Keep It Simple: Adding Custom Sidebar Content

Sidebars are a great place to add all types of interesting content, and the Embed Your Own HTML module makes it easy to add ads, widgets, badges, text, and other content to your sidebar.

The Embed Your Own HTML module is available with almost all design configurations. With the Chroma Theme, you can use the Custom Sidebar option on the Design tab. For Mixed Media Layouts with the recent photos module, you'll need to use a Notes TypeList. The tips below work similarly with the Custom Sidebar and Notes TypeList.

In the Knowledge Base, we have several articles on adding specific content to your sidebar, and we've added some additional quick tips below:

• add advertisements,
• recommended widgets,
• include a linked image,
• include an email link,
• add text to your blog's sidebar,
• and add Twitter widget.

Include an Email Link

TypePad has a default Email Me module which can be added to your blog at Design > Content.

However, you may want to use the Embed Your Own HTML module to add a custom link if you want to use a different email address or just include different text in your link. Below is an example of the code you can use to display a custom email link in your sidebar:

<p>We want to hear from you! <a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=Blog Feedback">Send us an email.</a></p>

You can also generate code to secure your email address and prevent the email address from being scraped using an encoder. While securing your email address is not a bad idea, it also makes it difficult for readers of your site to copy your email address.

Once you have configured the code for your email link, go to Design > Content, select Embed Your Own HTML, and click Add This Module. Enter the code in the pop-up box and click OK. After rearranging your content, click Save Changes to update your blog.

Add text

The Embed Your Own HTML module makes it easy to add text to your blog's sidebar. You may want to add text for a brief introduction to your blog, a bio, or a copyright notice. At Design > Content, select the Embed Your Own HTML module and click Add This Module. Type the text you want to display in the pop-up box. You may want to surround your text with some additional HTML to have the formatting match other sidebar modules. For example:

<h2 class="module-header">About</h2>
<div class="module-content">
<p>Cooking With Tofu is a blog about my passion for turning blah tofu into wonderful meals both vegetarians and carnivores will enjoy. Thanks for visiting my blog!</p>
</div>

Twitter widget

Hundreds (if not thousands) of Twitter widgets are available, including the official Twitter widget, which allows you to display a list of recent tweets in your sidebar. After configuring your widget, you'll be provided with HTML code to add to your blog sidebar using the Embed Your Own HTML module at Design > Content.

Comments

[Kofla Olivieri]

This is my most used feature.

[Martina Tierney]

Do you have a soft backed book/magazine on blogging for Typepad? I'm thinking of the one Wordpress has on sale called 'Blogger'. I saw this and wished Typepad had something similar. The Typepad for Dummies book I have looks so dated by comparison.