How to Register sidebars in 2.8??

For instance in my current theme (mts-journey) he’s using two sidebars, Right Sidebar and Left Navigation. But nowhere in includes/widgets.php are those two sidebars specified…

Follow the Codex page and register your sidebars in your functions.php file. Leave wp-includes/widgets.php alone unless you really know what you are doing and are happy to hack core files.

I think the codex page is not correct for 2.8.1. I have searched the functions.php file for “register” and “sidebars” and those do not exist on my functions.php file. This looks close:

* Get a filename that is sanitized and unique for the given directory.
 *
 * If the filename is not unique, then a number will be added to the filename
 * before the extension, and will continue adding numbers until the filename is
 * unique.
 *
 * The callback must accept two parameters, the first one is the directory and
 * the second is the filename. The callback must be a function.
 *
 * @since 2.5
 *
 * @param string $dir
 * @param string $filename
 * @param string $unique_filename_callback Function name, must be a function.
 * @return string New filename, if given wasn't unique.
 */
function wp_unique_filename( $dir, $filename, $unique_filename_callback = null ) {
	// sanitize the file name before we begin processing
	$filename = sanitize_file_name($filename);

	// separate the filename into a name and extension
	$info = pathinfo($filename);
	$ext = !empty($info['extension']) ? $info['extension'] : '';
	$name = basename($filename, ".{$ext}");

	// edge case: if file is named '.ext', treat as an empty name
	if( $name === ".$ext" )
		$name = '';

	// Increment the file number until we have a unique file to save in $dir. Use $override['unique_filename_callback'] if supplied.
	if ( $unique_filename_callback && function_exists( $unique_filename_callback ) ) {
		$filename = $unique_filename_callback( $dir, $name );
	} else {
		$number = '';

		if ( !empty( $ext ) )
			$ext = ".$ext";

		while ( file_exists( $dir . "/$filename" ) ) {
			if ( '' == "$number$ext" )
				$filename = $filename . ++$number . $ext;
			else
				$filename = str_replace( "$number$ext", ++$number . $ext, $filename );
		}
	}

	return $filename;
}

How are the two sidebars I have getting registered? They are for sure not mentioned in my functions.php file. (theme mts-journey).
thanks,
JSC

This looks like the relevant code, which is in includes/widgets.php:

/**
 * Creates multiple sidebars.
 *
 * If you wanted to quickly create multiple sidebars for a theme or internally.
 * This function will allow you to do so. If you don't pass the 'name' and/or
 * 'id' in $args, then they will be built for you.
 *
 * The default for the name is "Sidebar #", with '#' being replaced with the
 * number the sidebar is currently when greater than one. If first sidebar, the
 * name will be just "Sidebar". The default for id is "sidebar-" followed by the
 * number the sidebar creation is currently at.
 *
 * @since 2.2.0
 *
 * @see register_sidebar() The second parameter is documented by register_sidebar() and is the same here.
 * @uses parse_str() Converts a string to an array to be used in the rest of the function.
 * @uses register_sidebar() Sends single sidebar information [name, id] to this
 *	function to handle building the sidebar.
 *
 * @param int $number Number of sidebars to create.
 * @param string|array $args Builds Sidebar based off of 'name' and 'id' values.
 */
function register_sidebars($number = 1, $args = array()) {
	global $wp_registered_sidebars;
	$number = (int) $number;

	if ( is_string($args) )
		parse_str($args, $args);

	for ( $i=1; $i <= $number; $i++ ) {
		$_args = $args;

		if ( $number > 1 ) {
			$_args['name'] = isset($args['name']) ? sprintf($args['name'], $i) : sprintf(__('Sidebar %d'), $i);
		} else {
			$_args['name'] = isset($args['name']) ? $args['name'] : __('Sidebar');
		}

		if (isset($args['id'])) {
			$_args['id'] = $args['id'];
		} else {
			$n = count($wp_registered_sidebars);
			do {
				$n++;
				$_args['id'] = "sidebar-$n";
			} while (isset($wp_registered_sidebars[$_args['id']]));
		}

		register_sidebar($_args);
	}
}

The functions.php file is theme specific. That’s the whole point of that file – hence the Codex can’t “cover it”.

OK, so I need to add a register funtion to my funtions.php file which might look like this if I want to add a sidebar called RightSideBar, is that correct?

register_sidebar( array('name'=>'RightSideBar', 'before_title'=>'<h1>','after_title'=>'</h1>') );

A little confusing since similar code exists already in the widgets.php file. And nowhere in functions.php does there exist any register code for the two existing sidebars… But the register statement should also go into functions.php, correcto? And, hopefully then it would show up in my admin so I can widgetize it specifically….?
thanks,
JSC

is that correct?

Yes

And nowhere in functions.php does there exist any register code for the two existing sidebars…

I’ve no idea what theme you’re using, so can’t comment on what another theme developer might have done. It may be that the relevant code is inside another file that is called/included in functions.php

But the register statement should also go into functions.php, correcto?

Yes

it would show up in my admin so I can widgetize it specifically….?

Yep – I think the most I’ve created (thus far) is 5 separately widgetized areas. In theory, you could have far more…

AW RIGHTY! Progress. Last question, you have been most helpful:
If I want to utilize a widget’s functionality in the content column, where the posts usually go, instead of the sidebar, is that possible? Specifially, I have the Content Extract and Get-a-post plugins which will go and get an extract from a particular post. My aim is to have a home page which puts an excerpt from a particular post at the top, and then an excerpt from the current post below that – all in the posts column, not the sidebar. Graphics from the posts also would be nice.

How would I put those widgets output into the post column on my home page?
thanks,
JSC

If I want to utilize a widget’s functionality in the content column, where the posts usually go, instead of the sidebar, is that possible?

Yes. You can widgetize a template in exactly the same way as you would a sidebar. However, just because a template is widget-ready, that doesn’t mean it will work with any old plugin. Only widgets specifically. If it ain’t listed in Admin/Appearance/Widgets, you can’t add it to any template or sidebar – no matter how widget-ready those templates are.

What you describe above could be done with code but if you’ve already identified widgets that will do the job for you, I’d suggest you go ahead and try them. Give your home page’s widget area an easily identifiable name and ensure that you place the:

<?php if (function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') && dynamic_sidebar('Widgetised Page')) : ?>
<?php endif; ?>

code where you want your new widgets to show. You should then be able to drag’n’drop any (and all) widgets in the Admin/Appearance/Widgets area onto that area.