Discussions

How do you fill up your sidebar?

Posted by dremeber • 7/01/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: sidebar, widgets

When using a 3 column template I find it rather difficult to fill in the spaces in the sidebars.
An option ofcourse could be to use a 2 column template but at the moment I don't want to do this.
Another possibility is to decrease the number of posts on the main blog page. Currently I have set this to 5, which is an average number I guess.

With random widgets it is easy to full up the spaces but also can be a distracting factor. I also don't want to fil up the spaces with adds.

So, my question(s) to all of you:
- How do you fill up the sidebars?
- Are there killer widgets which you should use?
- Are their widgets you should be avoiding at all costs?

Thx,
Dremeber

User Comments

7/01/09

dsriharsha

I have a 3 column template.. you can check out my blog and see if you like the widgets that I have

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7/01/09

acousticguitarist

put as many things in as possible to annoy your visitors... more is better, space is terrible , add ads, adsense, buttons, pictures, videos, input boxes, links, chickens, opt-in boxes, gnomes, categories, barbie dolls and plug-ins. And a cappuccino machine to keep your visitors

:-)

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7/01/09

irtiza104

First of all there's no need to "fill up" spaces in the sidebars. the side bars can be left alone. I used to have a 3 clm blog and used to have a lot of stuffs there. but as suggested by "mrsblog" i reduced the number of widgets and plugins. also switched to 2 clm blog which is more professional.

* every widget (+link) you add to your blog leaks away your blog's PR. so be careful about it if you want to appear on search engines.

* having less posts on the main page increases the loading speed. remember, we are very impatient. we dont like to wait for a page to load.

* you can have recent posts, popular posts or recent comments widget. this is helpful for navigation.

* you can show ads (which you have) in your blog$ as a little extra income is NICE. but make sure that they dont appear as the main purpose of the blog.

all the best.

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7/01/09

LolitaV

my blog has no sidebars

[reply]
1. 7/01/09
  
  farangrakthai
  
  I have some but I usually do not use them in the info pages, too distracting. Otherwise, I use them to post links or pictures.
2. 7/01/09
  
  LolitaV
  
  i just have a few stuff at the bottom of my page.
7/01/09

SAHMinIL

I have 3 columns and be honest I think less is more! I really just have basic things, things that I think would be helpful to my readers!

subscription link, search this blog, blog archive, shared items (links to things I found interesting, helpful, etc), followers, a blogroll of MY followers sites, and 2 different link list.

One link list is for homeschooling help, and other is a link list of Catholic bloggers. Oh and I do have an adsense ad box. Those things are spread out between BOTH of my side columns.

Currently, I also am having a giveaway so info for that is also in the sidebar. That normally isn't there, but I added it to help with my PR about the giveaway.

I should also add that NOT all of MY followers sites are listed in the blogroll. Some I choose not to list because of the content, or because when I visit them I got pop-ups etc. (I wanted to add that info, because I don't want people following my blog, thinking I will automatically add them to the blogroll)

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