This is what it looks like on my page (I put the php code where :ARTICLECONTENT: would have gone and it works fine) and here's what it looks like:
PHP page:
<div id="sidebar">
<ul>
$sidebar = getsidebar();
</ul>
</div>
My actual template.html:
<div id="sidebar">
<ul>
:SIDEFEED:
</ul>
</div>
The $sidebar = getsidebar(); didn't work. It just shows that text where my sidebar should be.