The Ultimate Sidebar

Jun 16, 2008 by Matt | Posted in Design 4 Comments

Do you know what one of the biggest mistakes bloggers make is? Putting too much in their sidebar.

Yes, I know it’s tempting to put as much as you can fit into that column that runs down to the side of your content, but don’t. Optimally you want to put as little as possible there. I try to, and it can be hard at times to keep a clean sidebar, but it’s worth it. It keeps things uncluttered, and improves usability.

What can you get rid of?

  • Date-based archives. If you plan on blogging for any length of time, that list is going to get really big, and make your sidebar far too long.
  • MyBlogLog
  • Valid XHTML/CSS/RSS badges
  • Assorted widgets and badges from various sites.

Just a few suggestions. I’m sure you’re case will be different, and you’ll have a unique assortment of stuff in your sidebar that needs pruning.

How can you sort though everything? Prioritize Your Blog Into 5 Distinct Groups.

  • http://omninoggin.com Thaya Kareeson

    I agree that you don’t need date-based archive links.  If I was a reader, I’d head straight to the search bar to find what I’m looking for.On another note, if you really like your MyBlogLog, widgets, and badges, you can start using the plugin Fun With Sidebar Tabs to help reduce your sidebar size.

  • http://www.webmaster-source.com Matt

    @Thaya, agreed. If you must have some of the stuff causing clutter, tabbed boxes can help.

    On the dated archives, if you absolutely have to see all the posts in a certain month for some reason, you can just append “/2008/03/” or the like to the end of the domain. (In WordPress anyway.)

  • http://www.problogdesign.com/ Michael Martin

    Thanks for the link Matt. Totally agree with ya!I noticed you added Skribit to your sidebar. That was a cool idea. Might try it out as well at some point! :)

  • http://www.webmaster-source.com Matt

    @Michael Your articles provided some inspiration for this post. Really, they helped make me a more fanatical supporter of simplicity in design (your madness is rubbing off :D ).

    Yeah, I ditched Entrecard in favor of Skribit. I’m trying it out to see if it will provide some needed post ideas, and help tailor the blog to my readers more.