How to Change Names on the WordPress Sidebar

Wordpress is an easy-to-use software package that makes creating and customizing websites quick and easy. A typical Wordpress website usually has a header at the top, content in the center, and several sidebars for navigation. A sidebar contains some custom content from the Wordpress theme and any widgets you choose to install. The process to change the sidebar's name depends on where the sidebar's content originates from. Either way, you can change the name right from the administrator interface of your Wordpress account.

Things You'll Need

• Wordpress administrator account

Instructions

Changing a Widget's Title

1. Click the triangle next to the "Appearance" tab on the left hand sidebar of the Wordpress administrator interface, then click "Widgets."

2. Find the Widget whose title you wish to edit, which will be located beneath the sidebar location of the Widget Editing screen. If you do not see a list of Widgets, click the triangle next to the "Sidebar" text to display the list.

3. Click the triangle beneath the Widget at the top, then input a new title for the Widget in the text box labeled "Title: ".

Changing the Theme

1. Click the triangle next to the Appearance tab, then "Editor" to enter the Theme Editor in the administration section of Wordpress.

2. Click on the link to the PHP code for the sidebar. The name is usually called something like "sidebar.php" or "sidebar-left.php".

3. Press Ctrl+F to bring up the search window, then type in the text you wish to change. In this case, this is the name of the sidebar itself.

4. Delete the text in the Editor, and replace it with the name you want.

5. Press "Save" at the bottom.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are editing the theme with the Wordpress Editor, make sure the themes directory of your server is not Read-only or write protected.

References

• Wordpress: Customizing Your Sidebar