Cannot update a file for my theme

Question

I have a theme that automatically adds some widgets. I don't want them and so I tried to edit the Sidebar.php but it just fails and sends me to a page with message 404. Here's the code block I am trying to delete from Sidebar.php:

<!-- sidebar south START -->
<div id="southsidebar" class="sidebar">
<?php if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') || !dynamic_sidebar('south_sidebar') ) : ?>

    <!-- archives -->
    <div class="widget">
        <h3>Archives</h3>
        <?php if(function_exists('wp_easyarchives_widget')) : ?>
            <?php wp_easyarchives_widget("mode=none&limit=6"); ?>
        <?php else : ?>
            <ul>
                <?php wp_get_archives('type=monthly'); ?>
            </ul>
        <?php endif; ?>
    </div>

    <!-- meta -->
    <div class="widget">
        <h3>Meta</h3>
        <ul>
            <?php wp_register(); ?>
            <li><?php wp_loginout(); ?></li>
        </ul>
    </div>

<?php endif; ?>
</div>
<!-- sidebar south END -->

EDIT: So for now what I have done is I modified the css to hide southsidebar. But actually I want to use that div by adding other widgets.

Answer 1

Those widgets are added because you've specified none

Try adding a text widget with no content but spaces, you'll find all those hardcoded default 'widgets' dissappear

You should never use the built in editor in WordPress though, so use FTP/Shell/VCS instead

Answer 2

<!-- sidebar south START -->
<div id="southsidebar" class="sidebar">
<?php if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') || !dynamic_sidebar('south_sidebar') ) : ?>

Insert yours widgets code here

<?php endif; ?>
</div>
<!-- sidebar south END -->

File Permissions To edit a file through the Built-in Editor, the permissions for that file must be set to 666. You can change the permissions on files by using a FTP client program, web-based interface provided by your host, or from the command-line using telnet or ssh (secure shell). These options are dependent on the type of access your host offers.