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# Customizing sidebar

> Learn how to customize the appearance of the sidebar next to an entry in the web app and Contentful apps | Creating a custom sidebar

This article explains how to customize the appearance of the sidebar
next to an entry in the web app and Contentful apps.

## Overview

The sidebar has a default configuration, which specifies
which widgets will appear in it. This configuration can be edited
to remove or reposition built-in widgets, and to add custom apps.

The sidebar is:

* configured on a **content type level** and stored in its `editor_interface`
* a list of built-in widgets and apps
* each widget and app can only be used once per sidebar
* supports
  setting [instance parameters](/extensibility/app-framework/sdk#configuration-of-an-extension-with-parameters)
  for apps

## Default sidebar

The default sidebar is the initial state for all content types. It consists of six built-in widgets:

* **Publish & Status:** Shows and changes the status of an entry
* **Preview:** Connects content to a custom preview application
* **Links:** Lists all incoming links to the current entry
* **Translation:** Toggles which locales to show
* **Versions:** Access to the snapshots of an entry

> **Info**
>
> **No support in Compose** Built-in widgets are currently not supported in Compose. Only apps are visible in the sidebar.

## Creating a custom sidebar

To override the default sidebar of a content type, navigate to
the [content model](https://app.contentful.com/deeplink?link=content-model), select a content type and click
on `Sidebar` as seen in the screenshot below:

![editing a custom sidebar](https://fdr-prod-docs-files-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/contentful.docs.buildwithfern.com/3160d182beff8389ae26e6dcb7bc0f1d8f81142bec6e964b64f3d9b4ab8f8a3d/docs/assets/images/sidebar-default.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6KXJSKKNFOCF7G4B%2F20260929%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260929T234817Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-Signature=f6ca688e78d3fd8c27e1e246a91296985a33dcc7b7bc753e767be0aac02ec9e3&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

Every content type starts with the default sidebar configuration.
You are free to reorder and remove the widgets. For demo purposes,
let's move the `Versions` widget to the top of the list and remove
all widgets except `Publish & Status`. The sidebar editor should
then look like this:

![editing a custom sidebar by re-ordering widgets](https://fdr-prod-docs-files-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/contentful.docs.buildwithfern.com/2a41c8504c5228de260891ac063cc27cca45812dbd649792e58f5a724aae7d8e/docs/assets/images/sidebar-custom-widgets.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6KXJSKKNFOCF7G4B%2F20260929%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260929T234817Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-Signature=1e2129fe39ced1620b07b80458219b40e5e45616451d053fc3f3a55b5eca4ef1&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

After saving the content type, navigate to the entry editor opening an entry of the content type you just changed. It
should now look like this:

![rendering a custom sidebar](https://fdr-prod-docs-files-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/contentful.docs.buildwithfern.com/8495caec78a15523066490862cb07251fae4b04879dde4bfaf77321348823a4e/docs/assets/images/sidebar-custom-widgets-entry.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6KXJSKKNFOCF7G4B%2F20260929%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260929T234817Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-Signature=d450121d2aa22b7420aefea573cf16aec801a0ef092721fbe847dd1c3ea4a559&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

Note that the top widget is the `Versions` widget followed by the `Publish & Status` widget.

## Using Apps in a custom sidebar

The sidebar editor lists all Apps on the left column. Once an App has been assigned to a sidebar,
the `Change instance parameters` can be used to set instance parameters.

![UI Extensions in the sidebar](https://fdr-prod-docs-files-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/contentful.docs.buildwithfern.com/7ebbcaa1b64b50eea6ef52a649b21f6b6d022e3c825a2d78ac374f19ab745a19/docs/assets/images/sidebar-uies-parameters.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6KXJSKKNFOCF7G4B%2F20260929%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260929T234817Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-Signature=c22723a64dd11122c8b5c4e34e30126b6902c95cf2d53c2a1d9bb27446a41e80&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

## Resources

* How sidebars are managed programmatically in the `editor_interface` in
  the [Content Management API](/references/content-management-api/overview)
* Concept of an [editor\_interface](/extensibility/app-framework/editor-interfaces)
* Learn how to build [UI Extensions](/extensibility/app-framework)
* Specifics of [sidebar in Compose](/compose/extending-and-customizing-compose#custom-sidebar)

> Learn how to customize the appearance of the sidebar next to an entry in the web app and Contentful apps | Creating a custom sidebar