Sidebars and Widgets

Learn how to manage sidebars and widgets in the Memberlite theme. Dynamically add, remove and adjust settings on the selected page in the Customize Preview area or via Appearance > Widgets in the WordPress admin.

Default Widget Areas

Memberlite includes the following widget areas:

Posts and Archives

Shown on the latest posts page (front page or as defined under Settings > Reading), category and tag archives, and single posts.

Pages

Shown on all pages.

Header Right

Shown in the upper right area of the header. Suggestions for this area include a menu, social networking links, or a search form if desired. Note that the “Meta Menu” theme location will precede this widget area if a menu is set under Appearance > Menus.

Footer

Shown in the footer throughout the site. Each widget will fill a column; you can set the number of footer columns under Appearance > Customize > Memberlite Options > Footer Widgets.

Mobile Menu

Shown in the pop-out menu area on smaller devices. Suggestions for this area include menus, a search form, and a log-in form if desired.

Add a New Custom Sidebar

1. Navigate to Appearance > Custom Sidebars.
2. Enter a “Sidebar Name“.
3. Click “Add Sidebar“.

Update Default Sidebar Per Page/Post

Memberlite allows you to easily update a single page or post’s default sidebar behavior.

1. To update the default sidebar display, select a page or post to edit.
2. Locate the “Custom Sidebar” section in the right sidebar.
3. Select a “Custom Sidebar” from the dropdown.
4. Modify the default sidebar display in the dropdown “Default Sidebar Behavior“. Options include:
   • Show Default Sidebar Above
   • Show Default Sidebar Below, or
   • Hide Default Sidebar
5. Update the page or post to save settings.

Assign Custom Sidebars by CPT

If you are using a third-party plugin that adds a new custom post type (such as an events plugin or ecommerce plugin), you can create and assign a unique custom sidebar at the CPT level.

Navigate to Appearance > Custom Sidebars to view detected CPTs and assign the custom sidebar, either from the included widget areas or a new custom widget area you created.

For example, the Events Manager plugin creates CPTs for Events and Locations. You can assign a custom sidebar and set unique widgets for these custom sidebar areas.

In most cases, you are setting a global sidebar override at the CPT level, but can still change the custom sidebar at the single CPT level. For example, if you are using bbPress, you can assign a Custom Sidebar to all “Forum” CPTs, then change a single forum’s custom sidebar on the “Edit Forum” page. This may be true of other CPTs, it just depends on how your plugin displays the CPT publicly.

Hide/Show Pages Submenu

Pages will display a menu of all child pages in the page ancestor’s hierarchy by default.

1. To disable or enable this menu, select a page to edit.
2. Locate the “Custom Sidebar” section in the right sidebar.
3. Check or uncheck the box labeled “Hide Page Children Menu in Sidebar“.
4. Update the page.