Sidebar or no sidebar?

[NeoMetallix]

It seems all forums these days have a sidebar. I'm still undecided on whether I should use one.

I have nothing against them but I feel it really can hurt the design of the forum. If you have a nice flowing layout or theme, it can disrupt that. Also it usually only has stuff that anyone can already see by viewing the forum itself, thus making it redundant. Latest posts and topics are nice but forums have a feature that show you what's new already. Other things like stats look better on the main forum underneath the categories anyway.

So what are your thoughts? Is a sidebar needed?

 

[Al]

I've always had one on xenForo but I guess that's because it's a default feature. It would be interesting to see how much they're used.

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I like the sidebar to feature achievements, other content areas, and more.

 

[Cedric]

Sidebars are so built in my head that it's weird to see a forum without.

But I also come from a time where sidebars weren't invented yet.

I do prefer one, as it gives the option to show visually appealing images/advertisements, or content, etc.

 

[NeoMetallix]

One thing I've grown to hate are sidebars that are WAYYYY too long. If your sidebar is double the length of your forum, it is ugly! Also if it's too short, it's awkward looking. Does anyone else think it makes things look too busy on your main page? I'm still trying to decide. Lol

 

[Allan]

I like sidebars they give quick references without much effort.