Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager

84 Quality Score

Active Installs

23/30

With 100,000 active installs, the plugin sits in a moderate usage tier, scoring 75 of 30 on popularity, which reflects solid but not dominant adoption.

Update Freshness

25/25

A perfect maintenance score is supported by a recent update on May 21, 2026, and tested compatibility with WordPress 7.0.

User Rating

14/15

A 94 out of 100 rating from 1,028 reviewers indicates very strong user satisfaction with the plugin's core functionality.

Support Health

8/15

Support health scores only 50 out of 15 because there are zero tracked support threads, making it unclear how responsive the developer is to user issues.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Full marks here, with tested support for WordPress 7.0, a minimum requirement of WordPress 4.6, and PHP 5.6, covering a wide range of hosting environments.

Scores higher than 93% of indexed plugins

About

Flexible sidebars for custom classic widget configurations on any page or post. Create custom sidebars with ease!

Active Installs 100k+

Rating ★★★★½ 4.7/5

Last Updated 2026-08-16 12:45pm GMT

Requires WordPress 4.6+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 5.6+

Security History

3 known vulnerabilities, all patched

2 High 1 Medium

Most recent: October 4, 2017

View details ▸

What It Does

Custom Sidebars lets you build unlimited classic widget areas and assign them to specific pages, posts, categories, or custom post types using replacement rules. It works as a classic widget manager, letting you override the default sidebars on a per-page basis without writing code. The plugin also supports custom sidebar visibility conditions for archives and individual posts.

Who It's For

This plugin is best suited for site owners running classic widget-based themes who need different sidebar content on different pages, such as magazines, real estate agencies, membership sites, and directories. It is ideal for users who have not migrated to block-based themes and want targeted widget placement across varied content types. Anyone managing a content-heavy site with distinct sections will benefit most.

Who Should Skip It

If you are using a block theme and prefer block-based sidebars, this plugin adds little value and you should rely on the Site Editor instead. Users on modern block themes or those comfortable with the Full Site Editor do not need a classic widget replacement tool.

The Bottom Line

Custom Sidebars earns an overall quality score of 83.99 out of 100, backed by strong ratings, recent updates, and broad compatibility. The lack of public support thread data is a minor concern, but the maintenance and rating signals offset this. It is a dependable pick for classic widget users who need granular sidebar control without coding.

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