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Free Plugin by Oliver Campion v2.0

SideMenu

Add a responsive sliding SideMenu to your WordPress site with the SideMenu block.

SideMenu

The facts

Rating
4.8★ from 25
Active installs
900+
Price
Free
Last updated
14 Aug 2026
Added
Oct 2019
Requires WP
6.2
Tested up to
WP 7.1
Requires PHP
7.0
Downloads
73,174

Our analysis

AI-assisted

SideMenu is a WordPress plugin that adds an off-canvas panel to your site, which can be opened via a button placed in your content or templates. It features a block-first workflow, allowing you to create reusable content for the SideMenu directly in the editor, making it suitable for modern block themes and Full Site Editing.

The plugin supports both block and classic themes, ensuring compatibility with older sites while providing a streamlined setup for newer ones. Users can customise the button text, icon, and styling options, making it adaptable to various site designs.

Best for: This plugin is suitable for WordPress users looking to enhance site navigation with an off-canvas menu.

What it does well

  • Adds an off-canvas panel for improved navigation
  • Block-first workflow for modern WordPress sites
  • Customisable button text and icon controls
  • Supports both block and classic themes
  • Reusable SideMenu content managed in the editor

Where it falls short

  • Limited information on advanced features or customisation options

Verdict

SideMenu offers a straightforward solution for integrating an off-canvas panel into WordPress sites, especially beneficial for those using block themes.

From the developer

Oliver Campion's own description of SideMenu, lightly tidied.

SideMenu adds an off-canvas panel that slides in from the side of your site and can be opened from a block button placed in your content, templates or template parts.

Version 2.0 introduces a block-first workflow for modern WordPress sites. Create reusable SideMenu content in the editor, choose the default SideMenu content for free blocks, then place the “SideMenu Open Button” block wherever visitors should be able to open the panel.

The block workflow is ideal for block themes and Full Site Editing because the SideMenu button can live directly in a template, header, navigation area, page or post.

Key features

  • SideMenu Open Button block for posts, pages, templates and template parts.
  • Reusable SideMenu content managed as its own editor content type.
  • Default SideMenu content selector in the editor.
  • Button text and hamburger icon controls.
  • Block styling support for color, typography, spacing, dimensions and borders.
  • Responsive sliding panel with cover overlay and close button.
  • Developer filters for default content and panel settings.

How to use the SideMenu block

  1. Go to “SideMenus” in the WordPress admin and add the content you want to show in the sliding panel.
  2. Add the “SideMenu Open Button” block to a post, page, template or template part.
  3. Set the button text and choose whether to show a hamburger icon.
  4. Choose the default SideMenu content from the editor’s SideMenu settings panel.

The free block uses one default SideMenu content item. Developers can filter the block content ID with the sidemenu_block_content_id filter.

Classic theme and classic SideMenu support

Classic SideMenu features are still available when your site uses a classic theme, or when the plugin detects existing classic SideMenu usage. This keeps existing shortcodes, widget sidebars, menu locations, mobile menu hijacks and Customizer settings working while giving block themes a cleaner setup path.

On classic themes, SideMenu loads the original Customizer-driven runtime. This provides the traditional SideMenu sidebar, menu location, shortcode, mobile menu hijack options and classic styling controls.

If you move an older site to a block theme, SideMenu checks for existing classic usage and keeps the classic runtime available when it finds classic SideMenu blocks, shortcodes, open links, widgets, menu locations or mobile menu hijack settings.

How to use the [sidemenu] shortcode

Classic shortcode support is still available when the classic runtime is active.

  • Use [sidemenu] to show the default button.
  • Use [sidemenu]My Button Title[/sidemenu] or [sidemenu title="My Button Title"] to show your own button text.
  • Use [sidemenu class="my-class" title="Filtered SideMenu Button"] to show a button that only displays classic widgets or menu items with the specified class.

To add a class to a menu item, go to “Appearance – Menus”, open “Screen Options” and enable “CSS Classes”. To add a class to a block widget, select the block in “Appearance – Widgets”, open the “Advanced” panel and use “Additional CSS class(es)”.

Read the full description on the official page →

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