Article Sidebar

Every website has this screen. Only an Admin user can open it.

Each blog post and each project has its own page. On a computer, that page has a narrow column down the left side, beside the words. That column is the sidebar.

This screen decides what goes in it, and in what order. Each thing you add is called a module. A list of recent posts is a module. So is the search box.

Go to Plugins, open the Site Layout group, and click Article Sidebar.

What shows before you change anything

You do not have to touch this screen. Until someone saves it, every post and project shows two modules:

1. On this page: a list of the headings in the post, as links. It only shows when the post has two or more headings.
2. Written by: the team member you picked as the author, with their photo. It only shows when the post has an author.

What always stays at the top

The sidebar starts with a few details you cannot move or remove. A post shows its date and how long it takes to read. A project shows its client and year. Both show their categories and tags.

Your modules come after those.

Two tabs, one for each kind of page

The screen has two tabs: Blog posts and Projects. Each tab is its own list. Posts and projects can have different sidebars.

If your website does not have the blog, the Blog posts tab says The blog is not turned on for this site, so this sidebar shows nowhere yet. The Projects tab says the same if your website has no portfolio. You can still set it up for later.

Save saves both tabs at once.

The modules

Module	What it shows
On this page	The post’s headings, as links. Needs two or more headings.
Written by	The author you picked on the post, with their photo.
Recent posts or Recent projects	Your newest ones, leaving out the one being read.
Categories	Each category, with how many posts it holds.
Tags	Your most used tags, with how many posts carry each one.
Archive	One link for each month, newest first. Each opens that month’s posts. Blog posts only.
Search	Your site’s search box. Only if search is on. See Site search.
Newsletter	Your newsletter signup. Only if an email company is set up on the Newsletter screen.
Text	A few words of your own, with a link if you want one.

A module with nothing to show stays hidden. A post with no author shows no Written by, and nothing looks broken.

Each module has a ? beside its name. Hover over it to read what the module does.

Adding a module

1. Click the tab you want: Blog posts or Projects.
2. Find the row that starts with Add… under the list.
3. Click the module’s name. It joins the bottom of the list.
4. Set its options, if it has any. See below.
5. Move it where you want it. See the next part.

6. Click Save, at the top or the bottom of the screen.

You see Sidebar saved. If nothing changed, you see No changes to save.

Until you save, the screen says Unsaved changes next to the top Save button.

You can add each module once, except Text. You can add as many Text modules as you like. A button that is grayed out is already in the list. The sidebar holds 12 modules at most.

Module options

Some modules have a slider.

Module	Slider	Range	Starts at
Recent posts	Posts listed	1 to 10	5
Recent projects	Projects listed	1 to 10	5
Tags	Tags shown	1 to 30	15
Archive	Months listed	1 to 24	12

A Text module has four boxes:

• Heading: a small heading above the words.
• Text: your words. A blank line starts a new paragraph.
• Link text: the words of a link under the text, such as “Book a visit”.
• Link address: where the link goes. A page on your site starts with a slash, such as /contact. A full address starts with https://.

A link needs both its text and its address. Fill in only one, and the module shows a message in red. The screen will not save until you fix it. It reminds you to check both tabs.

Changing the order

The sidebar shows modules from top to bottom, in the order of the list.

• Drag a module by its grip, the dotted handle at the left of its name.
• Or use the ↑ and ↓ arrows on its row.

Click Save when the order is right.

Removing a module

Click Remove on the module’s row. It leaves the list. Nothing changes on your website until you click Save.

Take every module away, and the list says No modules: the sidebar shows only the fixed details above them. Save that, and the sidebar shows only the details at the top, such as the date and the tags.

Going back to the start

Click Reset to default under the list. Your browser asks you to confirm. The tab goes back to On this page and Written by.

That only changes the tab you are on. Nothing changes on your website until you click Save.

On a phone

A phone has no room for a sidebar. Your modules show under the post instead.

On this page and Written by are left out there. A phone already shows the list of headings above the post, and the author’s name and an “About the author” box with the post.

Comments are not here

Comments show under the post, not in the sidebar. You turn them on for posts or projects, and you approve them, somewhere else. Comments shows you how.