20 Best WordPress Themes with Sidebar Navigation Menu

Have you ever been annoyed by having to scroll the entire page to access a top-based horizontal menu? We have hand-picked the best themes – they all offer navigation in the sidebar, which is a great feature. Keep reading if you’re on the lookout for the best WordPress themes with sidebar navigation for your site.

How does sidebar navigation work?

The navigation menu is a website’s map, and it’s usually what leads visitors deeper into the site. Users may have difficulty locating exactly what they are seeking if your website pages feature a lot of content. The vertical navigation menu gives you a full perspective of the page’s content, which saves you time and makes navigation easier.

The majority of websites nowadays have horizontal navigation at the top of the page. WordPress offers an abundance of themes with intuitive top or side navigation menus that enable visitors to find the content they’re looking for quickly. 

This trend isn’t exclusive to the WordPress platform. Nearly all website builders feature themes with easy-to-find navigation at the bottom or the side of the site’s homepage. 

A well-designed and fixed menu in the sidebar is a fantastic way to help visitors navigate your content. It also enables users to obtain what they desire as quickly as possible.

Best WordPress Themes with Sidebar Navigation

These are some of the best WordPress themes with sidebar navigation. We have mentioned their features, pros, and cons so that you can decide which one is best for you. All of the WordPress sidebar menu themes we included in this guide are beginner-friendly, but experts can also use them. We hope you enjoy the list!

OceanWP

Ocean WP is a lightweight and beginner-friendly WordPress theme with great features. Multiple demos, seven customizable header styles, a top bar, three mobile menu styles, and custom sections are some of its most notable features. Moreover, this theme offers a custom page layout, ocean Elementor widgets, fonts, global site layouts, and typography. It was designed with the best SEO practices in mind. In addition, you can integrate it with Toolset, Brizy, Beaver Builder, Divi, and WPML. What’s great about Ocean WP is that it is WooCommerce-ready. The theme doesn’t need you to have coding expertise, as it has been designed for beginners and experts.The best part is that you don’t have to spend a dime to create sidebars, add widgets or use other features. 

Pros

• It can be customized
• It is fully responsive
• It is accessibility-ready
• It is translation ready
• It is fast loading

Cons

• It lacks compatibility with speed optimization plugins
• The customizer can be overwhelming for some users

Get OceanWP

Divi

Divi is a multipurpose WordPress theme that is best for blogs, fashion, businesses, and showcasing work. The theme is elegant, functional, and modern. 

It has powerful options, including a side menu, mega menu, global elements and styles. The theme also features multiple page layouts, left menu, top header, header layout, shortcodes, unlimited header, title area layouts, footer, parallax image and title layouts.

Its content and design editor let you choose how you want to arrange elements on each page and process photos before publishing them. In addition, Divi is compatible with page builders. It is best for agencies and businesses, but individuals who want to create an online portfolio or start an online store can use it too.

Pros

• It is responsive
• It is retina ready
• It is speed optimized
• It is highly customizable
• It has premade designs
• It is flexible

Cons

• It lacks a popup builder
• The inline editing option could be improved

Get Divi

Bullet

Bullet is a minimal WordPress theme with a pretty layout and vertical menu. In addition, this WordPress sidebar theme is suitable for businesses, portfolios, blogs, etc. 

Its features include: 

• A vertical navigation menu 
• Bootstrap grid 
• Bullet transformations 
• Bullet skins section
• Video background 
• Essential grid plugin
• Parallax image 
• Revolution slider 
• One-click demo import data 
• Twitter-bootstrap 
• Visual composer, 
• PSD file support
• Google fonts, 
• Font awesome, 
• Icons  

What’s more, Bullet can be used for different purposes. This theme is also WPML compatible, and it offers cross-browser support. You can choose from six skins and four background patterns.

Pros

• It is retina ready
• It is user friendly
• It is SEO optimized
• It offers shortcode support
• It is customizable
• It is translation ready
• It is fully responsive
• It is WooCommerce ready

Cons

• None

Get Bullet

Divergent

Divergent is an easy-to-use WordPress theme. It offers features like HTML5, slide-in menu sidebar, additional blog pages, fonts, one-click demo import, custom widgets, page layout, horizontal and vertical tabs, custom google maps, testimonials, social media integration, XL page, and PHP 7 template. It is compatible with the WPML plugin. The theme looks great on all browsers and is well-documented. Divergent is best used for resumes, CVs, and showcasing portfolios.

Pros

• It is widget ready
• It is user friendly
• It is SEO optimized
• It can be customizable
• It is translation ready
• It is fully responsive 

Cons

• It is not Gutenberg optimized

Get Divergent

Trail

Trail is one of the best WordPress themes with a sidebar navigation menu. It is multipurpose and comes with a full-screen vertically scrolling parallax homepage. 

It also features shortcodes, theme options, localization support, and a portfolio section. Theme’s functionalities also include google maps, a home page slider, web fonts, custom post types, video support, contact forms, and google fonts, among others.Moreover, this theme is integrated with social media icons. It is widget-ready and allows users to embed videos hosted on all major video platforms.

Pros

• It is bold
• It is user friendly
• It is stylish
• It is speed optimized
• It is clean
• It is responsive
• It is SEO optimized

Cons

• None found

Get Trail

Ink

Ink is a clean and elegant WordPress theme with a sidebar navigation menu. You can create a slideshow, design a button or make a tab with its free shortcodes plugin. 

Like most WordPress themes with a sidebar, Ink offers a screen background image, localization, video support, extensive documentation, contact forms, and google fonts.It is compatible with all the major browsers and stag custom sidebars. However, the theme isn’t free, and you must pay a fee if you want to use it.

Pros

• It is responsive
• It is user friendly
• It is SEO optimized
• It is Gutenberg optimized
• It is mobile ready
• It is retina ready

Cons

• None found

Get Ink

Palermo

Palermo is a beautiful WordPress theme. It comes with custom widgets, a sidebar menu, a layout, a grid layout, etc. 

This WordPress theme is best for hotels, restaurants, and other businesses in the hospitality industry. Its features include full-page backgrounds, extreme customizations, perfect backgrounds, and one-click demo import, to mention a few. Most importantly, it offers a wide array of functionalities because it is compatible with popular page plugin builders like Beaver Builder, Elementor, WP Forms, Advanced custom fields, Yoast SEO, WPML, MailChimp, NextGen Gallery, and Divi. The theme provides block editor support and is translation-ready.

Pros

• It can be customized
• It is SEO optimized
• It offers speed optimization
• It is user friendly
• It offers premium support
• It is WPML ready

Cons

• None found

Get Palermo

Bramble

Bramble is a customizable and multipurpose WordPress theme. It includes a  page builder, slider revolution, one-click demo import, and video backgrounds.

Options like google fonts, menu icons, google maps, header layouts, unlimited widget areas, custom colors, and parallax backgrounds give you complete control of the theme’s visual identity. This WordPress sidebar theme has nine pre-built home page layouts, a slider plugin, and a slider revolution tool. It is WPML-ready, and users can combine it with all the popular page builder plugins.

Pros

• It offers 1-year of support and updates
• It is fully responsive
• It is user friendly
• It offers constant and an excellent support
• It provides regular updates
• It is WooCommerce ready

Cons

• None found

Get Bramble

Infinity

Infinity is a minimalist WordPress theme that is best for showcasing creative work. 

Some of its most notable features are infinite scrolling for blog posts, multiple screen resolutions, and pagination options. 

Its Instagram slider helps users establish a social media presence, while footer widgets and shortcodes enable you to introduce different functionalities effortlessly.  

You don’t need previous experience to customize theme options. What’s more, localization or video support and contact forms options allow you to create a unique experience for the site’s visitors.The Infinity theme gives you access to stunning typography, and you can use it with the Elementor page builder.

Pros

• It is fully responsive
• It is SEO optimized
• It is translation ready
• It is user friendly
• It is WooCommerce ready
• It is flexible

Cons

• None

Get Infinity

Side Box

Side Box WordPress sidebar theme is responsive and has a minimal layout. It is best suited for architects, graphic designers, and creatives in general. 

It offers a variety of options such as infinite scroll, slide box, full-screen gallery, unlimited domain dosage, customizable menus, and CSS compatibility. Built-in social media icons let you connect your Instagram or Facebook account to your website easily. The Side Box theme is SEO optimized and performs well on all major browsers.

Pros

• It is mobile-friendly
• It is customizable
• It offers support
• It is great for beginners
• It is user friendly
• It has a minimalist design

Cons

• None

Get Side Box

Sol

Sol is a WordPress theme for creative agencies.  

It features a page, portfolio page, and full-width page templates users can easily customize before going live. 

You can enrich the theme with css3 animations, featured service sections, front-page layouts, widget-ready sections, or custom-styled CSS elements.Sol is optimized for tablets, mobile phones, laptops, and desktop computers. Moreover, this theme is compatible with Contact Form 7 plugin.

Pros

• It is responsive
• It is integrated with social media font icons
• It is user friendly
• It is mobile friendly
• It offers lifetime support

Cons

• None

Get Sol

Alternate

You should consider installing Alternate if you’re a fan of minimalistic design. This sidebar WordPress theme is ideal for anyone who wants to create an online presentation of their work.  

The filterable portfolio option allows you to organize the projects you’d like to showcase into different sections so that the visitors can choose which portion of your portfolio they want to see. The theme has a customizable menu system and background panel, as well as two widget-ready locations and a photo library. Alternate is compatible with Contact Form 7 plugin and all major browsers. Moreover, this theme is supported by computers and Smart devices

Pros

• It is responsive
• It is translation ready
• It offers support
• It is integrated with social icons

Cons

• None found

Get Alternate

Side Grid

Side Grid WordPress theme is suitable for designers and photographers. Its minimal layout and sidebar navigation give the visitors an overview of all artist’s projects. 

The infinite scroll, custom background image and colors, theme options, menu capability, and responsive layout options allow you to decide how each page is going to look like. Side Grid is compatible with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, IE10, and other popular web browsers. The theme has a broad range of upgrades and excellent support.

Pros

• It is SEO optimized
• It is fully responsive
• It is clean
• It is mobile friendly
• It is responsive

Cons

• None found

Get Side Grid

iShopp

IShopp is a WooCommerce-ready theme with a minimal layout and an easily accessible sidebar navigation menu. 

Users can request a free demo to test its functionalities before installing it. The installation is free, and the theme doesn’t limit site usage. Changing the background, creating a blog segment, or setting up the checkout funnel are among the things you can do once you install this theme. 

IShop loads quickly, which helps rank your site higher in search engine results.

Pros

• It is mobile friendly
• It is clean
• It offers free updates
• It is WooCommerce ready
• It is fully responsive

Cons

• None found  

Get iShopp

Vector

Vector WordPress theme offers great support and updates. It doesn’t restrict website usage and offers XML demo content. The theme’s layout is minimalistic and includes a scroll motion slider. Its sidebar menu features social media icons and several pre-built submenus. The theme’s look and feel best match business sites. What’s great about the Vector theme is that it has a money-back guarantee.

Pros

• It is fully responsive
• It is user friendly
• It is SEO optimized
• It is mobile friendly

Cons

• None found

Get Vector

Oxium

Oxium WordPress theme is best for musicians, DJs, and nightclubs. It is compatible with all modern desktop and mobile browsers, so you won’t have to worry about reaching your target audience.  

Its unique design has built-in menus, a drag-and-drop homepage, and custom widgets that give you complete visual control. The theme is frequently updated, and it allows one-click demo imports. It is translation-ready and supports integrations with plugins like the Beaver Builder, Toolset Type, Advanced custom fields, Yoast SEO, MailChimp, WPForms, NextGen Gallery, Elementor, and Divi.

Pros

• It is search engine optimized
• It offers premium support
• It is customizable
• It is speed optimized

Cons

• None found

Get Oxium

Corner

Corner is a multipurpose WordPress theme aimed primarily at creative-industry professionals who need an easy way to manage their portfolios. 

The block editor, excellent typography, and flexible layouts enable you to build a site that presents your work in the best light. Moreover, you can customize this theme with page builders like Beaver Builder, Elementor, or Divi.

Other notable features include one-click demo import, global sections, custom side width, color scheme options, google fonts, flexible headers, sticky menu, post, and page templates. Corner WordPress sidebar theme supports integrations with WPML, advanced custom fields, Toolset types, MailChimp, and Yoast SEO plugins.

Pros

• It is WooCommerce ready
• It is user friendly
• It offers premium support
• It is translation ready
• It is SEO optimized

Cons

• None

Get Corner

Cobalt

Cobalt is best for creatives, but individuals, agencies, and businesses can also use it. This WordPress sidebar theme is fully responsive and clean. 

It has six homepage layouts, three single blog layouts, and 12 color schemes. Cobalt supports HTML5 and CSS3 files, and it features a revolution slider.

It is compatible with WPBakery, so building pages won’t take much time, and it allows you to create and manage contact forms with the Contact Form 7 plugins. This theme is well-documented, which makes it easy to find out how to perform different tasks.

Pros

• It is fully responsive
• It is retina ready
• It is easy to use
• It is translation ready
• It is multilingual ready

Cons

• It is not Gutenberg ready

Get Cobalt

Contrast

Contrast is a responsive and easy-to-use WordPress theme for photographers, painters, and all creatives who produce visual content.  

Its core features are: 

• Full-screen layout
• CSS3 and JavaScript techniques
• Flexible portfolios
• Unlimited image gallery
• Custom shortcodes 
• One-click demo install 
• Font awesome icon set 
• Revolution slider 
• Three header styles
• Mega menu 
• Fixed/full-page layout 
• WPML support
• Customizable color scheme
• Horizontal and vertical homepage grid layouts  
• Smooth animations  

You’re unlikely to experience any problems while installing or customizing this theme, but the documentation is readily available if you do.

Pros

• It is SEO ready
• It is WooCommerce ready
• It is social media-friendly
• It offers RTL support
• It is customizable

Cons

• None found

Get Contrast

Photo Maker

PhotoMaker is a WordPress theme for photographers with an easily accessible sidebar menu that features built-in Portfolio, Blog, or Services submenus.  

It has a full-page slider, a custom contact form, a full-width contact page map, and various other functionalities that improve the visitor’s UX. 

The predefined color options help you create the site’s visual identity, while the unlimited business service functionality assists site owners in attracting new clients. Social media icons are integrated into the theme, allowing you to promote your work on different social networks. The theme is mobile-ready, optimized for high conversion, and offers constant updates and support.

Pros

• It is SEO optimized
• It is user friendly
• It is speed optimized
• It comes with social icons
• It is simple to install
• It is fully responsive
• It is retina ready

Cons

• None found

Get Photo Maker

Frequently Asked Questions about WordPress Themes with Sidebar Navigation

What is a Sidebar in WordPress?

A sidebar is a vertical or horizontal column located below or next to the page’s content. It usually contains the navigation menu, but it can also be used to give visitors quick access to the website’s services, promote different products or display other information the page’s visitor should see.

This element can also contain sign-up forms, contact data, or information about the website’s owner. Online stores and sites with high amounts of content commonly feature sidebars. 

How to Add Sidebars in WordPress?

You can’t see a sidebar if it doesn’t contain widgets. So, to make a sidebar visible in a WordPress theme, you have to add one or more widgets to it. You can do this from the CMS’s dashboard:

• Click on the Appearance menu and select the Customizer option. 
• Open the Widgets submenu in the Customizer window. Click on the widgets you want to add to the sidebar.
• All widgets you selected will be located in the panel on the left side of the screen. Proceed to customize them and click Done when ready. You can reorganize widgets by dragging them to the desired position in the widget panel. 
• Hit the Publish button to add a widget to a theme. 

What’s your favourite one-page WordPress theme? 

Hopefully, this article has helped you find the best WordPress themes with sidebar navigation for your site that will impress its visitors and help you attract new clients.