diff --git a/.github/workflows/gh-ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/gh-ci.yaml
index a28d04eaea..bf8f9de42c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gh-ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gh-ci.yaml
@@ -155,7 +155,8 @@ jobs:
       with:
         micromamba: true
         full-deps: true
-        extra-pip-deps: "docutils sphinx<7 sphinx-sitemap mdanalysis-sphinx-theme>=1.0.1 sphinxcontrib-bibtex pybtex pybtex-docutils"
+        extra-pip-deps: "docutils sphinx-sitemap sphinxcontrib-bibtex pybtex pybtex-docutils"
+        extra-conda-deps: "mdanalysis-sphinx-theme>=1.3.0"
 
     - name: build_srcs
       uses: ./.github/actions/build-src
diff --git a/maintainer/conda/environment.yml b/maintainer/conda/environment.yml
index a3f0a6d71d..a3dbb3400e 100644
--- a/maintainer/conda/environment.yml
+++ b/maintainer/conda/environment.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ dependencies:
   - h5py>=2.10
   - hypothesis
   - joblib>=0.12
-  - mdanalysis-sphinx-theme >=1.0.1
+  - mdanalysis-sphinx-theme >=1.3.0
   - matplotlib>=3.2.2
   - mmtf-python
   - mock
diff --git a/package/CHANGELOG b/package/CHANGELOG
index 3004c8ee9b..bca8cc647a 100644
--- a/package/CHANGELOG
+++ b/package/CHANGELOG
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ Fixes
   * Fixes hydrogenbonds tutorial path to point to hbonds (Issue #4285, PR #4286)
 
 Enhancements
+  * Adds external sidebar links (Issue #4296)
   * Updated lib.qcprot.CalcRMSDRotationalMatrix to accept either float32 or float64
     inputs (PR #4273, part of #3927)
   * Added a warning about charge neutrality to the documentation of
diff --git a/package/doc/sphinx/source/conf.py b/package/doc/sphinx/source/conf.py
index e66d330ef0..a1a461ed14 100644
--- a/package/doc/sphinx/source/conf.py
+++ b/package/doc/sphinx/source/conf.py
@@ -161,8 +161,15 @@ class KeyStyle(UnsrtStyle):
 # a list of builtin themes.
 html_theme = 'mdanalysis_sphinx_theme'
 
+extra_nav_links = {}
+extra_nav_links["MDAnalysis"] = "http://mdanalysis.org"
+extra_nav_links["User guide"] = "http://userguide.mdanalysis.org"
+extra_nav_links["MDAKits"] = "https://mdakits.mdanalysis.org/"
+
+
 html_theme_options = {
     "mda_official": True,
+    "extra_nav_links": extra_nav_links,
 }
 
 # Theme options are theme-specific and customize the look and feel of a theme
diff --git a/package/doc/sphinx/source/index.rst b/package/doc/sphinx/source/index.rst
index f8c215b9e1..ec50cc4329 100644
--- a/package/doc/sphinx/source/index.rst
+++ b/package/doc/sphinx/source/index.rst
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ Thank you!
 
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 4
+   :caption: Documentation
    :numbered:		
    :hidden:
    
diff --git a/package/pyproject.toml b/package/pyproject.toml
index 31e4896dc8..83a7da80e8 100644
--- a/package/pyproject.toml
+++ b/package/pyproject.toml
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ analysis = [
 doc = [
     "sphinx",
     "sphinx-sitemap",
-    "mdanalysis-sphinx-theme",
+    "mdanalysis-sphinx-theme>=1.3.0",
     "sphinxcontrib-bibtex",
     "pybtex",
     "pybtex-docutils",