First, do not make revisions in bp-default theme. Revisions will be overwritten when BP is upgraded.
Instead,
– create a child theme of bp-default theme, e.g. mybpproject,
https://codex.buddypress.org/theme-development/building-a-buddypress-child-theme/
– create a functions.php file and put it in your child theme folder. Define new widget/s here (name, ID, etc)
– copy over the template file from bp-default theme to your child theme folder (following directory structure) then add the call to dynamic_sidebar in that template.
Thanks, I did set up a child theme. Although I still didn’t have any luck. I’ll keep playing with it, as I’d like to learn how it works. But I did finally find a theme I liked in the mean time.