[Mediawiki-l] Sidebar Customization

[John Durant]

Does anyone know of a technique or extension that would allow me to customize the Sidebar? Following the example shown on Manual:Interface/Sidebar does not return the results shown. 

The manual page further states: 

" The link target can be the name of an interface message (page in the MediaWiki namespace) or wiki page, or an external link. In either case, the link can be internal, interwiki, or external. In some cases (such as links with the "&" character), an interface message is necessary. The link target cannot be made dependent on the interface language set in the preferences." 

After trying every permutation of link and link text the Sidebar does not perform as stated. What am I missing here? 

Further down the page examples using Javascript and PHP. Are these my only recourse? 

Thanks, 
John