What are the best coverings for a sliding glass door?

A slider is a wide, tall, in-use opening, so the covering has to slide aside rather than raise. Vertical blinds and panel-track systems are the pragmatic answers: they glide open to clear the door’s traffic path and stack neatly to one side, where a horizontal blind would be a heavy raise you’d resent every time you stepped out. Modern fabric vanes and panel tracks have shed the old rattle, and both offer fabrics from solar screen to room-darkening. Plan the stackback — the space the open covering occupies — ideally onto a wall extension beside the door so it clears the glass, not just the door. For a slider that faces a bedroom or media space, choose a room-darkening fabric.