Sidebars/Widget Areas are containers to hold widgets. They are usually used to display information other than the main content of a web page or to add widgets into mega and side menus.
Note that there is no difference between a sidebar and a widget area. Sometimes, when talking about pages for example, we call it sidebar, but other times, like when talking about mega menus, we call it a widget area. The Ken theme provides 16 default sidebar areas. Each sidebar area belongs to a specific page or section.
In this article, we’ll explain the process of adding a sidebar to a page and selecting a widget area for the mega menu. It does not matter if the page is a blog post or portfolio item, the process is the same.
Adding a Sidebar into Posts
You can add a Sidebar to the posts globally or individually.
Adding a Sidebar Globally
To add a Sidebar globally into Posts, please go to Theme Settings -> Blog and choose Right or Left value for Blog Single Layout option. Choosing Right or Left will add the Sidebar either to the Right or Left side of the blog. The auto assigned Sidebar for the Blog is the Blog Single sidebar present in Appearance -> Widgets.
Adding a Sidebar Individually
For the individual posts, this setting is available in the Ken Page Layout box present at the right side of the title box. Using this setting you can override the default sidebar by adding a specific sidebar to the post. You can also override the layout of the page by changing the sides of the sidebar or by simply disabling the sidebar on the specific post.
To add a sidebar:
Adding a Sidebar into Pages
There are two ways to add a sidebar to a page. The two ways are Choose A Sidebar option and the widgetized sidebar shortcode element.
Choose A Sidebar
This setting is available in Posts, Pages and Portfolios in the Ken Page Layout box. This setting adds the sidebar area to the page.
To add a sidebar:
Adding a Sidebar via Shortcodes
Widgetized Sidebar Shortcode
This shortcode allows you to choose a sidebar and display it inside a page section or row shortcode. In this example, we’ll explain the process for the row shortcode.
To add the widgetized sidebar shortcode inside the row shortcode:
Choosing a Widget Area/Sidebar for the Mega Menu
You can set a widget area/sidebar as a column in your menu by selecting it from the Mega Menu Widget Area option for second level menu items.
To add a widget area to the mega menu, follow the steps described below:
