This feature will allow creating new Sidebar positions which can be assigned to specific locations of the site, and can inherit a default sidebar’s properties.
The default sidebars are:
- Shop sidebar (basic, left/right)
- Filter panel sidebar (offcanvas panel which can hold widgets and react to filtering)
- Top Bar sidebar (positioned above the product grid sidebar, mainly for dropdown widgets)
To create one or more sidebars simply access Customizer > WooCommerce > Product catalog > Grid Components > Custom sidebar and locate the options eg: https://d.pr/i/1cuDu4 . You will then see the end result in Appearance > Widgets eg: https://d.pr/i/h8nySs .
In the example above the “Jackets sidebar” will be shown only on Jackets category, overriding the primary sidebar’s widgets.
This is a useful tool for larger stores with hierarchical structure of the categories, with main parent ones. Or Attribute archives which need specific filters.