How to: create a dynamic sidebar

Do you ever wanted to be able to load different sidebars according to the current category? Here is a very simple recipe to learn how to easily create a dynamic sidebar.

Since WordPress 2.5, you can specify a sidebar name to be inclued:

<?php get_sidebar('name'); ?>

The above code will include the file named sidebar-name.php.

The following code will include a custom sidebar according to the category you are on:

<?php
    //to be able to use this outside the loop
    if ( have_posts() ) { the_post(); rewind_posts(); } 

    if ( in_category('1') ) {
        get_sidebar('cat1');
        //gets sidebar-cat1.php
    } elseif ( in_category('2') ) {
        get_sidebar('cat2');
        //gets sidebar-cat2.php
    } elseif ( in_category('3') ) {
        get_sidebar('cat3');
        //gets sidebar-cat3.php
    } elseif ( in_category('4') || in_category('5') || in_category('6') ) {
        get_sidebar('catRest');
        //gets sidebar-catRest.php
    } else {
        get_sidebar()
        //gets sidebar.php
    }
?>

Credits goes to Chris Cagle for this awesome recipe!