Shortly after the 2.0 release Octopress added the `source/_includes/custom` directory. If you don't have this, you'll want to [update](/docs/updating) because it's really nice. source/ _includes/ # Main layout partials custom/ # <- Customize head, navigation, footer, and sidebar here asides/ # Theme sidebar partials post/ # post metadata, sharing & comment partials _layouts/ # layouts for pages, posts & category archives ### Changing the sidebar Octopress integrates with some [3rd party services](/docs/configuring/#third_party) like Twitter, Pinboard and Delicious which appear in the sidebar. In the `_config.yml` you can rearrange these, create custom sidebars for each layout, and add your own sidebar sections. {% codeblock Sidebar configuration (_config.yml) %} default_asides: [asides/recent_posts.html, asides/twitter.html, asides/delicious.html, asides/pinboard.html] # blog_index_asides: # post_asides: # page_asides: {% endcodeblock %} If you want to add a section to your sidebar, create a new file in `source/_includes/custom/asides/`. Since many people probably want to add an About Me section, there's already an `about.html` file in there waiting to be added. Here's a look. {% codeblock About Me (source/_includes/custom/asides/about.html) %} {% render_partial ../.themes/classic/source/_includes/custom/asides/about.html raw %} {% endcodeblock %} Whenever you add a section to the sidebar, follow this pattern, with a `
` block and an `

` for a title. To add it to the sidebar, edit the `_config.yml` and add it to the list of asides. {% codeblock Sidebar configuration (_config.yml) %} default_asides: [asides/recent_posts.html, asides/twitter.html, asides/delicious.html, asides/pinboard.html] blog_index_asides: [custom/asides/about.html, asides/recent_posts.html, asides/twitter.html, asides/delicious.html, asides/pinboard.html] post_asides: [custom/asides/about.html, asides/recent_posts.html, asides/twitter.html, asides/delicious.html, asides/pinboard.html] # page_asides: {% endcodeblock %} In the configuration above I've added the about page to the blog index and post pages. Since `page_asides` isn't being set, it will inherit from the default list. ### Changing the <HEAD> If you want to add to the ``take a look at `/source/_includes/custom/head.html`. {% codeblock <HEAD> (source/_includes/custom/head.html) %} {% render_partial ../.themes/classic/source/_includes/custom/head.html raw %} {% endcodeblock %} Here you can easily change or remove the [Google Webfonts](http://google.com/webfonts), insert javascripts, etc. ### Changing the Navigation As soon as you add pages to your site, you'll want to put them in the main navigation. The links come from `/source/_includes/custom/navigation.html` which looks like this: {% codeblock Navigation (source/_includes/custom/navigation.html) %} {% render_partial ../.themes/classic/source/_includes/custom/navigation.html raw %} {% endcodeblock %} The `href` for each link begins with `{% raw %}{{ root_url }}{% endraw %}` (this helps Octopress write urls differently if a site is deployed to a subdirectory). If you're deploying your site to a subdirectory like `yoursite.com/octopress` you'll want to add this to any links you add. ### Changing the Footer You can customize the footer in `source/_includes/custom/footer.html` which looks like this: {% codeblock Footer (source/_includes/custom/footer.html) %} {% render_partial ../.themes/classic/source/_includes/custom/footer.html raw %} {% endcodeblock %} Change this however you like, but if you're cool, you'll leave the Octopress link in there.