Sidebars & Switching Platforms

I use to have a sidebar on my previous blogs but I didn't like that I couldn't keep it organized enough so I ditched it and all my blogs are one column like the blog you're currently reading. (One column is a blog with no sidebar/Two columns is a blog with one sidebar/Three columns is a blog with two sidebars, etc.)  
    The sidebar is where you put the things relevant to your blog such as a small mini bio, useful things like blog archives, translator tools, all the little things significance things but it really depends on the blogger.
    I think it's hard to maintain a neat, organized sidebar so I chose to put all sidebar things onto the footer so the foot is basically my sidebar except it's at the bottom of the blog. I guess a footer can also be a bit chaotic but you don't see it until you scroll down. In my footer, I have blog archive, post labels, a small mini bio, the followers gadget, a search tool, a translate tool and a little note - seven things and a return home link and below that the navbar which you can only see if you mouseover that empty space. This may sound like a lot but it isn't.
    Now with responsive blogs, sidebars sometimes get shifted to the bottom (and header & other elements might shrinks or enlarge) to fit the size of a browser window. But that didn't mean sidebars are not needed. I think sidebars are necessary but they don't have to be on the side of a blog.

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Having used Google's Blogger for years, my opinions are completely biased. Blogger does have its downsides just like any other platform. It's a bit outdated (Google haven't updated it in years) and they removed a lot of useful features (like follow by email) but they are still free and they don't put advertisement in your blogs.
    I did try out Blogger first but then I tried Wordpress (the free version, wordpress.com) for a few months and decided I just didn't like it enough. Not because you can't change the template (you have to pay to alter it) or the advisements they put in your blog – I just find the interface unfriendly and harder to use. Some people find Wordpress much easier than Blogger and some people (like me) find Blogger easier. 
    Over the years, I have seen many Blogger users switched to Wordpress. The errors, issues, problems they claimed seemed easy enough to overcome but maybe it seemed that way to me because I never had many problems with Blogger. I have seen bloggers switched from Wordpress to Blogger a few times and it's always surprising but nice. They too offered much the same reasons about errors and such for switching. But I think if you want to switch platforms, you don't need an excuse. Even though I want people to use Blogger, I won't try to convince people to switch. Everyone should choose the platform that fits them and their comfort. Whether you use Wordpress or Blogger or other platforms, I hope you continue to blog because some of us (mainly me) prefer blogs over social media.

Do you like sidebars? Which platform do you prefer when blogging?

Reading blogs as they are

A few years (or maybe last week? I don't remember), one reader commented they did not know how to navigate my blog. (All my blogs are one column with no sidebars like this blog you're currently reading.) I guess I should have asked them to explain but I didn't want to make a fuss so I let it go.
    Even if you are new to a blog, all you have to do is click on anything (ie, a post header, an image, any word that looks like links, etc), it goes somewhere - is that not simple? Even if you're used to blogs with a sidebar, that shouldn't matter. But that's probably not the problem. I really don't know the problem was. Does anyone know?
    That comment made me think about how blogs are viewed. In the beginning, blogs are designed for large screens (such as a computer) but you can still view them on a small screen (such as a phone) but in a more simplified way mostly as text or just not with a lot of the graphics/images or with the structure of a blog. Now with more powerful phones, viewing blogs is almost like viewing them on a computer only everything's smaller.
    I'm not much of a phone user so I cannot say if viewing a blog on a phone is worst than on a computer screen but the small size does put me off. But I mostly prefer viewing blogs on a computer screen and in a browser and seeing all the elements at once in their proper place and looking at images and graphics at regular sizes. I don't think you get the full experience of a blog on a small screen even if it is designed to look exactly the same as on a computer. 
    Besides, bloggers work hard to get their blog to look a certain way and set up all these little nuggets you probably dismissed or couldn't see too well on a small screen. Mostly, a blogger's hard work deserves to be seen properly.

Do you have problems navigating blogs? Do you prefer to view blogs on a small or large screen?

Quick Quiz

All the weird questions you have never wanted to answer about blogs and blogging and some you probably wish to never think about. If incline, answer one, two, all or none of the questions.

01 - What nickname would you give your blog?
02 - Do you blog in your swimsuit?
03 - Is your blog clever enough to change a lightbulb?
04 - What happens when you drop a blog and a piano down a well?
05 - Why do blogs cry when it rain?
06 - Do blogs multiply when you leave them in the bright sunshine?
07 - What do baby blogs do if you leave them in a room full of broken computers?
08 - Do clocks go backward if you revert a post?
09 - Where do bad blogs go when they are sad?
10 - Do blogs dream of analog sheep?