In my first attempt to edit in a text editor I chose sidebar.mdwn. I committed it  after the editing, and get this when I execute "git push:"

$ git push

    Counting objects: 5, done.

    Delta compression using up to 8 threads.

    Compressing objects: 100% (3/3), done.

    Writing objects: 100% (3/3), 289 bytes, done.

    Total 3 (delta 2), reused 0 (delta 0)

    Unpacking objects: 100% (3/3), done.

    remote: From /home/zoidberg/Zoidwicky

    remote:    e878e6a..0ac0c44  master     -> origin/master

    remote: error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by merge:

    remote: 	sidebar.mdwn

    remote: Please, commit your changes or stash them before you can merge.

    remote: Aborting

    remote: 'git pull --prune origin' failed:  at /usr/share/perl5/IkiWiki/Plugin/git.pm line 218.

    To /home/zoidberg/Zoidwicky.git

       e878e6a..0ac0c44  master -> master

I have committed my changes to sidebar.mdwn and given my reason for doing so. Also, I get this complaint about sidebar.mdwn when I try 'git push' after editng other files. So I am stuck here. Pls. help.