WordPress is one of the most used blog programs around at present, yet it is one of the least understood. The fact that it is pretty much an ‘install and go’ program means few user really delve into the power behind the code.
Sidebars are a good example. Templates and blog designs come with no sidebars, one, two or even three sidebars. Some fancy templates go so far as to divide the sidebars so you may have a top sidebar followed by left and right (funny how the left and right can be all on the left or all on the right) followed by a bottom sidebar.
What appears in your sidebars will appear on the front page and on every other page including archives and static pages. This is not always optimal. Do you want your blogroll appearing on every page, or just the front page? Do you need archives or categories on every page?
There are many reasons for saying no to the above questions, particularly when it comes to SEO and controlling the ‘link juice’. Sometimes you want pages that have very little in the way of outbound links and what links you do have you want control of.
It is possible to change the sidebars for individual pages and for archive pages. The process is a little tedious and one that I will leave for another day. What you need to decide is what information you want displayed in your sidebars on single and archive pages. WordPress has more power than most people are aware of. Rethinking your sidebars is just one possible change you could make.
Yep, it is tedious but well worth it when you’ve got the time to create new sidebars. I haven’t done so yet, but I’ve had it on my to do list.