[blogthea]

ok i figured out how to make it open by default
first i edited
vb4sidebar_template
and removed this: (to remove the image button)

<a id="sidebar_button_link" href="#"><img id="sidebar_button" src="$stylevar[imgdir_misc]/tab-expanded.png" alt=""></a>

then i edited vbulletin-sidebar.js (its inside the clientscript/sidebar/ folder)
commented out this line:

//	YAHOO.util.Event.on(this.sidebar_button, "click", this.toggle_collapse, this, true);

above it, i put:

this.expand();

i am sure this isnt the best way to do it, but it works