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Maximize Your Engagement with Custom Sidebars

Create and manage sidebars for interior pages, sections, and blog posts on your Sierra Interactive site.

Table of Contents

  1. Why This Feature Matters

  2. Where to Find the Sidebar Manager

  3. Creating a New Sidebar

  4. Reordering, Adding, and Removing Containers

  5. Applying Sidebars to Sections or Individual Pages

  6. Sidebars and Agent Subdomains

  7. Best Practices

  8. Troubleshooting & Common Questions


Why This Feature Matters

The Sierra Sidebar Manager allows you to create and customize sidebars that appear on interior content pages, sections, and blog posts across your website.

Sidebars can include a variety of helpful tools and content for your site visitors, such as:

  1. Link boxes (one or two columns)

  2. Quick property search

  3. Today's listings widgets

  4. Recent blog posts

  5. Custom content like images or text

These sidebar elements help highlight important pages, promote listings, and provide additional navigation options throughout your site.

Primary Manager & Manager-level users can access the Sidebar Manager. Agent-level users can access the Sidebar Manager if their user profile permission  "Can Administer Content Manager (All Pages and Saved Searches)" is set to "Yes" in their user profile.

Where to Find the Sidebar Manager

To access the Sidebar Manager:

  1. Click the Content tab in the admin menu.
  2. Select Sidebars.

From here, you can:

  1. Create new sidebars
  2. Edit existing sidebars
  3. Duplicate sidebars
  4. Delete sidebars

Creating a New Sidebar

You can create as many sidebars as you'd like.

To create a sidebar:

  1. Click + Add Sidebar.
  2. Enter a Name for the sidebar (required).
  3. Optionally enter a Description for internal use. The description is only visible to your team and will not appear on your website.

When finished:

  1. Click Save to continue editing the sidebar.
  2. Click Save and Exit to return to the Sidebar Manager.

Adding Container Types to Your Sidebar

After creating a sidebar, you can add elements called Container Types. Each container controls what content appears inside the sidebar.

Click the "+" icon to add a container.

You can choose from six container types:

Link Box – 1 Column

The Link Box – 1 Column container displays a single column list of links.

You can:

  1. Add a title for the link box
  2. Add multiple links
  3. Direct links to internal pages or external websites

Each link includes:

  1. Link Caption – The text visitors see
  2. Link URL – Where the link directs users

When typing in the Link Caption field, a dropdown will suggest:

  1. Content pages
  2. Saved searches

Selecting one automatically fills in the relative URL for that page.

Additional Options

  1. Drag and drop links to change their order.
  2. Click the trash icon to remove a link.

External links will automatically open in a new browser tab.

Link Box – 2 Columns

The Link Box – 2 Col container works the same as the one-column version but displays links in two columns.

You can easily switch between one or two columns by clicking the Type button.

Custom Content

The Custom Content container allows you to add custom elements to your sidebar.

You can include:

  1. Text
  2. Images
  3. Links
  4. Other content elements

This works similarly to editing a standard content page.

Quick Search

The Quick Search container allows visitors to quickly search for properties on your website.

Visitors can search by:

  1. Location
  2. ZIP code
  3. Address
  4. MLS® number

You can customize:

  1. Search title
  2. Button label

A preview will display in real time to show how the search box will appear.

Today's Listings

The Today's Listings container highlights current property activity on your site.

It automatically displays links to four categories:

  1. Homes for Sale
  2. New Today
  3. Price Reduced
  4. Recently Sold

Visitors can click any category to view the listings on your website.

You can also customize the widget title.

Recent Blog Posts

The Recent Blog Posts container allows you to feature the latest posts from your blog.

You can choose to display 1–5 posts and filter them by:

  1. Blog category
  2. Blog tag

Optional settings include:

  1. Adding a title
  2. Including a "View All" link to the blog archive

Reordering, Adding, or Deleting Containers

You can fully customize the layout of your sidebar.

Reordering Containers

Use drag-and-drop to change the order of containers.

You can drag them:

  1. From the container header
  2. From the All Items list on the right side

Adding Containers

Click the "+" icon to add another container.

Deleting Containers

Click the Delete button on any container to remove it.

Applying Sidebars to Pages or Sections

Even if you do not create custom sidebars, your site will still display default sidebars.

These include:

  1. Default Sidebar – Used on interior content pages
  2. Blog Sidebar – Used on blog posts

Both of these can be edited.

Applying a Sidebar to a Section

You can assign a sidebar to an entire section of your site using the Section Manager.

If you'd like to learn more about managing sections, see the article: Maximize Your Site's Navigation: A Practical Guide

Applying a Sidebar to an Individual Page

You can also assign a sidebar to a specific page.

When editing a content page:

  1. Locate the Page-Specific Sidebar dropdown.
  2. Select the sidebar you want to apply.

By default, this field will display: None (Use Section)

This means the page will use the sidebar assigned to its section unless you override it.

Sidebars and Agent Subdomains

The Sidebar Manager cannot be used to independently modify sidebars on agent subdomains.

Agent subdomains automatically mirror the structure of the primary site, including:

  1. Sections
  2. Content pages
  3. Blog posts
  4. Navigation links
  5. Sidebars

The only exceptions are the About and Contact pages.

Any sidebars created on the primary site will automatically appear on the corresponding pages of agent subdomains.


Best Practices

  • Use Quick Search and Today’s Listings to engage buyers

  • Include a call-to-action or lead form in the Custom Content container

  • Limit the number of containers to 3–4 for a clean look

  • Match sidebars with relevant content—for example, show “Recent Blog Posts” only on blog pages

Troubleshooting & Common Questions

Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • Sidebar not appearing on a specific content page

    Check the Page-Specific Sidebar dropdown to ensure the correct sidebar is selected

  • Sidebar containers not displaying as expected

    Make sure content (like links or images) is added inside each container and saved

FAQs

  • Can I assign different sidebars to different content pages?

    Yes. Use the Page-Specific Sidebar dropdown on each content page.

  • Can I create multiple sidebars for different purposes?

    Yes. You can create unlimited custom sidebars and apply them strategically.

  • Can sidebars include third-party links?

    Yes. You can add full URLs to direct users to external sites, which will open in a new tab.

  • Will my sidebars appear on agent subdomains?

    Yes. Sidebars created on the primary site will display on agent subdomains, though agent subdomains cannot be customized individually.