allow select and order of sidebar components to be configurable in jekyll's _config.yml

.themes/classic/source/_includes/sidebar.html

@@ -1,4 +1 @@
-{% include asides/recent_posts.html %}
-{% include asides/twitter.html %}
-{% include asides/delicious.html %}
-{% include asides/pinboard.html %}
+{% include_array asides %}

_config.yml

@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ pygments: false
 paginate: 10 # Posts per page on the blog index
 recent_posts: 5 # Posts in the sidebar Recent Posts section
 
+# list each of the sidebar modules you want to include, in the order you want, here, adding your own in asides/custom/... if you'd like
+asides: [asides/recent_posts.html, asides/twitter.html, asides/delicious.html, asides/pinboard.html]
+
 # ----------------------- #
 #   3rd Party Settings    #
 # ----------------------- #

plugins/include_array.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# Title: Include Array Tag for Jekyll
+# Author: Jason Woodward http://www.woodwardjd.com
+# Description: Import files on your filesystem as specified in a configuration variable in _config.yml.  Mostly cribbed from Jekyll's include tag.
+# Syntax: {% include_array variable_name_from_config.yml %}
+#
+# Example 1:
+# {% include_array asides  %}
+#
+# _config.yml snippet:
+# asides: [asides/twitter.html, asides/custom/my_picture.html]
+#
+module Jekyll
+
+  class IncludeArrayTag < Liquid::Tag
+    Syntax = /(#{Liquid::QuotedFragment}+)/
+    def initialize(tag_name, markup, tokens)
+      if markup =~ Syntax
+        @array_name = $1
+      else
+        raise SyntaxError.new("Error in tag 'include_array' - Valid syntax: include_array [array from _config.yml]")
+      end
+
+      super
+    end
+
+    def render(context)
+      includes_dir = File.join(context.registers[:site].source, '_includes')
+
+      if File.symlink?(includes_dir)
+        return "Includes directory '#{includes_dir}' cannot be a symlink"
+      end
+
+      rtn = ''
+      (context.environments.first['site'][@array_name] || []).each do |file|
+        if file !~ /^[a-zA-Z0-9_\/\.-]+$/ || file =~ /\.\// || file =~ /\/\./
+          rtn = rtn + "Include file '#{file}' contains invalid characters or sequences"
+        end
+
+        Dir.chdir(includes_dir) do
+          choices = Dir['**/*'].reject { |x| File.symlink?(x) }
+          if choices.include?(file)
+            source = File.read(file)
+            partial = Liquid::Template.parse(source)
+            context.stack do
+              rtn = rtn + partial.render(context)
+            end
+          else
+            rtn = rtn + "Included file '#{file}' not found in _includes directory"
+          end
+        end
+      end
+      rtn
+    end
+  end
+
+end
+
+Liquid::Template.register_tag('include_array', Jekyll::IncludeArrayTag)