Sideblog
Update: Sideblog v3.0 is the current stable version
Sideblog is the plugin that I’ve been using here for quite a while. It is responsible for that snippets of information in the sidebar. I created Sideblog about two months ago but dropped development because I didn’t find any need for it. Then, just recently I get to use K2 which included an Aside by default. So got hooked on posting on Asides. Problem with K2’s Aside is that if you try to post more on your Aside category than your other categories, the number of posts displayed on your main content area lessen. And so I repaired my Sideblog plugin.
For those who are interested in using it you can download it from the download page. Installation instruction can be found in the readme.txt included in the zip file.
But for those who insist, here it is.
1. Download and extract sideblog.zip
2. Open sideblog.php in a text editor.
3. Change $cat_to_hide to the Category ID of your Aside category.
Example:
change this
/****** EDIT THIS FIRST *********/
$cat_to_hide = 1;
/********************************/
to this
/****** EDIT THIS FIRST *********/
$cat_to_hide = 10;
/********************************/
* where 10 is the Category Id of my Aside category. To view your aside category Id, go to Admin->Manage->Categories.
3. Upload sideblog.php to your wordpress’ plugin directory. Usually found in /wp-content/plugins.
4. Activate the plugin in Admin->Plugins
5. Open you sidebar.php file. Add the following line on where you want the content of your aside to appear.
<ul>
<?php sideblog(‘title=true&permalinks=true&limit=5′); ?>
</ul>
OR
<ul>
<?php sideblog(‘permalinks=true&limit=5′); ?>
</ul>
to display permalinks without the post title
OR simply
<ul>
<?php sideblog(); ?>
</ul>
* where 5 is the number of post you want to appear. Defaults to 3 if omitted.
To post to your Sideblog, post it under your asides category only. Do not post it under multiple categories as it will surely appear in our main content.
Suggestions are welcome.
Where do I download sideblog?
Hey, I’m using the latest version of Sideblog located in the Wordpress plugins directory. I have a question concerning backdated entries. Whenever I backdate an entry for my aside, it ends up not showing up at all in the sidebar but it does when I use the permalink. What could be the problem here? Could you reply via email? Thanks. I really like this plugin by the way.
Hi there. I am trying to shorten the excerpt on the sideblog so that when you click more you get the full entry. Right now it is showing the full entry in the sideblog. Is this something I can do or something I’m doing wrong?
Thanks in advance and you rock.
Somehow this plugin isn’t working in Internet Explorer 7.0. I’m using sideblog(‘asides’);
Somehow this plugin isn’t working in Internet Explorer 7.0. I’m using sideblog(‘asides’); Could you email me if you have a solution?
For a while I was using a widgetized theme but I just went back to my other theme without widgets and again I get:
Aside category not selected. Please provide a category slug if you’re using non-dynamic sidebar.
How do I fix this?
Hi! Some of my posts include pictures. Is it possible to show the post (in the sideblog) without the pictures? Thank you.
Beats me, Robin. I guess the plugin author isn’t going to answer the question. I get the same error.
I guess I’ll stand pat with WP 2.0.11 (latest stable 2.0 version) so I can keep using Mini Blog.
Is there a way to invoke the plugin method more than once under different categories?
Nelson:
I have it with several categories like this:
______
I do this mainly because the 10 post limit which I wish was a lot higher. You need to create the categories blurb1 and blurb2 though.
Nelson:
I have it with several categories like this:
______
I do this mainly because the 10 post limit which I wish was a lot higher. You need to create the categories blurb1 and blurb2 though.
Code didn’t make it through…
Nelson:
I have it with several categories like this:
php sideblog(‘blurb2′);
/br>______
php sideblog(‘blurb1′);
I do this mainly because the 10 post limit which I wish was a lot higher. You need to create the categories blurb1 and blurb2 though.
Code didn’t make it through…
I cant get the excerpt to show the excerpts used with the posts.
My line is like this: %title_url% %excerpt% but it displays the content instead of the excerpt from the post.
Any help would be very appreciated.
Thanks.
This is a great plugin and I’m using it successfully on my site, but I do have two great suggestions which I think would be of great interest to others too…
Just like you have an option to set the character length of excerpts to a specified number, perhaps you could also give this option for the Content?
Or possibly display the “more” link if there is one in the content.
Secondly, when my images resize, you should have an option to keep the ratio. so if I specify a width, the height will be scaled in proportion.
I think these implementations would not complicate the tool from a user side, but allow for more flexibility and further creative uses.
I installed Sideblog, and it works fine!
But under every topic I post in Sideblog, i have an: “-#”
How do I get rid of this?
Because I only want to Post Pictures in my Sideblog, and the -# are annoiying
Thx!
@benny
U have the %title% option selected. Just change that to the %title url% which will display the post title as a url
Hi Kates, i wanna post in multiple categories. I need the post appears in the main, and the sidebar too. How i can do that?
congrats for this plugin.
Hi Kates!
I would like to replace the # indicator for permalink with a word. What is the syntax for that?
Thanks,
Sue
Nice Information, Thanks!
Hi I love the plugin because our site always needs small flash news. I have it installed on the right. I have one annoying problem that I don’t know how to solve. The content does not always load for the first hit on the home page and it seems to disappear ever other hit. – Any suggestions?
I would love to know how you created post thumbnails for your aside of this site?
I tried implementing your plugin… and I admit I may have missed something, but when I activate it and then view the home page it reads as ‘not found’ deactivating it brings my posts on the page back ?
Any idea why this problem may occur ?
I am using the latest version of WP
Kates, brilliant plugin. Works right out of the box just as it should.
one issue though that I can’t seem to get around.
Because of how I’m doing the SEO on my site, I always enter an excerpt which is different than the content and different than the post description. I want to display the excerpt in the sideblog and then the whole content on the post page.
even if I use the %excerpt_200%, it still pulls the CONTENT, not the excerpt. Is there a way to have it distinguish which to pull the text from? the post content vs the post excerpt?
This plugin does exactly what we need, but we’re working with a group blog and are afraid some will forget. Is there any way to auto-assign posts to a category by length?
Thanks,
Ken
You have some great plugins on your post. Your insight and expertise would be a welcome addition to our new community, i hope you will consider joining, and thanks for sharing!