A Web Designer's Pie Chart

Pie chart taken from The Net is Dead

I have spent a considerable amount of time doing some web designing work. Though it's not particularly evident in this blog (I got lazy editing this) I used to make lots of blog layouts for several people and of course for myself. And usually, like all web designers, I spend a considerable amount of time getting the damn layout to work in IE.

Since Firefox came into my life, I never looked back on IE. Ever again. However as a web designer, I have to take IE into consideration since a lot of people are still using IE (you poor unfortunate souls, switch now!) and some websites require IE browsers so I really have to adjust.

I honestly don't know what's wrong with IE, why the heck is it so choosy and why is it such a pain in the ass. The pie chart is kind of true though when it comes to actual designing. It's not really a difficult thing to do, making it work in all browsers is where the actual challenge lies. My swearing is probably distributed all throughout my time and has concentrated area in contemplating (well not exactly death) just torture maybe for Bill Gates.

Let me tell you it is really, extremely frustrating for a lot of web designers to spend so much time making layouts work in IE. It almost seems unfair how IE practically destroys the design you worked so hard for. If there was only some sort of gadget that magically makes IE less of a nutcase.

Webdesign Blog Layouting: 3-column VS 2-column

When I was in high school, the blogs I made had the usual 2-column webdesign layout. Usually, navigation goes to the left and content takes the center space. All ads if there were any, are put in the left sidebar and all content goes right smack in the middle. Sometimes I change the location of the sidebar from left to right but the fact remains that I only have 2 columns. Then when I got older and was able to research on more layouts I read that 3-column blog layouts are like the Holy Grail of blog layouts.

I wanted to find out why and I came to these conclusions:

1. Widgets. Widgets. More Widgets. Bloggers want to put as much clutter in their blog as possible. Technorati tags, blog roll, random awards, blog polls... you name it, they want it. It has become some sort of status symbol to have as much "bling" in your blog as possible. And 3 columns allow you more space at first glance without scrolling down.

2. Centered content. When you have another sidebar your text doesn't overstretch. If text is overstretched, the eyes will have a hard time moving across the page and most likely the person wouldn't take time to read the whole thing. Having two columns reduces the scattered impression your blog has.

3. Extending Sidebar. Face it, nothing looks uglier than a sidebar that extends far because of a long content. Having two sidebar minimizes that.

However, these doesn't mean that 3-column layouts are THE layout holy grail and that everyone should follow it. It still depends on your taste and what works for you. 2-columns also has its pros and cons. The key here is determining what works for your blog. Do you like your readers to focus on the center content rather left to right? Or would you rather have your readers view your site like they're reading a book? Once you have this question answered, you can design your blog in the way you see fit.