How to Create a Sticky Sidebar In WordPress
Clear navigation is one of the key elements of a good website. Users must be able to reach the content they want with ease and at all times. In most cases, the main menu is placed in the header, but there are other types of navigation, too, including hidden menus, footer navigation, and sidebars.
Navigation is static by default, i.e. it disappears when you scroll. However, in WordPress, you can easily make sticky menus. They stay permanently visible on the screen, allowing users to effortlessly access various sections of a site.
Sticky sidebars, in particular, have become quite popular over the last few years. They help make navigation quick and effective, which is just one of the several important reasons why so many people add them to their sites.
In this article, we will discuss the pros of adding a WordPress sticky sidebar to a site and also show you how to create one by yourself. The subjects we will delve into include:
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A WordPress sticky sidebar is a widget locked into its place in the viewport. When the user scrolls, the sticky sidebar follows them up and down, instead of staying in its original place. One of the main reasons why sticky sidebars have become all the rage is their unobtrusive appearance. They are placed vertically on either the right or left side of the screen, leaving designers a lot of space to arrange and display other site elements. At the same time, they help improve the user experience. Sticky sidebars usually contain helpful links ensuring users can navigate sites with greater ease and access practical information at all times.
Since they are locked into place, sticky sidebars represent a great way of ensuring your audience always sees the content you deem valuable and important. For example, if you add a call-to-action to them, your conversion rates are likely to increase. You can also feature social media icons in your sidebar and allow users quick access to your content on social channels.
Now that we know the why’s, let’s go step by step over the how’s of adding a sticky sidebar to your WordPress website.
Q2W3 Fixed Widget for WordPress is the most popular plugin on the market of its kind. It’s free, regularly updated, and allows you to create a fixed (i.e. sticky) sidebar area in WordPress.
It comes with a set of options you can customize to your requirements. They are placed under Appearance > Fixed Widget Options. You can set the top and bottom margin size, make the plugin visible for logged-in users only, or even disable it when the screen width and height are lower than the values you specified in the plugin settings.
Once you install and activate it, go to Appearance > Widgets. Add the widget you wish to make sticky to the sidebar area. Then, click on that widget, check the Fixed Widget box, and save changes.
And it’s as simple as that. Any widget you mark as “fixed” will now follow the user in a sticky sidebar as they scroll through your content.
A great number of Qode Interactive themes come with an integrated sticky sidebar function. If you’re using one of these themes, adding a sticky sidebar is even easier.
You can check if your theme has the sticky sidebar function by navigating to Appearance > Widgets. If you see the Qode Sticky Sidebar widget, then you can create a sticky sidebar simply by placing that widget into the widget area of your choice.
Click on the arrow in the right corner to open a dropdown menu and then select Sidebar as the area to which you wish to add the widget.
Make sure to place the Qode Sticky Sidebar widget above all others in the sidebar area. Alternatively, if there are widgets you would like to display in the sidebar but not make them sticky, place them above the Sticky Sidebar widget.
After (or before) that, you can go to any page or post and choose the sidebar layout.
Save your changes and the sticky sidebar will now appear on your website.
Closing Words
Adding a WordPress sticky sidebar contributes to creating a better user experience. It is an easy and practical way of ensuring your audience can quickly access the sections and elements of your site you consider useful and important.
You can make a sticky sidebar on your own either by using a plugin or a widget that the majority of Qode Interactive themes pack. You won’t need any coding knowledge for either method, but we leave it up to you to decide whether you wish to add an extra plugin to your site or use a feature that most of our themes include by default.
