5 Essential Sidebar Items
With blogging’s rise in popularity, the sidebar has become a place for much more.
The far majority of websites and blogs have at least one sidebar. The primary purpose being to provide deeper navigation into the website. With blogging’s rise in popularity, the sidebar has become a place for much more. The sidebar is a great place to put information and links that will benefit readers by providing them quick access to useful info. I got the idea from a post on bill2me.com to make a list of what I think are the essentials.
First, I want to list a few things that are found in many sidebars, but are wasted space in my opinion.
- Calendar
- Archives(by date)
- meta(site admin links)
Having said that, yes, I do include those things in the default sidebars in my themes. Why? I guess because that’s the normal thing to do, and that is what people expect to find in a theme. I haven’t really considered doing any different, since most WordPress users use sidebar widgets anyway. All three of these elements can be useful in certain types of sites, but in general they don’t really add value.
So, what are the more important things to include? Well this really comes down to opinion and personal preference. What I find to be crucial, you may think otherwise. Here, I’ve made a list of what I think are the 5 most essential items to include in a sidebar, and why.
- Pages / Navigation – Some sites, such as this one, have a horizontal navigation menu right under the header. All sites don’t. It’s frustrating for me to visit a site, and the only means of navigation is either going to the bottom of the page and following the “previous entries” link, or by searching the Archives(by date). The truth is, I probably won’t take the time to do either. So I think providing easy navigation is the most essential. Preferably with a nice sitemap.
- Recent Posts – I like to display recent posts, because this is obviously the first place a visitor will look when visiting a site for the first time, to try getting an overall feel for the content.
- Recent Comments – This is important, in my opinion, because it makes it easy for the reader to follow any conversations that are happening on the site. And hey, isn’t conversation what blogging is all about?
- Categories – This one goes right along with navigation. If a reader is looking for specific information, this makes it easy for them to see if you have anything to offer about that subject.
- Subscription Options – If you want to build a community of regular readers, it’s much more likely to happen by RSS.
That’s my list. What would you consider the most important elements of a sidebar? What am I leaving out?
Anthony,
In addition to the important suggestions that you made, some bloggers may also choose to install a modest number of widgets that truly add value to their content. For example, by using the Criteo recommendation engine, our AutoRoll widget is able to display links to recommended blogs from within the AutoRoll network that are similar to yours. The widget is totally customizable and provides detailed statistics.
If you have some time, please check it out and let me know what you think!
Brandon Watts
Criteo Evangelist
Brandon,
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve seen widgets that provide content from other blogs, and I think they certainly can be useful. I’ll be sure to take a look at Criteo.
The point you made about the number being “modest”, I would say is important. When it comes to widgets and badges, it’s easy to over-do-it. My sidebar collects clutter like a magnet.
Hmm … the sidebar is always good for ads and sponsorship links. And of course, you’ve got your pic up Anthony … a little sidebar branding is always good!
I couldn’t agree more with getting rid of the calendar. It’s about as useful as having a mini spare tire in your trunk. That’s flat. And no jack.
Well, I’m not saying this is the definitive list of useful stuff, just what I see as being some of the more important ones. I may leave that pic out on my next design……..something to think about. I agree it’s good for branding purposes, however I personally get tired of looking at it. If I get tired of it, I assume others probably do all the more. haha
I’ve never understood why the calendar comes on almost every theme as standard equipment, yet few actually use it for anything. I may leave that off my next released theme.
Thanks, Anthony! I see that you’re now using AutoRoll, and I hope that you’re enjoying the functionality that it adds to your blog.
Be sure to send me an e-mail if you have any further questions or comments!
Brandon Watts
Criteo Evangelist
humm, makes me think I should do something with my “badges” section in my sidebar hehe
I never understood the calendar thing either, it’s not really good for SEO anyway. I still have the “archives by month” on my sidebar, but I guess it’s not really useful, no one ever clicks on those links. Maybe just a search bar would be enough, but first thing first, I have to clear my “badges” section lol
Jon,
The thing about the “dated archives” is that they aren’t used by many people……..having a sitemap is way better, which I know you have because I was looking through your posts recently.
As far as the badges, I know some of those are awards……personally, I wouldn’t get rid of those.
Well I thought of maybe creating a new page in wordpress called “awards” or “mentions” or something like that and have all the badges there, with maybe a little description next to each, so it would all be on the same page, and people would know what they’re about, and it would unclutter my sidebar
That’s a great idea………you did that with your links as well a while back, right?
I agree with your comments about the calendar and archives. A better tool, I think, than a long list of archive dates is to use a dropdown list, which takes up less space. There’s a good widget plugin for that.
I’m with you Andrew. Less is more.
I’ve also been thinking about the archives issue. I was wondering if Michael could identify the drop down list widget?