Is sidebox attractive

[vank]

Some say yea
Some say nay

What do you say?

[bigballofyarn]

I generally don't like them on any website. They're distracting from the content I actually want to read. I like reading a website the way I read a book, from top to bottom and left to right. I don't want to go back and forth between different blocks of text. This doesn't mean that one should never use a sidebox. This is just my personal preference.

[Kami]

It really depends on the execution, IMO. If the sidebox isn't distracting + accounts for the fact that some people browse on their phones and that they're not compatible with mobile layouts / don't appear on the PB mobile version, I don't mind them. Side boxes shouldn't contain vital information, because of the above, and that's what most people use them for which makes me dislike a majority of use cases.

[Asaemon]

Yes, on the portal / main page.