Easily Add Custom Header, Footer, or Sidebar for Each Category
Did you ever see WordPress blogs that have a separate header for different categories? In this tutorial we will share a simple snippet that you can use to add custom header, footer, or even sidebar for each WordPress category.
To call a particular header, you will need to open your index.php and replace your normal header code with this one:
<?php if (is_category('Blogging')) {
get_header('blogging');
} else {
get_header();
} ?>
This code above is basically telling WordPress that if someone opens the category called “Blogging” then WordPress needs to display a file called header-blogging.php if it exist. If it does not exist, or if the category is not blogging, then WordPress displays the default header file.
To get a separate sidebar for each all you need to do is add the following code:
<?php if (is_category('Blogging')) {
get_sidebar('blogging');
} else {
get_sidebar();
} ?>
The code above will look for sidebar-blogging.php to replace the default footer file if the category is Blogging.
To get a separate footer for each category all you need to do is add the following code:
<?php if (is_category('Blogging')) {
get_footer('blogging');
} else {
get_footer();
} ?>
The code above will look for footer-blogging.php to replace the default footer file if the category is Blogging.
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Is there a way to change the sidebar/header on a single post, depending on the post’s category?
Yes it is possible. You will have to use this tutorial about creating custom single post templates in WordPress.
I recently purchased a WP Book and designed a wesbsite using WP and this is very useful. Thanks!
ohhh this is what i have been looking for!!! Have been trying to figure out how to display a section with advertisements related to categories in wordpress and here it is!!!
thank you HEAPS!
Thank you so much for this post. This really bailed me out of big trouble. I looked for plugins to do this job for me but couldn’t find any. I was so glad to find the solution on this post.
Now I can create different headers for different categories.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
hi, thanks for a a great tutorial, this is just what i was looking for. i now have a custom sidebar for one of my categories, and as I kept the dynamic sidebar code I thought I would be able to add widgets to it. It however does not show up in the widget editor. how do i get it so I can add widgets to my category specific sidebar?
Follow this tutorial.
Does this trick do the same with pages?
Tnx !
For pages, you just use the custom page templates.