> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ectobuilder.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to Add a Sidebar to Ghost Posts (No Code) - URL: https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-post-sidebar/ - Published: 2026-10-23T10:30:16.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-25T17:59:10.000Z - Description: Most Ghost themes have no sidebar. Here’s how to add one beside your posts, on the left or right, with recent posts, your topics, a subscribe box, share links and a table of contents. No code. - Author: Michal Wlosik - Tags: Guides, Design Ghost themes put the post in a single column, and most of them have nothing beside it. That keeps reading clean, but on a wide screen it also leaves a lot of empty space, and readers who finish a post have no easy way to find the next one. A sidebar fixes that. This guide shows how to add one to your Ghost posts, on the left or the right, and what to put in it, without touching theme code. ![A post about hiking the Alta Via 1 with a sidebar on the right: a subscribe box, a list of recent posts with dates, and topic tags](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvkqslbi.webp) A post with a sidebar: a subscribe box, recent posts and topics. ## Does Ghost have sidebars? Not in its default themes. Casper and Source show the post on its own, and Ghost has no widgets or sidebar settings: what appears beside a post is entirely up to the theme. Adding one by hand means editing `post.hbs`, writing the queries for recent posts and tags in Handlebars, and styling it for every screen size. ## What you can put in it - **Recent posts**: your latest four posts, leaving out the one being read. Filled in by Ghost, so it stays current. - **Topics**: your site's tags, the busiest first, each linking to its tag page. - **Subscribe box**: signs readers up as Ghost members, right where they finish reading. - [**Share links**](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-share-buttons/): X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, email, copy link and more, with no tracking scripts. - **Table of contents**: the post's headings, highlighting the part you're reading. See [our table of contents guide](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-table-of-contents/). - **A note**: any text you like, such as who writes here or a link to your archive. - **A button** and **About the site**: your site's name and description from Ghost. ## How to add a sidebar to Ghost posts ### 1\. Open the Post page Open your theme in [Ectobuilder](https://www.ectobuilder.com/) and switch to the **Post** page in the page menu. This is the template Ghost uses for every post. ### 2\. Swap the content section Open the section library, go to **Post** and pick **Post + sidebar** (sidebar on the right) or **Sidebar + post** (on the left). Use it in place of your current post content section, so the post isn't shown twice. It starts with a subscribe box, recent posts and topics. ![The Ectobuilder editor with the Post + sidebar section selected; the panel on the right shows the Sidebar settings](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvo4t96o.webp) (1) The sidebar in the editor. (2) Its settings on the right. ### 3\. Choose what goes in it Select the section. Under **Sidebar** in the panel on the right: - **Side**: left or right. You can switch at any time. - **Stays in view**: the sidebar stays on screen while readers scroll the post. If it's taller than the screen, it scrolls on its own. - **On phones**: below the post, or hidden. - **Add to the sidebar**: one click adds share links, the table of contents, a note, a button or your site's name and description. To change or remove anything already in the sidebar, click it on the page. Edit the words in place, or delete it. ![The Sidebar settings: Side (Left, Right), Stays in view switch, On phones (Below the post, Hide), and Add to the sidebar buttons for Share links, Table of contents, Text, Button and About the site](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvo4tauy.webp) The Sidebar settings. ### 4\. Deploy Deploy your theme to Ghost. Every post now has the sidebar, old posts included, and the recent posts and topics update by themselves as you publish. [![CTA Image](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2026/06/Ecto_builder_logo_sq_small.png)](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/login?mode=signup&plan=free&ref=ectobuilder.com) ****Give your posts a sidebar.** Recent posts, topics and a subscribe box beside every post, in a few clicks. Design visually, then publish to Ghost. [Try it free ](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/login?mode=signup&plan=free&ref=ectobuilder.com) ## Left or right? Right is the usual choice for blogs: readers start on the left, read the post, and find the sidebar when they look for what's next. Left suits documentation and guides, where the sidebar is mainly a table of contents that readers use to find their way. ![The same post with the sidebar on the left: recent posts, topics and a subscribe box, with the post to the right](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvkqt78u.webp) Sidebar + post: the same sidebar on the left. ## On phones There's no room beside the post on a phone, so the sidebar moves below it. Readers who reach the end see the subscribe box and what to read next, which is exactly when they're most likely to use them. If you'd rather keep phones to the post alone, set **On phones** to **Hide**. ![A phone showing the end of a post, then the subscribe box, recent posts and topics underneath](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvlbrovq.webp) On phones the sidebar comes after the post. ## Tips - **Three things is plenty.** A sidebar with everything in it gets ignored. Recent posts and a subscribe box do most of the work. - **Put the subscribe box where it's seen.** At the top for readers who arrive from search, at the bottom for those who read to the end. - **Keep the post column readable.** The post keeps a comfortable line length, about 70 characters, whatever the screen size, so the sidebar never squeezes it. - **Use it on pages too.** The same sections work on the **Page** template, or on a custom template for long guides only. ## Related guides - [Infinite scroll and Load more](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-infinite-scroll/): the next posts on the same page, on blog, tag and author pages. - [Custom author pages](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-author-pages/): profiles with a cover photo, bio and social links. - [How to build your Ghost theme visually](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/build-ghost-theme-visually/): every step, from picking a theme to publishing it to Ghost. ## FAQ #### Does the sidebar show on every post? Yes, on every post that uses the Post page. For a sidebar on some posts only, build a custom template with it and choose that template in the post’s settings in Ghost. #### Which posts appear under Recent posts? Your four latest published posts, leaving out the one being read. Ghost fills them in, so there’s nothing to update. #### Which tags appear under Topics? Your site’s public tags, the ones with the most posts first. Internal tags (starting with #) don’t show. #### Can I change the words, like “Recent posts”? Yes. Click any heading or text in the sidebar and type your own. #### Does a sidebar slow the page down? No. Recent posts and topics come from Ghost with the page, and share links are plain links with no scripts. [![CTA Image](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2026/06/Ecto_builder_logo_sq_small.png)](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/login?mode=signup&plan=free&ref=ectobuilder.com) ****Build a Ghost theme made for reading.** Sidebars, a table of contents, share links and more. Start from a template or a blank page, and deploy straight to Ghost. [Start building ](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/login?mode=signup&plan=free&ref=ectobuilder.com)