+[[!template id=plugin name=sidebar author="Tuomo Valkonen"]]
+[[!tag type/chrome]]
+
If this plugin is enabled, then a sidebar is added to pages in the wiki.
The content of the sidebar is simply the content of a page named
-"sidebar".
+"sidebar" (ie, create a "sidebar.mdwn").
Typically this will be a page in the root of the wiki, but it can also be a
-[[SubPage]]. In fact, this page, [[plugins/sidebar|plugins/sidebar]], will
-be treated as a sidebar for the [[plugins]] page, and of all of its
-SubPages, if the plugin is enabled.
+[[ikiwiki/SubPage]]. In fact, this page,
+[[plugins/sidebar|plugins/sidebar]], will be treated as a sidebar for the
+[[plugins]] page, and of all of its SubPages, if the plugin is enabled.
-Note that to disable a sidebar for a [[SubPage]] of a page that has a sidebar,
-you can create a sidebar page that is completely empty. This will turn off
-the sidebar altogether.
+Note that to disable a sidebar for a [[ikiwiki/SubPage]] of a page that has
+a sidebar, you can create a sidebar page that is completely empty. This
+will turn off the sidebar altogether.
-This plugin is included in ikiwiki, but is not enabled by default.
+Warning: Any change to the sidebar will cause a rebuild of the whole wiki,
+since every page includes a copy that has to be updated. This can
+especially be a problem if the sidebar includes an [[ikiwiki/directive/inline]]
+directive, since any changes to pages inlined into the sidebar
+will change the sidebar and cause a full wiki rebuild.
-[[tag type/chrome]]
+Instead, if you include a [[ikiwiki/directive/map]] directive on the sidebar,
+and it does not use the `show` parameter, only adding or removing pages
+included in the map will cause a full rebuild. Modifying pages will not.