What are the Auto-Sidebars, and how do they work?

Auto-Sidebars let sites include content recommendations in a sidebar *inside* a post without the writer or editor having to choose the items.

These currently work differently for WordPress and API clients. Auto-Sidebars do not work on Drupal.

How Auto-Sidebars work for WORDPRESS:

Manually Inserting an Auto-Sidebar: You may insert an Auto-sidebar into any story, using the Sidebar button on the editing bar.

1. Place your cursor where you want the Auto-Sidebar to appear

2. Press the Down Arrow on the right side of the Sidebar Button

3. Choose "Insert Auto-Sidebar"

(If you are a hardcore DIYer, you could just type in [contextly_auto_sidebar]).

You will need to save the post before the Auto-Sidebar shows up in preview.

Auto-Inserting Auto-sidebars

1. When auto-insertion of Auto-Sidebars is enabled in the Control Panel, a sidebar shortcode ([contextly_auto_sidebar] is inserted into the post writing interface when a writer starts a new post.

2. The writer can then move that shortcode to the spot they would like it to display in a finished article, or leave it at the top to display there.

3. If you want edit the sidebar or position it flush on the opposite side of the post or have it, you highlight the sidebar with the cursor then press the Sidebar button on the text editing bar.

You can then change the title, choose stories or change it's default position (left, right or across the entire post).

The number of stories shown by an Auto-Sidebar is controlled by the settings in the Control Panel. If the sidebar is set to show 3 related stories, and the writer chooses just 1 or 2, the remainder will be filled out by Contextly's algorithms.

How to Enable Auto-Insertion of Auto-Sidebars:

1. In the Control Panel, look for the Auto-Sidebar tab.

2. Toggle the checkbox to enable auto-insertion.

3. You can then set the styling, including image sizes, fonts, etc. This styling is separate from the manual sidebar styling.

How Auto-Sidebars work in the API Enterprise edition:

1. In the Control Panel, look for the Auto-Sidebar tab.

2. Choose how you would like the Auto-Sidebar to display. You'll likely want to set a default title and position.

3. To have the Auto-Sidebar display, you'll need to insert a div into the story where you want it to appear.

Element class "ctx-autosidebar-container" is required.

This is an advanced feature that may be difficult to implement in a page template. You may have luck using ad-insertion tech or Google Tag Manager.

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