Feature Request: Sidebar
I think there should be a sidebar. It can be useful for showing logged in information, tags for topics, polls for topics, and who's online(info center stuff). Then you could even just remove the information center since it's contents is in the sidebar...
Re: Feature Request: Sidebar
Reply #6 –
Sidebar seems to be something I'd leave to a theme or portal type mod.
Re: Feature Request: Sidebar
Reply #7 –
Weeeeell...
I could like sidebars if and only if the avatars go away completely and in the sidebar there is something actually useful.
A clone of the info center in the sidebar to me seems as useful as the info center... and I don't use the info center at all.
Now, define what could be useful in a possible sidebar is another problem.
What IMO could be interesting to have are all the buttons for moderation and for the topic (reply, add poll, etc.), maybe unread post/topics and the jump to.
In a position:fixed (or some js effect) sidebar.
Something like that may be interesting to explore.
Re: Feature Request: Sidebar
Reply #14 –
Yup, just have a look at Wedge's, it conveniently stuffs the sidebar to the bottom of the page if it's not wide enough.
I have very polarized opinions about sidebars in forums, really.
Back in 2010, I was so pro-sidebar, that I decided (and pretty much forced Arantor into accepting) that Wedge would have a mandatory sidebar, and no way to remove it. I quickly wrote the responsive code, which at that time would move the sidebar to the left, beyond the page visibility, and would be restored with a mouse hover, with a nice animation. I was happy with it, but unfortunately it wasn't THAT responsive, i.e. mobile devices didn't really like that.
Fast-forward three years, and I have a few things to say on why I hate sidebars...
- There's not much to push into them for a forum. Basically, it's a placeholder for a small user profile, feeds, and a couple other things. On a default install, it will feel very dry, and unbalanced.
- Although it's the definitive target for plugins, most plugins would find it more useful to place themselves inside the main area, rather than the sidebar.
- The more sophisticated your content becomes, the more complicated it is to make it fit next to the sidebar. Especially when you start putting media, etc.
However, despite these shortcomings, I still believe that Wedge is in its right when it's imposing the sidebar to users, if only because I hate wasting horizontal space in general, ah ah. But really, there are situations where I'd really like to control the sidebar by either hiding it or replacing it with a wider one, such as in media item pages, but that's mostly the perfectionist talking, so... Don't mind me.
I don't think Elkarte's goal is to have a sidebar in the end, but I'd like to see you guys try a sidebar that's folded by default -- e.g., something that can be shown by clicking one of those small 'menu' buttons you see on every other mobile website. That's something I could have done for Wedge, too, but I fear it's too late for me to do at this point, it might break Wedge's expected layout too much.