Wednesday, May 10th, 2006...4:41 pm

Customizing the PressRow Sidebar

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Invariably, you’ll want to add and subtract content from the sidebar from time to time. Fortunately, this is a simple task, and with the help of this brief tutorial, you’ll be a sidebar-modifying pro in no time.

To begin, log in to your WordPress administration panel and click on the “Presentation” link. From there, choose “Theme Editor” from the sub navigation menu. Once that page loads, you should see a vertical list of links on the right that correspond with the PressRow theme files. Click on “Sidebar” from the list, and you should end up with a screen that looks like this:

Edit the Sidebar in the Theme EditorEssentially, the sidebar is a list of items (elements), and each block of content - such as the search block or the download block on this page’s sidebar - is an individual list item. Items are denoted by the outermost <li> tags.

As you might expect, elements in the sidebar appear in exactly the same order that they are coded. Therefore, if the search block appears first in the sidebar code, then it will also appear first in the sidebar on the live site. Gravy, right? Groovy.

Add Your Own Block of Content

Now that you know what’s going on, let’s add a block of content to the sidebar to get you started. For the purposes of this example, we’re going to add a simple block of content that tells visitors a little bit about you, the author. Think of it as a mini “about” page.

Insert the following code between the “Search It” <li> tags and the “Recent Entries” <li> tags:

<li>
   <h2>About the Author</h2>
   <div class="sidebar_section">
      <p>Hi, my name is Press Row. I was born on May 10, 2006, so I'm not very old yet!</p>
   </div>
</li>

What your custom sidebar block should look likeIf you’ve done everything correctly, you’ll get a result that looks like the picture here. Certain tags - <p>, <ul>, and <li> - have been pre-formatted for use in the sidebar, so you’ll be safe as long as you stick to those.

7 Comments

Filed under Theme Info, Tips

7 Comments

  • PressRow Theme for WordPress » Blog Archive » Welcome to PressRow!
    May 14th, 2006 at 3:35 pm

    […] Customizing your sidebar […]

  • cheryl
    October 4th, 2006 at 2:36 am

    Hi Chris -

    thanks for this fabulous theme - torn between Pressrow and Cutline, but I love Pressrow.

    Here’s a puzzle. I installed James Kelly’s Themed Login plugin and added login and register links to my sidebar.

    I accomplished the goal of having my login and register pages fit into the Pressrow theme instead of looking default ugly, but for some reason it forces my whole sidebar to be centered instead of left aligned.

    I’ve twiddled with adding custom styles for the login div, but with no luck.

    If you’ve got time to have a peek, could you point me in the right direction for a fix?

    Gratefully,

    Cheryl

  • Techie Teri
    October 4th, 2006 at 6:13 am

    Hi,

    Geat theme… I saw it on another blog and followed the link here. :)

    I make how-to videos and I have a whole set on wordpress (and blogger for the beginners!) that can be accessed for free during our free 1 week trial membership special.

    For those who like to watch videos or learn better that way. :)

    Thanks again for the great theme, I am sure I will be using it on my next new blog. :)

    Techie Teri

  • Download the best black minimalist theme for your Wordpress blog : ColourFull Wall
    March 1st, 2007 at 12:47 am

    […] Easily add your favourite sections in the sidebar. Grab the instruction and list anything you want […]

  • Maggie
    June 10th, 2007 at 1:51 am

    I just recently started playing with the PressRow theme as my selection on wordpress, and i love it. I am a newbie blogger and the feel of this theme is exactly what I was looking for!

    I do, though, have a sidebar problem. When I added a bulk of posts, the home sidebar is not longer on the right side. It has moved to the left side and is sitting below the posts. If i turn to other pages, it is on the right, as it should be. I am stumped.

    How can I fix this?

  • Admin
    June 10th, 2007 at 3:00 am

    Maggie — I think it has something to do with the introductory div modules that you’ve included at the beginning and end of each post. Try taking those out and see if it doesn’t straighten out the sidebar situation.

  • Bags
    August 27th, 2007 at 11:47 am

    So, I am loving the theme, but there are a few things I would love to customize… I really really want to add a calendar and a section for ‘post categories’ on the sidebar. Is that possible? If there is a widget that I can install or code I could add, I would love to know where to get a hold of it. Let me know… thanks!

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