get_sidebar() │ WP 1.5.0

Includes the sidebar.php template file from your current theme's directory. If a $name is specified then sidebar-{name}.php will be included.

If the theme contains no sidebar.php file then the sidebar from the default theme wp-includes/theme-compat/sidebar.php will be included.

Uses: locate_template()

Hooks from the function

get_sidebar

Return

null|false. Void on success, false if the template does not exist.

Usage

get_sidebar( $name, $args );

$name(string): The name of the specialised sidebar.
Default: null
$args(array): Additional arguments passed to the sidebar template.
Default: empty array

Examples

#1 Simple call

Assume you have file wp-content/themes/yourTheme/sidebar-nice.php. The way you can include this sidebar in your page is:

<?php get_sidebar('nice'); ?>

#2 Two sidebars in one theme

<?php get_header(); ?>
<?php get_sidebar('left'); ?>
<?php get_sidebar('right'); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>

The theme (template) must contain files sidebar-right.php and sidebar-left.php.

#3 Connecting a sidebar from a theme subfolder

To do this, you need to write your own simple analog of this function:

// Plug in the 'inc/sidebar.php' file from the current theme folder.
// Place in functions.php
function theme_sidebar( $name = '' ){
	do_action( 'get_sidebar', $name );

	if( $name ) {
		$name = "-$name";
	}

	locate_template( "inc/sidebar$name.php", true );
}

// call instead of get_sidebar()
theme_sidebar();

#4 Multi sidebars

Different sidebar for different pages.

<?php
if ( is_home() ) :
	get_sidebar( 'home' );
elseif ( is_404() ) :
	get_sidebar( '404' );
else :
	get_sidebar();
endif;
?>

The file names for the home and 404 sidebars should be sidebar-home.php and sidebar-404.php respectively.

#5 Conditional Statement

Include sidebar file only if there is any widgets added in it:

// check if there is any widgets in sidebar area
if ( is_active_sidebar( 'content-bottom' ) ) {
	get_sidebar( 'content-bottom' ); 
}

#6 Call sidebar with $args parameter (Since 5.5.0)

Consider below is your sidebar call from anywhere inside your theme:

<?php 
$args = array(
	'title' => 'Shop sidebar'
);

get_sidebar( 'shop', $args ); 
?>

Your codes inside sidebar-shop.php file might look a like below.

<div class="widget-area sidebar-shop">

	<h2><?php echo esc_html( $args['title'] ); ?><h2>

	<?php dynamic_sidebar( 'sidebar-shop' ); ?>

</div>

Changelog

Since 1.5.0	Introduced.
Since 5.5.0	A return value was added.
Since 5.5.0	The `$args` parameter was added.

Code of `get_sidebar() get sidebar` ^{WP 6.0.1}

wp-includes/general-template.php

function get_sidebar( $name = null, $args = array() ) {
	/**
	 * Fires before the sidebar template file is loaded.
	 *
	 * @since 2.2.0
	 * @since 2.8.0 The `$name` parameter was added.
	 * @since 5.5.0 The `$args` parameter was added.
	 *
	 * @param string|null $name Name of the specific sidebar file to use. Null for the default sidebar.
	 * @param array       $args Additional arguments passed to the sidebar template.
	 */
	do_action( 'get_sidebar', $name, $args );

	$templates = array();
	$name      = (string) $name;
	if ( '' !== $name ) {
		$templates[] = "sidebar-{$name}.php";
	}

	$templates[] = 'sidebar.php';

	if ( ! locate_template( $templates, true, true, $args ) ) {
		return false;
	}
}