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And the code is:

/* ----- News Category Sidebar Query ----- */
function news_catloop(){
query_posts("numberposts=5&category_name=news");
if ($news_query->have_posts()) : while ($news_query->have_posts()) : $news_query->the_post();
<ul class="xoxo">
<h3 class="widgettitle">Latest News</h3>

you post code between tick marks.

also i would recommend using get_posts instead of a new query for something in the sidebar. that way you don't monkey with the main query in any way.

also whenever you get a white screen of death you should set the WP_debug mode to TRUE in the config.php file of your wordpress install. like this:

http://www.wprecipes.com/how-to-easily-enabledisable-debug-mode-in-wordpress

that should tell which line is killing the PHP. it is probably a quote or bracket that isn't closed, or a missing semi-colon.

and for what you are trying to do, why not just use someone else's code. there is a widget for exactly this.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/category-posts/

well does that work? it looks correct to me. also don't hate on plugins... :) no sense in reinventing the wheel. (spoken by someone who spent 3 days trying to code what NextGen gallery almost already does and does better)

Steve,

You are not closing your php code (assuming it was left open in the function above this one...) before your html in this code you wrote... and then not reopening it after your html before the add_action function.

/* ----- News Category Sidebar Query ----- */
function latest_news(){
<ul class="xoxo">
	<?php
		global $post;
		$myposts = get_posts('numberposts=5&category_name=news');
		foreach($myposts as $post) :
		setup_postdata($post);
	?>
		<li><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
	<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
}
add_action('thematic_abovemainasides', 'latest_news');

Try this...

/* ----- News Category Sidebar Query ----- */
function latest_news(){

?>

<ul class="xoxo">
	<?php
		global $post;
		$myposts = get_posts('numberposts=5&category_name=news');
		foreach($myposts as $post) :
		setup_postdata($post);
	?>
		<li><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
	<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>

<?php

}
add_action('thematic_abovemainasides', 'latest_news');

Or, you could do it Helga's way too! ;-)

Hi again, gone a little further on this one.

/* ----- News Category Sidebar Query ----- */
function latest_news(){
?>
<div class="aside main-aside">
	<ul class="xoxo">
	<h3 class="widgettitle">Latest News</h3>
		<?php
        	global $post;
        	$myposts = get_posts('numberposts=5&category_name=news');
        	foreach($myposts as $post) :
        	setup_postdata($post);
    		?>
	<li><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
    	<?php endforeach; ?>
	</ul>
</div>
<?php
}
add_action('thematic_abovemainasides', 'latest_news');

Great for the standard Thematic 2col layouts; Not that I use the 3col layout but in the 3col layout the sidebar drops below the content, presumably because it's above the the Primary or Secondary divs. Would need to add it to the 'widget_area_primary_aside' Helga, this is where you say 'why not use a widget' as above. Good learning curve, but might have to use the widget after all.

krowchuk- why would you do that? then you'd also be wrapping everything else in the primary aside up in this div too. better i think to just wrap the content stever is trying to generate. and ummm... yes this is exactly why i like plugins that already do exactly what i am trying to do. :)

viking - cuz steve insists on reinventing the wheel! ;-)

... and I haven't figured out how to filter yet!

Seems to me that one could set up a filter to remove these:

<div class="aside main-aside">
	<ul class="xoxo">

and then add them into the new above_mainasides function?

I just don't know how to do that but I am sure you could figure it out?

steve - did you style the wrapper div? Set a new css rule for your #aside-wrapper and have a look at your #main rules, you will need to copy the rules from #main into #aside-wrapper (not the classes aside and main-aside since they affect other asides!) and then it should work. Specifically the floats and widths. You might have to fiddle with your #main, remove some rules there. Without knowing what your changes have been to #main so far, or which 3 column layout you are using I can't really be more specific on what to change. Do you have Firebug?

Either way, your problem is now css positioning / layout so you are mostly there.

FWIW, I would grab two plugins and add them to your arsenal, Executable PHP widget and Widget Logic - these will solve most of your problems the easy way...

Hey Steve - no problem!

I understand what you are saying, I went through this very exercise myself of placing custom php INSIDE of an ASIDE before deciding the best approach was to simply use the Executable PHP Widget plugin that gives you a widget to enter your custom php into. Combined with Widget Logic this eliminates almost all the pain!

The exercise though, did teach me how the hooks can be very powerful and how to use them.

I would agree, managing the seemingly inflexibility of the asides seems to be the trickiest part of Thematic.

I still think there must be a way to use a filter in combination with the hook to insert the custom PHP INSIDE the ASIDE and accomplish this without the use of plugins.