Basic Editing For Default Kubrick Theme
The Kubrick theme is the default theme for every new Wordpress installation. As simple and common as this theme is, most people stick on with this theme for a couple of reasons, the top 2 being (a) it’s clean and simple (b) it works with all known Wordpress plugins including widgets.
However, there is one major fault of the fault Kubrick theme: the individual “single” pages do not display the sidebar!
Now, I don’t know about you but I wasn’t too happy about the fact that my side menu only appears on the main page of my blog. Why was it designed like this in the first place? Only god (and perhaps Matt) really knows.
The good news is that you can do some quick edits to make sure that the sidebar is displayed on all pages. Here’s the Kubrick structure, divided into widecolumn (main content) and narrowcolumn (left sidebar) :
- widecolum: this format creates a wider content are, centered on the individual blog pages by default.
- narrowcolumn: this format is used in the index page of the Kubrick theme, and is amall enough to include a sidebar on the left.
Now, by default only the main index page has both columns. So here’s the 2-step process to solve this issue:
STEP 1: Changing Column Format
You’ll need to change the individual pages style from widecolum to narrowcolumn.
To do this, edit the file single.php. This files controls what appears on the individual pages. You can do this by going to Presentation > Theme Editor, and clicking on the file named “Single Post”
Highlight the words wide and replace with narrow. This should squeeze the content into a smaller area and leave space for the sidebar.
Step 2: Including The Sidebar
Now you need to make sure the sidebar is displayed on the extra space you’ve created. On the same single.php file, scroll to the bottom…
Include the above code (highlighted) right before the function that calls for the footer file. This will make sure that the sidebar is included in all pages.
When you’re done, click “Update File” and save all changes. Now your sidebar should be included in all pages without breaking any code or style.
4 Comments »
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Very interesting this stuff, I was just wondering… I want to do the same thing (adding the links and so) in another theme, cause I found the empty space a bit annoying in the new created pages. Is this done the same way or should I crack the CSS of that specific theme? I use spring flavour.
thanks in advance, chris
Hi Chris,
Not sure about that. If it’s based on a Kubrick, then the answer is yes (probably)..
The thing is, there’s no standard way of creating WP themes, so you’ll need to try editing the codes..
Wordpressguy - Thank you for that excellent tip. My sidebar contains an Adsense code. I did exactly as you told me to do: I changed the column width to narrow in both the single.php as well as in the archive.php. Then I added the sidebar portion at the bottom of each. I now have a sidebar in my archive and single pages; however no Adsense!
How can that be if the code is included in my sidebar.php?
Thanks for your help!
SeniorPixie
Hi ,
I’ve tried your Kubrick theme tips on my blog template(The Beauty Within),
but I got problem where my side bar slide down to bottom page.
I think it is because of the comments&reply box that wider that the narrowcolumn it self.
How can I set those reply box wide to be the same as narrowcolumn?
thanks in advance