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2 Column Layouts: Left or Right Menu Preference

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:17 am
by Benjamin
When you browse web sites, and the web site has a 2 column layout, do you prefer the menu to be on the left or right side? Any reasons why?

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:27 am
by RobertGonzalez
It just seems more natural to me when the nav is on the left.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:48 am
by matthijs
depends. on what the content and navigation are. A 'normal' brochure site with home/about/products/contactr etc I would give a left menu. most of the times. However, a site in which the content is more important, like with some weblogs, I would give a right navigation. but these are not b/w rules.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:08 pm
by seodevhead
The right column nav is nice if and ONLY IF you have large margins/paddings on each side of the body element. Wordpress, moveable type, etc are good examples. However users have become extremely accustomed to left-side navbars. But remember, if it looks good to you... it probably looks good to someone else.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:40 pm
by Jenk
right column because I operate my mouse with my right hand.

Of course, to be really neat you can let the user decide.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:13 pm
by matt1019
Hi astions,

Most of the sites I have visted, or do visit... the menus on the left.

Of course, you dont have to follow the trend.... you can set your own ;)

I liked Jenk's idea.... let the user define which side he/she wants the menu to appear (if the user is a member) via means of javascript/cookies or by storing the preference in the database and pulling it out everytime on login.

-Matt


EDIT:

I casted my vote as "no preference" by the way.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:11 pm
by alex.barylski
Left side appears to be convention...likely because in English we read from left to right...

So it's natural any starting point/navigation bar be on the left...

I also like horizontal navigation bars/menus

The right should be avoided at all costs :)

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:14 pm
by Christopher
There have been a number of surveys of top sites graphing the position of different functionality on the screen -- left-side navigation is almost universal. Maybe someone can find links to some of those surveys because they are very interesting.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:49 pm
by wtf

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:31 pm
by Benjamin
Basically says it's not bad, but it isn't good either, and that interaction times are increased somewhat. Why are all the blogs moving to right hand navigation. Also simplebits.com has done this as well.

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:01 am
by alex.barylski
to move away from convention, by thinking their thinking outside the box and being different, it's really just trying to make a wheel more round by adding edges... :P

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:39 am
by matthijs
to move away from convention, by thinking their thinking outside the box and being different, it's really just trying to make a wheel more round by adding edges...
Did anyone else realise Hockey is in fact a 103 yrs old, very wise chinese man, with a long grey beard? Let his picture not decieve you :)

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:48 am
by alex.barylski
ahhhhhh....grasshopper son....wise man not know how to spell grasshopper though...

Is that 2 p's or just one :P

I'm going beddy bye for the night fellar's...chat with ya'll tomorrow...night night!!!

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:24 am
by Jenk
It's nothing to do with 'wanting to be outside the box' at all. When I'm reading a block of text or such like, I always find my mouse pointer ends up to the right of my screen when I move it out of the way, again this is because I operate the mouse with my right hand (I specifially haven't said right handed because I am actually left handed. It's fantastic when jotting notes, can use mouse and pen at same time :P)

It's also easier on the arm given vertical scroll bars are always on the right, so requires even less effort to read text from a screen :)