Help:Wiki University Wikitext--Sidebars

What is a sidebar

 * The lightgray elongated box to the left is a sidebar.
 * Sidebars are very similar to infoboxes in that they are templates as well.
 * But as you can see, they have their own special use.

How sidebars differ from infoboxes

 * They are saved on the left side of the page as opposed to the right for infoboxes.
 * They are usually a list of clickable links (internal or external) as you see on the sidebar to the left.
 * They sometimes have a place to add announcements or additional information of interest.
 * They are floated to the left so that text and other material may float up alongside on the right.

How to create a sidebar

 * As mentioned they are templates and created in the same manner.
 * In most cases, if the sidebar is just a list of links, using list format will do.
 * In the case of the one on this page, a one column table was created in order to create a sortable list of internal links.

Adding News and Events
Lets create a sidebar with the ability to add announcements and we will format it with a one column table:
 * Sometimes these sidebars allow for announcements or additional information to be added and edited from time to time. Check out County Cork Genealogy.  If there are any announcements they would be posted.
 * To add things to sidebars we use our parameter coding.

Saving the sidebar

 * Be sure to put the word "sidebar" somewhere in your title so people will know what the template is about.

Placing the sidebar

 * Same procedure as with infoboxes.
 * This time you will put in the parameters for News and Events and Additional Information like so:

Try these out
 Exercises Here is an existing infobox. Copy and paste this coding in your sandbox and fill out the information for the county you were born in: Check your answers >
 * This an existing infobox for US Counties. You will not need the brackets of word File to place the required images.

 Quick Quiz
 * Once the information after the equal signs is entered and saved, there is no changing the parameters.
 * A. True
 * B. False


 * Infoboxes can only be used on county pages.
 * A. True
 * B. False


 * Infoboxes are limited just to genealogical organizations.
 * A. True
 * B. False

Check your answers >