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This tutorial will walk you through creating a single widgetized sidebar container filled with individually styled widgets that can span a wide sidebar or float to either side to create the appearance of columns.
An alternative strategy was covered in Part I.
There are two general approaches to styling a wide, widgetized sidebar: fill one dynamic_sidebar with [...]

There are two general approaches to styling a wide, widgetized sidebar: fill one dynamic_sidebar with individually styled widgets, or fill a sidebar container with several instances of dynamic_sidebar. Though perfectionists and geeky control freaks will appreciate the control of individually styled widgets, for pure speed and simplicity the multiple dynamic_sidebar path is hard to [...]

This tutorial will cover adding several “sidebars” to sidebar.php using simple “if” statements, and where to place unwidgeted content in the same file. This is a first step to my next tutorial, which will present some ideas for how to style a wide, widgetized sidebar.
Mixing widgetized and unwidgetized sidebar content can be confusing. [...]

So, it’s time to install an important security upgrade. You back up your database, but forget to back up your customized version of a theme that comes with WordPress. When performing the upgrade, the new Default files overwrite the old ones, and your work on WordPress Default is lost.
There are two [...]

This tutorial will walk you through how to widen Kubrick, the WordPress Default Theme, without losing the ability to use the theme’s custom header image coloring. The result will be wide enough for a second sidebar, or for one of the extra wide sidebars that are increasingly popular.
I added 200px to the WordPress Default [...]

The WordPress Default Theme measures about 220 pixels from the top of the screen to the bottom of the header image, with a 760px wide by 200px high header image. Many popular sites have only between 100 and 150 pixels between the top of the screen and the bottom of the header area. [...]

This is the tutorial I wish I had found when I first wanted to know how to add a second widget-ready sidebar.

Step One: Create a second sidebar file

1)a: Add content to sidebar2.php
1)b: Upload sidebar2.php

Step Two: Add the new sidebar to your WordPress layout

2)a: Find the code that calls the original sidebar
2)b: Add your own includes

Step [...]

Background bits:

Even when there are very few actual visitors, blog posts that contain very specific terms get found via a search or two. It’s nice to be needed, and found. Search is cool.
Some of the posts that were the most fun to write got the most attention from friends, especially when I kicked [...]

One simple feature can help users get into your site. Without this feature there is a barrier on every page. Some users will pass this barrier without noticing. For others, this barrier is a significant usability problem.
I’m talking about skiplinks.
Imagining Skiplinks
Look at the three links at the top right of [...]

A couple posts ago I wrote about at-a-glance features that help me get a quick sense of what’s going on with a blog. For the next few posts I’m going to chip away at adding some of those features to my own blog. My first target will be some sidebar links devoted to [...]

My 100 posts project needs a home. I want all 100+1 in their own group, with easy navigation between them, and I’d like some sort of countdown widget.
For a countdown I chose KB Countdown Widget.
KB Countdown Widget
KB Countdown is a sidebar widget that comes with nice documentation and several pre-configured options. You can [...]

When I started my blog last month I had planned to fairly quickly add three custom graphic elements. Category avatars were at the top of my list.
Category avatars are a nice way to automatically add visual interest to a blog that is mostly text. Author avatars help, but are not practical for a [...]

Are you disappointed with the inaccuracy of Google’s blog search for examining incoming links? Here’s a quick way to add links to other services to your WordPress dashboard.
First, go to the root level of your WordPress installation. Find and open the file /wp-admin/index.php. Use a text editor.
Next, find these lines:
 
<div [...]

One of the neat things about WordPress is that a non-programmer can add personalized tweaks fairly easily, with a basic understanding of nesting. The trick is to find what something is called and simplify goals. Simplification is often a matter of not requiring special treatment for specific situations, unless that is something you [...]