How to Add a Sidebar in Squarespace
Unfortunately, in Squarespace 7.1, a sidebar isn’t a standard feature, so you can’t easily turn it on or off.
Of course, you can create your own sidebar. But if you want to place this sidebar on multiple pages, you’ll have to do it manually on each page.
What can you use a sidebar for?
Sidebars are often used on blogs. You can include a short bio about yourself or your company, links to popular pages or products, a sign-up form for your newsletter or a freebie—you name it.
The sidebar plugin:
With this handy plugin from SQS Themes, you can add a sidebar in no time. This plugin works in both Squarespace 7.0 and 7.1.
You can download the plugin here.
The costs:
$59 (single license)
$177 (business license) (if you want to add the sidebar to multiple websites)
You don't need any coding experience, because with the clear instructions provided, you can easily install the plugin yourself.
How it works:
In the "Not Linked" section, create a separate page for the sidebar. On this page, list all the elements you want to include in your sidebar one below the other. The plugin’s code will then ensure that the content of this page is added as a sidebar to the pages you’ve selected.
A Summary Block as an alternative:
If you don't want to use this plugin, you might consider using a Summary Block. You can configure the Summary Block to consist of only one column. This means that multiple items will be displayed one below the other.
To add content to the Summary Block, create a separate new blog post. The blog posts will become the different items displayed in your Sidebar. You'll need to experiment a bit with the Summary Block settings to make your Sidebar look the way you want.
Other Squarespace plugins:
Are you running into more limitations with Squarespace? Or are you just curious about what else you can do with your website? If so, check out my list of favorite Squarespace plugins.
