Today I came up with another idea to get rid of sidebar clutter, an author resource box.
Usually, an author resource box is used in blogs written by multiple writers, or by authors who routinely write for article directories which syndicate their articles out to everyone and anyone. An author resource box is the only way the writer can keep credit and get something back in the form of self promotion for their written work.
With an author resource box I can give readers a little blurb about myself and link to my Twitter, Flickr and other social media networking profiles. A very short note including my credentials as a writer and a little self promotion. As an added bonus I can remove those social media links and widgets from my sidebar.
My other recent changes to reduce sidebar clutter are about using sub-pages instead of sidebar space. I’ve put my links (blogroll) into it’s own page which can be found in the top menu. My Lifestream feed has been moved to a sub-page where it doesn’t slow down the load time for the main page(s) of the blog.
I really think it is important to consider what people (other than myself) are actually going to look at in the sidebar. If something is mostly there for me to see it, then I can move it to a page and see it there.
Note: After quite a bit of trial and error the plugin I am using to create the author resource box is New 2 WP Author Box. It is a bit too wide, but it may get some finishing touches as it goes along.