How to create new sidebar in wordpress
Creating a new sidebar in WordPress involves several steps. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you create a new sidebar:
Step 1: Create a new PHP file
In your WordPress theme directory, create a new file called sidebar.php
. This file will contain the code for your new sidebar.
Step 2: Define the sidebar
In the sidebar.php
file, add the following code to define the sidebar:
<?php
/*
Template Name: My New Sidebar
*/
?>
This code defines a new template called "My New Sidebar".
Step 3: Add the sidebar to the theme
In your theme's functions.php
file, add the following code to register the new sidebar:
function my_new_sidebar() {
register_sidebar(array(
'name' => __( 'My New Sidebar' ),
'id' => 'my-new-sidebar',
'description' => __( 'My new sidebar' ),
'before_widget' => '<div id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s">',
'after_widget' => '</div>',
'before_title' => '<h2 class="widget-title">',
'after_title' => '</h2>',
));
}
add_action( 'widgets_init', 'my_new_sidebar' );
This code registers the new sidebar with the ID "my-new-sidebar" and adds it to the theme.
Step 4: Add widgets to the sidebar
To add widgets to the new sidebar, go to the WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Widgets, and drag and drop widgets into the new sidebar.
Step 5: Add the sidebar to your theme
To display the new sidebar in your theme, you need to add the following code to your theme's page.php
or index.php
file:
<?php if ( is_active_sidebar( 'my-new-sidebar' ) ) :?>
<aside id="my-new-sidebar" class="widget-area">
<?php dynamic_sidebar( 'my-new-sidebar' );?>
</aside>
<?php endif;?>
This code checks if the new sidebar is active and displays it if it is.
Step 6: Customize the sidebar
You can customize the appearance of the new sidebar by adding CSS styles to your theme's style.css
file. For example, you can add the following code to style the sidebar:
#my-new-sidebar {
background-color: #f0f0f0;
padding: 20px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
}
This code adds a gray background, padding, and border to the new sidebar.
That's it! You have now created a new sidebar in WordPress.