Managing Sidebar Blocks

Blocks are boxes of content that can be displayed within regions of a page (like header, sidebars, footer, etc.). Blocks may be generated by a Drupal module (like a mini-calendar) or you may create your own blocks.

Unlike Articles, Basic Pages, Events, Photo Albums/Galleries, and other types of content, blocks do not generate a new page on your website and do not receive their own URL. Also unlike other Drupal content, Blocks are not indexed to be found using Drupal's sitewide search.

Adding a Block

  1. Go to Structure > Blocks.
  2. Click Add block.
  3. Block title: Optional. Leave blank for no visible title.
  4. Block description: A brief description that will show on the Blocks administration page. Use a description that will be memorable/recognizable for your future self or other staff who manage the website.
  5. If your block will house mainly HTML code (such as an embed code provided by a 3rd-party service), scroll down below the Block body. Under Text format, select Full HTML.
  6. Block body: Enter the block content.
  7. Region settings:
    1. Find the theme in use on your website. If SCLS staff configured your website, typically this will be "Zen for <<Your Library Name>>" or "Bootstrapfor <<Your Library Name>>."
    2. Select the region in that theme where the block should display.
  8. Visibility settings: Enter the proper selection(s) to determine which page(s) your block will be displayed on. If you are listing specific pages, use internal Drupal paths (e.g. online-resources) instead of full paths (e.g. http://www.yoursite.org/online-resources).
  9. Click Save block.
  10. Check the page(s) where you expected to see the block to verify that it is set correctly and to make sure you are satisfied with how it is displaying.

I added a block and it looks horrible. Help!

  • If a block is placed a region where it was never part of the original site design, your theme may not include styling to improve this new block's appearance. Refer to Overriding Sitewide Theme Styling.
  • Extra blank space at the bottom of the block: Check the HTML code in the Block body and eliminate extra blank paragraphs or line breaks in the HTML source code that may have been added automatically.

Editing a block

  1. Go to Structure > Blocks.
  2. Find the block you want to edit.
  3. Choose the type of change:
    1. Move/reorder blocks: Drag and drop the block by its cross-hair (+) handle to place it in a new region or change the order of blocks in the same region. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save blocks.
    2. Edit block content: Click the configure link.
    3. Hide the block from all pages: Select "None" in the drop down menu next to the block name (under Region). Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save blocks.
    4. Remove the block from the site permanently: Click the delete link next to the block name. An "Are you sure" prompt will appear. Click the Delete button to complete the deletion.