Multiple Sidebars the Right Way
Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Alex Denning in Quick Tips
Multiple sidebars are becoming increasingly popular with specific sidebars being displayed only on specific pages or posts. How do they do it? Originally it’d be an if (ie if is homepage) and then include a PHP file, but WordPress has a better way. A built in better way. In this post we’ll learn how to add multiple sidebars the right way.
The old, rubbishy way
Back in the day, you’d have something like this:
<?php include (TEMPLATEPATH . '/single-sidebar.php'; ?>Which isn’t too pretty. Because WordPress has a better way of doing things. Which is using the get_sidebar function that is normally used to get the sidebar.
The new, brilliant way
It’s really as simple as renaming your new fancy sidebar sidebar-something.php and then you can use the get_sidebar function like so:
<?php get_sidebar('something'); ?>And that’s all there is to it. I would write more, but that’s essentially it. So I won’t. Enjoy your new found knowledge!
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Alex Denning is the founder of WPShout. A WordPress developer from London, Alex co-founded WPShift at the start of 2010 where he sells awesome WordPress themes.
You can find Alex on Twitter and at AlexDenning.com.
9 Responses to “Multiple Sidebars the Right Way”
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Sara
18. Nov, 2009
Nice to know about, thanks!
Cracks
16. Dec, 2009
So why exactly is the get_sidebar version is better?
Is it just a “pretty” factor, or is it less load heavy? Please explain.
Rebecca
12. Jan, 2010
Thanks, just the simple instructions I was looking for!
Alex Denning
18. Jan, 2010
Glad I could be a help!
Theo
16. Jan, 2010
Truly brilliant !
Thanks
Ashfame
11. Feb, 2010
Yes you can have multiple sidebars that way but I bet you want them to be widgetized too. Refer to one of my post on my blog – How to have multiple widgetized different sidebars (http://blog.ashfame.com/2009/11/multiple-widgetized-different-sidebars/)
Doug C.
04. Apr, 2010
I don’t get it. So you got “” … then what?
Say I make a widget that I only want to display on certain pages. How would I add that using this “get sidebar” code?
Now that would be an interesting and useful post.
Amor
04. May, 2010
I've been using
<?php include ('sidebar-single.php'); ?> <?php include ('sidebar-page.php'); ?>I didn't know I could use
<?php get_sidebar('single'); ?> <?php get_sidebar('page'); ?>learned something new again. Thanks Alex!.