I’m a long time web editor using HTML and Dreamweaver but completely new to Wordpress. I was very impressed by the BB plug-in and so it is going to be the key tool for my new site.
I’ve surfed the web and bought books, but a basic issue is perplexing me. I am having serious problems understanding (or maybe it’s just the activating) of Sidebars.
I need a sitewide sidebar with a master menu (vertical using Max Mega Menu plug-in). I believe that for what I need, the menu needs to be set at the theme level, if I understand correctly.
I have built the menu and then used the Customize/content/blog/sidebar settings to establish the sidebar on the left side of the page, using the BB child theme.
I have a static homepage set up with text and a slider image. It is set to “Published,” as confirmed by having it open in a different (not logged into WP) browser and refreshing as I make changes.
Now, going into Appearance/widgets, I have dragged the menu widget into the Primary Sidebar box, but saving and viewing the page shows nothing. I tried pulling in another simple widget, “Text,” with some junk text in it into the same sidebar, but still nothing shows. Tried removing the menu widget but leaving the text, still nothing.
I cannot find a specific instruction to tell me where to turn this sidebar on. I think the visibility settings are set for visible, but I see nothing.
Should I be creating a separate page? Writing code (I do not know the WP specific codes or syntax) or what???
I thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
Hi Danny!
Thank you so much for your swift reply. That certainly did the trick.
This further confuses me as to the role of templates vs. themes. I would have thought that a theme would supersede a template in the overall hierarchy, but this is contrary to that. A template depends on a theme, but a theme then depends on a template? Seems like a cyclical dependency, usually a no-no with software.
Further question then:
Does using the sidebar template preclude me from making other templates that also need the sidebar? My site vision was that the sidebar would always be present, and that I would have several types of templates for pages, ranging from info pages to galleries, to forms, all with the same navigation menu on the side.
Every time I try to look this up, I get bogged down in explanations of custom codes and other trivia. I had hoped that a simple straightforward approach would be possible without coding in WP.
Is there any clear, non-code based documentation that explains these relationships, preferably with some step by step examples?
BTW, is there a way to kill the NAV link in the header while keeping the header? I can get rid of the magnifying glass but the menu requester won’t go away.
I apologise, but I am not quite sure what you’re referring to. As Templates are part of the theme itself. The Sidebar Template you selected is a template for the BB theme.
Nearly all WordPress theme includes templates that layout that page in a particular way such as a Sidebar on a page. We also include a “No Header or Footer” template which removes the header/footer from the page. The theme doesn’t depend on a template, but simply adds to the themes functionality.
Does using the sidebar template preclude me from making other templates that also need the sidebar? My site vision was that the sidebar would always be present, and that I would have several types of templates for pages, ranging from info pages to galleries, to forms, all with the same navigation menu on the side.
If I understand you correctly, you want to use the same Sidebar across several pages with the same widgets i.e. navigation menu?
If my assumption is correct, then all you would need to do is create a page, set the template to Sidebar and add your widgets to the sidebar via Appearance > Widgets.
Unfortunately, there is no option to remove the nav, but keep the header. Therefore, to do this would require custom CSS, which will hide the menu.
You understood my question correctly. I guess that my question is whether there is a heirarchy of templates. Can one template that is local to maybe half the site call another template that is sitewide?
Thank you for the CSS code. It works properly. Perhaps a “No Nav” option in the header design box would be a nice future option?
Still with the header options, there seems to be no visible way to otherwise adjust the Header template in terms of fine positioning the logo either. My logo hugs the far edges and I could not see an option to move it, or to resize the logo without re-saving it in a different size manually and re-uploading. Am I missing something here or does this require coding?
You understood my question correctly. I guess that my question is whether there is a heirarchy of templates. Can one template that is local to maybe half the site call another template that is sitewide?
I apologise, but I am not quite sure what you mean by this? Can you go into greater detail, please?
For the no Nav option, could you post your idea to our User Voice, please?
