Comments on: How Many Columns Should a Blog Have?

By: Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:24:40 +0000

If you were switching all the time, maybe

By: Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:24:00 +0000

If you were switching all the time, maybe

By: Dave Forde

Dave Forde — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:20:57 +0000

Chris/ Matt – I’m not a usability expert, but should there not be consistency with the look and feel of a website/ blog? Is there not a chance that switching the look and feel might piss off or confuse regular site visitors?

By: Dave Forde

Dave Forde — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:20:00 +0000

By: Matt Keegan

Matt Keegan — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:51:36 +0000

I’ve switched back and forth between 2 and 3 columns as well. Right now I am running 2 columns and I recently tossed AdSense because I wanted a cleaner, smoother look. I have been overwhelmed by some sites where widgets, ads, and other stuff seems to be dominate, making it difficult for the page to load and crowding out the articles.

Will I always work this way? I can’t say for sure but I do like minimalism when it comes to blogging.

By: Matt Keegan

Matt Keegan — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:51:00 +0000

Will I always work this way? I can’t say for sure but I do like minimalism when it comes to blogging.

By: Rob O.

Rob O. — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:35:40 +0000

Actually, Paul, I prefer the single column layout because my site is NOT a commercial venture. I don’t need to reserve sidebar space for ads given that, well, I don’t feature any.

By: Rob O.

Rob O. — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:35:00 +0000

Actually, Paul, I prefer the single column layout because my site is NOT a commercial venture. I don’t need to reserve sidebar space for ads given that, well, I don’t feature any.

By: Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:03:07 +0000

@Shane – Yes having the space is not an excuse for clutter

@Dave – So far I have only had three columns when I needed the space to show advertising, without adverts I haven’t needed that extra column.

@Clara – Yes a split second column can look nice providing the headers don’t bump up, the content in them needs to be staggered to be readable

By: Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:03:00 +0000

@Shane – Yes having the space is not an excuse for clutter

@Dave – So far I have only had three columns when I needed the space to show advertising, without adverts I haven’t needed that extra column.

@Clara – Yes a split second column can look nice providing the headers don’t bump up, the content in them needs to be staggered to be readable

By: Clara

Clara — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:05:38 +0000

I had once tried 3 cols for my tips blog but finally had it trimmed back to 2 to make it simple and straighforward (hopefully). I do like the idea that a 2-col blog can look 3 by sub-dividing the 2nd col into 2.

By: Clara

Clara — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:05:00 +0000

By: Don@AffiliateWatcher

Don@AffiliateWatcher — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 05:34:26 +0000

On some I use 3 and others I’ll use 2. I prefer reading a 2 column with the Nav on the right. However, I need that 3rd column to get some ads on it.

Don

By: Don@AffiliateWatcher

Don@AffiliateWatcher — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 05:34:00 +0000

On some I use 3 and others I’ll use 2. I prefer reading a 2 column with the Nav on the right. However, I need that 3rd column to get some ads on it.

Don

By: Dave Forde

Dave Forde — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:52:01 +0000

It seems like most of the comments above were based on blogs that have only 1 contributor which is probably also a factor. As I’m starting to evolve mine to have additional contributors I’m now looking to expand it to at least a 4 column based site, but yet still try to keep the flow easy to read.
Chris, I’m slightly confused on what you wrote in your post – are you saying that depending on whether you have advertisers or not you will switch between 2 and 3 column?

By: Dave Forde

Dave Forde — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:52:00 +0000

By: Shane

Shane — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:37:57 +0000

This is something I’ve been trying to decide on since I’m designing a new theme.

The big advantage of 3 columns is you can fit more stuff in above the fold. But I can’t shake the idea that 2 columns is cleaner and simpler and ultimately better. And so it comes down to choosing the sidebar content wisely.

I also like the idea of going horizontal and fitting in a row of stuff just below the header.

By: Shane

Shane — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:37:00 +0000

This is something I’ve been trying to decide on since I’m designing a new theme.

I also like the idea of going horizontal and fitting in a row of stuff just below the header.

By: jhay

jhay — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:51:45 +0000

I prefer 3 columns, space for content and then ads.

By: jhay

jhay — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:51:00 +0000

I prefer 3 columns, space for content and then ads.