How to add the ability to minimize and maximize blocks

1. Go into the AutoTheme control panel in the Commands section. In the Add a Command box enter: block-control. Select which users will have this option available. On my own site I chose it for registered users only so anonymous users would not be able to minimize any blocks and would not miss any information that might make them decide to register.

In the action box enter:
echo $block["MinBox"]; and click on Add.

2. In each template (leftblock.html., rightblock.html, etc.) add the tag <!-- [block-control] --> to the right of the <!-- [block-title] --> tag. I found it best to add two spaces in between the two tags. Use & (ampersand) nbsp; to create a space. Add it only for the templates you desire to add this capability to. It might be just the left template as in my case and will depend on your block placement as well as your personal preferences.

Repeat this for each theme.

3. In each themes images directory, make sure that you have the minus.gif and plus.gif images

4. In the admin panel -> Settings -> Blocks -> Configure -> Check to enable collapsible menu icons. Choose one of the two types of buttons and click on Update to save the configuration.

That's all there is to it.

l've since added this capability to all my themes and created plus and minus images for each one. I have an outline of a box in an appropriate color for each theme around the + and - signs with the rest transparent to better blend with each theme and to be discrete.