
As we know, WordPress offers its users a lot of cool features for starting a website of their own. The WordPress sidebar is one of those features provided by the platform.
Basically, sidebars are considered a really fantastic tool to add extra content and functions to your site without messing with the core content. Now, the issue is how you can manage the sidebar in WordPress without any challenge as there are many methods out there with some complications.
Do not worry in this guide, we will discuss the easiest ways to edit the WordPress sidebar. But before diving into the process of editing a Sidebar in WordPress, let us glance at what a sidebar is in WordPress and where it is located.
What Is a Sidebar, and Where Is It Located?
A sidebar is a place on your site where you add content such as images, links, or any other information that is not part of your actual website’s content. As the name suggests, the sidebar can be placed on the right side or left side of your web page.
But depending on the structure of your theme, WordPress also allows the users to place it at the bottom part of the site as well. Now that you have an idea of a Sidebar and where it is located, you learn how to edit Sidebar in WordPress. So, below are two of the easiest and effective methods to edit the WordPress Sidebar.
Editing Sidebar Using Widgets
One of the simplest yet effective ways to edit a sidebar is through the widgets. You now might be wondering what widgets are? Widgets in WordPress are the options in WordPress themes like WordPress Travel blog, Video themes that allow users to add new features in the sidebar through the drag and drop option.
Every widget has its specific function for instance, the image widget is used to add an image, while Button Widget adds a button on the sidebar. To start the process of editing the WordPress sidebar, first, you need to log in to the dashboard of your WordPress Admin and then go to Appearance > Widgets.

Once you are in the Widgets tab, you will see some available widgets there. Along with them, there is also a sidebar widget option; it is located at the top right corner of your web screen. There are so many ways to add widgets to the sidebar, but the simplest is the drag and drop option.

You need to drag the available widgets such as Archives, Calendar, Custom Menu, scheduling plugin and then drop them in the Sidebar tab. After you are done adding the widgets, click on the done button. Just like that, your desired widget will be added to the sidebar of your WordPress site.
You can also make some changes to the widgets once you are done adding them. For instance, you can change the order in which they appear on your site sidebar. To do that, you just have to drag the widget from its previous location and then drop it to the new one.
Not only this, you can change the title of the text that appears on the top of your widget via the editing option.
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Removing a Widget
After learning how to easily edit a sidebar in WordPress through Widgets, you should also know how you can remove these widgets in case your sidebar gets too crowded. Just as before, you need to go to Appearance > Widgets, and you will land on the same page, but this time you will see the widgets that you have added earlier.
To delete or remove a widget, you need to click on the widget that you want to delete, and a drop-down menu will appear. Now in the menu, you will see a red Delete button; press it. This is it; your desired widget will be deleted permanently from your WordPress Site’s Sidebar and settings as well.

In case you do not want to delete it permanently, you can drag them down to the Inactive Widgets section and use them later whenever you want.
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Customized WordPress Sidebars via Plugins


If you want to add some unique thing or a particular function to your site, you should know how to make custom sidebars. To perform this task, you need to download a ‘custom sidebar plugin‘ and install & activate it on your WordPress site.
Once you have activated the plugin, you need to go to your WordPress dashboard and then Appearance > Widgets. In the widgets tab, you will see the option to create a new sidebar; click on it. After this, you will have to add your sidebar’s name and a short description of it.
Now, all you need to do is drag the available widgets and drop them in the custom sidebar you just created. The process is the same as editing a regular WordPress Sidebar for your site.
One thing that you need to remember while creating a customized WordPress Sidebar for your site with a plugin is that it will not get displayed on the website unless you specify the location of it on your own.
To do that, you have to go to Appearance > Widgets and check the Custom sidebar function. There you will need to specify the location that you are going to allot the new sidebar; the location can be right, left, or footer of your website.
In case you only want to add the custom sidebar to a custom post, you will need to edit that post manually. To perform this, you need to open that particular post and find the sidebar widget in the WordPress editor option. In that sidebar widget, you will have to select the custom sidebar that you want to display in the post.
Once you are done with all this, your custom sidebar will display on your WordPress site’s sidebar.
Different Ways to Customize the Sidebar
Customizing your sidebar is one of the best ways to get more value from the empty space in your site’s sidebar. So, here are some of the ways to customize the sidebar of your website.
Add Menus
Most blogging sites add links to all the trending posts of their website on their sidebar. This is known as the navigation menu because it helps visitors find their way around the blog. Most bloggers add this option in their site’s header, but depending on your website structure, you can add or edit the navigation menu in the sidebar column.

To add the navigation menu to your sidebar, you need to go to Appearance > Widgets. After that, drag the menu to the Sidebar column and drop it. Once you are done, click on the Save button to confirm your changes.
Add a Contact Form
Adding a contact form in the sidebar will surely help your readers to reach you easily. For instance, they can thank you for your work, or they can give new ideas about future posts through the form you added on the sidebar of your site.
As this is a customized Widget, you can use different plugins for it. If you want our advice, the best one to go with your WordPress site is WordPress WPforms plugin . After installing the plugin, you can go to the Widgets tab and look for the WPForms Widget.

Now Drag and drop the widget into the sidebar column. In the end, select the form that you want to add to the sidebar of your site and click on the ‘done’ button.
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Adding Ads in the Sidebar With Google Adsense
One of the most common reasons for making a site is that you want to earn something from it, and Google Adsense is one of the programs that allow you to earn by placing ads on your website. Fortunately, if you are using WordPress, you can add Google Adsense ads to Your Website Sidebar.
First, you need to go to Appearance > Widgets, click on the Custom HTML Widgets, and then drag it onto the top of your screen in the sidebar section. Afterward, you have to name the widget and write the Google Adsense code in the Content Box. Finally, press the Save button to finalize all of your changes.
Adding An Email Option
Adding an email option to your site’s sidebar could be a great option to increase the traffic of your site, and also, it increases the chances of people subscribing to your blog. There are a lot of plugins available for this very reason, so download one of them.
Once you have downloaded a plugin and created a form that you want to display on your site’s sidebar, go to Appearance > Widgets and drag that plugin into the Sidebar tab. Now name your widget and select a campaign in the Campaign drop-down menu that you want on the Site’s Sidebar from the newly created form.
Afterward, click on the Save button, and your desired form will be displayed on the sidebar. You can add other things to your WordPress sidebars, such as your Social media feed, popular media posts, Ecommerce products option, and more.
But the ones that we have mentioned are the best choice to go with any site as they certainly add some value to your website.
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Why you Should Use Your Sidebar
Below are some of the reasons why you should use Sidebar in WordPress:
It Lets You Highlight Content
A sidebar allows users to highlight the site’s most recent, trending, and featured content. The plus point of highlighting the content is that it enhances your website’s design, and it will eventually make your site better than the rest.
Email Subscription Option
WordPress also allows the users to put an Email subscription on the site’s sidebar, which will undoubtedly influence the readers to subscribe to further updates about a newsletter or new posts by the website. This email subscription feature can surely increase the number of your blog subscribers.
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Add Social Media Handles
You can also increase your social media traffic by placing links to your different social media pages on the sidebar. To give you a better understanding, you can associate a Facebook page with your site’s sidebar; it will let the visitors read about the content that you post on your Facebook page.
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Making Money
One of the most significant advantages of using a sidebar is that it can help you make good money through ads placed on the site. You just have to put the link on your site and wait for people to click on it. With every click, you earn money.
Add Special Functions
You can also add special functions in the WordPress sidebar on custom pages allowing people to have a unique experience while they are reading the content on your site. For instance, if someone on your site is reading about the best ways to make homemade masks.
you can create an email opt-in or add a link on the sidebar related to the post that says, subscribe if you want some tips about making Sanitizer at home. Basically, this is for increase the engagement rate of your website.
Final Verdict
Users consider widgets as one of the most effective and flexible tools in WordPress. In this article, we learned how to edit the sidebar in WordPress using those widgets from the theme’s built-in feature. But if you are not a fan of the theme’s customization feature, we can also discuss how you to use a third-party plugin to make a custom sidebar.
We are hopeful that you learned both methods. However, if you are not sure that they would work, reread our guide again and even try the process by yourself. We are confident that it will undoubtedly help you in editing your WP sidebar.