the page.

If you want to add the sidebar to multiple pages, you’ll need to set up each page separately. Return to Appearance → Widgets and click on sidebar location. From there, you can define where you want the sidebar that matches your criteria to appear.

For categories: Select the sidebar for the box of the category you selected.
For posts: If your topic supports posts, select the sidebar for the selected page type, posts, media pages, Google Forms page, or any other page types.

For archives, you have several options for moving the sidebar.

1. Set your sidebar to appear in the archive of posts and pages by type.
2. Set your sidebar to appear in the archive of posts and pages by category
3. Set your sidebar to appear in the archive of posts and pages based on how your posts were published. (However, you will need the Pro version of the module for this.

The free version of the module gives you great flexibility in personalizing the sidebar.

What is your experience with sidebars? Do you use them? Let us know in the comments below. 🙂