Sidebars and Widgets

Dynamically add, remove and adjust settings for the sidebars and widgets 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.