More on widgets

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 7:40 am

More on widgets [ 2:55 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today’s question:

Mike, I’d be interested in having you discuss widget width. I’ve had problems with different sizes, particularly when I have used a three column theme with two side bars side by side. Any insights you could offer?

Most of the time it is text widgets that cause a problem usually because of the width of your sidebar. Add something in wider and it throws the whole layout out of whack (one of them technical terms ).

There are a couple ways to overcome this.

If it is a subscription form like the standard Aweber form make sure you use the html and not the java script form and you can edit the tables to put the box below the name or even change the size of the box.

This post goes into detail on doing just that.

How to add Aweber signup to your sidebar

If it is a banner or other fixed item it is a bit more difficult to resolve. With images you will need to resize them to fit in the sidebar with an image editor.

Your other choice is to play with the widths in the css style sheet which while not difficult can be a bit for some to overcome. IF you are going to do that make a copy of the style sheet before you start.

You can make the main content smaller and increase the sidebar by the same amount you decreased the main content so that your items will fit.

This may cause problems if your theme uses images for title backgrounds which is why a back up is important. If you totally mess it up just upload the original style sheet and you are back to the beginning but at least your blog will show.

If you are not comfortable with that then I would recommend finding a new theme that has sufficient space in the sidebar.

As always your comments and questions are welcomed.