Sidebar is a handy way to keep things you need often visible on your desktop at all times.

Showing/hiding the sidebar

Use the Windows Vista Sidebar Notification area icon to show or hide the sidebar. If you’re not sure which icon that is, just point to each one until you find the one named Windows Vista Sidebar. If it’s not among the visible icons, click the < symbol at the left side of the Notification area to locate the icon. To keep that icon from going into hiding, set its Behavior property to Show, as described in the preceding section “Customizing the Notification Area.”

If you can’t find the sidebar or the Notification area icon, click the Start button and choose All Programs  -> Accessories  ->  Windows Sidebar. That will open both the sidebar and its Notification area icon. Once you see the Windows Vista Sidebar icon, right-click it. If the sidebar is hidden, click Show Sidebar to make it visible. Likewise, you can hide the sidebar at any time by choosing Hide Sidebar from that same menu.

You can also just double-click the Windows Vista Sidebar Notification area icon to show/hide the sidebar.

- Start sidebar when Windows Vista starts: Choose this option to have the sidebar and its Notification area within easy reach when you first start the computer.

- Sidebar is always on top of other windows: Choose this option to make the sidebar opaque and prevent program windows from covering it. Clear this checkbox to allow program windows to cover the sidebar.

Even when a program window covers the sidebar, it’s easy to get to your gadgets. Right-click any visible portion of the sidebar, or the Windows Vista Sidebar Notification area icon, and choose Bring gadgets to front.

- Display Sidebar on this side of screen: Choose the side of the screen on which you want to place the sidebar. If you choose Left and also choose to keep the sidebar on top, you won’t be able to click desktop icons that are under the sidebar. So think twice before using the left side of the screen.

- Display Sidebar on monitor: This option applies only if you have multiple monitors connected to and enabled on your computer. Otherwise this option should be set to 1.

- View a list of running gadgets: Shows the names of gadgets currently on your sidebar. You can remove any listed gadget.

- Restore gadgets installed with Windows Vista: Resets gadgets to the ones that appeared the first time you used Windows Vista.

Click OK after viewing or changing any settings. When the sidebar is open, you can right-click it or the Windows Vista Sidebar Notification area icon and choose Show sidebar or Hide sidebar to show or hide the sidebar. To close the sidebar and remove its Notification area icon, right-click the sidebar or icon and choose Exit. To re-open the sidebar in the future, click the Start button and choose All Programs  ->  Accessories  -> Windows Vista Sidebar.

Adding and removing gadgets

Each item in the sidebar is a gadget. There are no required gadgets. Nor are there right, wrong, good, or bad gadgets. The idea is to simply look around through available gadgets and pick ones you like. To add gadgets to the sidebar:

- Click the + sign near the top of the sidebar.

- Or right-click an empty area on the sidebar and choose Add Gadgets.

- Or right-click the Windows Vista Sidebar Notification area icon and choose Add Gadgets.

It doesn’t matter which method you use because the result is the same: The Gadget Gallery opens. When the gallery first opens, you’ll see a few sample gadgets. If you see numbers like 1/2 or 1/3 near the upperright corner of the gallery, they mean you’re viewing page one of multiple pages. Click the Up or Down button above those numbers to scroll through other pages of gadgets. When you click a gadget, a description appears near the bottom of the gallery. If you don’t see a description, click the v button near the bottom of the gallery to enlarge it.

After you’ve checked out gadgets you already have, click Get more gadgets online to see more. You’re taken to a Web page where you can scroll through many more available gadgets. Just read and follow the instructions on that page to shop around and download any gadgets that look interesting. Downloaded gadgets are placed in your gallery, which makes them easy to get to and put on your sidebar. To add a gadget to the sidebar, just double-click it. Or right-click it and choose Add, or just drag it from the gallery onto the sidebar. If there isn’t enough room for all your gadgets, some will be placed on additional pages. Use the < and > buttons at the top of the sidebar to scroll through all the gadgets on your sidebar. To remove a gadget from your sidebar, right-click it and choose Remove. Or point to the gadget and click the Close (X) button at its upper-right corner. A copy of the gadget remains in your gallery, in case you want to add it back on later. To remove a gadget from the gallery and your computer, right-click the gadget in the gallery and choose uninstall.

You can only uninstall downloaded gadgets. The few gadgets that come with Windows Vista cannot be uninstalled or removed from the gallery.

Using and manipulating gadgets

Different gadgets do different things and work in different ways. But most are easy to figure out. If the gadget has options or settings you can change, you’ll see a checkmark near its upper-right corner. Click that checkmark to see what it has to offer. Or right-click the gadget and choose Settings. When the Settings dialog box opens, the options will be self-explanatory.

If the checkmark and Settings options are disabled (dimmed), it means that the gadget doesn’t have any configurable options.

Some gadgets have options like Opacity to control transparency, Detach from sidebar to make the gadget free-floating, and Attach to sidebar to put a detached gadget back on the sidebar. Right-click a gadget and choose Move to turn the mouse pointer to a four-headed “move” arrow, then drag the mouse to put it wherever you want. Gadgets are meant to be simple, useful, and fun. So feel free to try things out and play around with them. Because there is no set of rules that apply to all gadgets, you’ll need to experiment with any gadget you choose to figure out how it works. Remember, once a gadget is on the sidebar, you can right-click it to see options for using and customizing the gadget.

Using Windows Vista SideShow

Windows Vista SideShow is similar to Windows Vista Sidebar, except that it doesn’t show gadgets on your desktop. Rather, it shows them on alternative display devices found on some notebooks, cell phones, and other portable devices. It only works with devices that sport the Windows Vista SideShow logo. Furthermore, you have to install the device to work with Windows Vista SideShow. I can’t help you with that step because there are many such devices and no one-rule-fits-all. Refer to the instructions that came with the device for specifics. On the computer side of things, you’ll use the SideShow control panel to tweak settings on the alternative screen and to choose gadgets. Use either of the following methods to get to that control panel:

- Tap the Windows key, type side, and click Windows SideShow.

- Click the Start button and choose Control Panel  ->  Hardware and Sound  ->  Windows SideShow.

What you see in the SideShow control panel depends on the device you’ve installed. But the options should be self-explanatory enough that you can figure it out on your own. Basically you choose the gadgets you want to display from the list of available gadgets. Click the Get more gadgets online link to find other SideShow gadgets. Use the Help links in the control panel for more information about SideShow and configuring it to best work with your hardware.