Adding a Sidebar: Community Discussion

[Chris OConnor]

Adding a Sidebar: Community Discussion

MadArchitect will be helping us add a sidebar to our Forums page. What should we have in this sidebar?

I'd like to use the sidebar to provide visitors and members helful links AND as a means of selling more books.

[Chris OConnor]

Links we will probably want in the sidebar:

Community Rules
Book Selection Process
Rationally Speaking
Donate to BookTalk
BookTalk Member Photos
News for Freethinkers

We probably don't need a NEWS section. I can continue to add bits of news to the very top section above the forums. I'll try to keep that box fresh and as short as possible.

The moment we have our books selected for an upcoming book discussion period there will be image links added to the top news section. Again, this has nothing to do with the sidebar. A sidebar is a section that runs up the left or right side of the forums. Ours will be along the left side.

To me an important element of this sidebar is the ability to add images or even simply text links to our past books. I'd like to be able to offer banner space in the sidebar too. This could generate quite a bit of money.

[GOD defiles Reason]

You usually have good stuff on the Home page, so although you have a home page button on the orange bar, perhaps another link to the home page at the top of the side bar.

Will the side bar be similar to whats on the right side of the home page? Can it be more narrow than that? The Forums page may appear too cluttered and constricted if the side bar is too wide.

[Chris OConnor]

We should probably include all of the links in the top orange link bar. It seems very few people ever look at those links. Possibly this is because they are in a non-traditional location. Most sites have the links up and down the left margin.

And I am wanting the Forums page to be much wider than the other pages throughout the site. We can get rid of most of the green border area on the forums page. Maybe cut it down to about half the size. This would give us quite a bit more room for the sidebar.

[Chris OConnor]

Mad

I've emailed you a few times and not heard back. Can you send me an email so I can reply?

Chris

[tarav]

A sidebar could make things more visually appealing. Also, I would definitely put banners there.

[MadArchitect]

Yeah, I'll email you back, Chris. I've only gotten one email from you in the last month or so -- not including stuff from the mailing list -- so the emails you've sent me recently must have gotten lost along the way somewhere.

[Chris OConnor]

Postpone the sidebar project for now. I'll explain in an email.