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Either The Post Or Sidebar Ends Up At The Bottom

My Blog Is Missing! Oh no! Generally, this refers to a deleted or hijacked / stolen blog.

Other times, part of the blog is there, and the other part is not. This may be similar to the corrupted template problem, except part of the blog is clearly there, and looks just fine. WTF?

In the latter case, neither the content nor the sidebar is actually missing. One or the other has simply slipped to the bottom of the page. Of course, it never occurs to somebody to scroll to the bottom in search of the missing content or sidebar. Why should it? It's called a sidebar because it's a BAR (column) that sits at the top of the page, beSIDE the column with the content (Posts). D'Ohh.

The dropped posts / sidebar is a well known problem with Blogger blogs, and most frequently afflicts Internet Explorer.

When this is observed, inconsistently, in some, but not in all computers running IE - and / or not in Chrome, Firefox, or others, there are several known causes.

  • Check float alignment. Look in your settings, under Formatting, at "Enable float alignment". Is it set to "Yes"? Change to "No", Save Settings, and Republish.
  • Look in the template, at the sidebar code, for graphics, like the Blogger Power Button, that may be too wide for the sidebar. Move anything suspicious to the bottom of the page, save the template, and republish.
  • Look more carefully in the template, at other entries in the sidebar. Look for entries with long links, or long titles. Shorten or delete any found, save the template, and republish.
  • Compare a view of the main page, with views of the individual posts.
    • If you see the problem in all views, the problem is likely in the sidebar or template.
    • If you see even one post where the problem does NOT appear, the problem is, most likely, present in the multiple individual posts where the problem does appear. Note: In one extremely odd situation, the problem was in a post title, and became active when the post title appeared in the sidebar, in the Previous Posts list.
  • If no solution is found yet, isolate the problem using structured diagnostic procedures.

(Edit 11/14): It's possible that you can add 4 CSS rules to your template, that will make IE behave like Firefox, and make the above diagnostics unnecessary. If you're feeling adventurous, try an alternative procedure.

This list is probably not all-inclusive, but it may get you started. And if you come up with another cause for this problem, let me know, and I will be glad to add it to this list. And I'll back link to your blog, if you like. This blog is for help. I'll help if you will. BS probably won't.

See Peter's blog for more advice on post / sidebar alignment issues.



In 2009, people using the "Jump Break" feature in the new post editor are seeing a dropped posts or sidebar section. If you're trying that feature, aka "Read More", in your blog, that's probably why you're here now.

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Either The Post, Or The Sidebar, Ends Up At The Bottom Of The Page
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2006/03/either-post-or-sidebar-ends-up-at.html

Comments

CameraDawktor said…
I figured the long link problem out a long time ago. That messed me up a few times!!
Nitecruzr said…
The hard part is finding it. Figuring out how long is too long is not always obvious. :(
CameraDawktor said…
I'm so proud of myself. I just put a video in my post and it messed up my sidebar. It was 600' or whaterver...anyway I held my breath, closed my eyes and changed it to 4oo'....voila. Sidebar is back. YEAHHHH!!!!
Anonymous said…
thanks! you fixed it!!!
Unknown said…
Thank god for your hints ... I managed to fix the non-side bar problem which has been driving me nuts!
my adsense bar was infringing on my side bar, in IE not firefox. i tried all of your suggestions, and changed my adsense ad at the top, and it brought the side bar back to the top
Steve Bergson said…
Thanks so much for the tips about the sidebar. Such a little problem to fix, but ever-so-annoying when you can't figure out why and need to scroll to the bottom to see the stuff.

Now, if I could just figure out why the "Archives" and the "Previous Posts" seem to be based on the first 2 posts.

http://www.jewishcomics2.blogspot.com
(temporary URL until I rename the blog)
Vanessa said…
Thank you, thank you, thank you! VERY helpful. I had been avoiding my blog for fear of trying to figure this out and voila! problem solved with a minimum of stress.
Anonymous said…
Thanks for all the tips.
The problem in my case was one post in which there was an unclosed [span] > tag, I forgot to add [/span] and from some reason this post caused the sidebar to disappear in IE 6.
Islay said…
I think your blog is really great, and all of your material is quite well-presented. however, I've been fiddling with this width thing for DAYS; I've done everything you've written down here, tried minima and stretch minima and lefty minima, but it doesn't seem to make any difference at all. Do you think you might be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Cheers
Anonymous said…
Thank you for your helpful information! I've been trying for weeks to figure out the problem, and thank's to you, I have now fixed it!
I'm a real Dummy but I was able to follow your instructions and suggestions and cured my problem of my Sidebar at the bottom using IE. Much Thanks
Oscar
deiss said…
Thank you very much for your help with the messed up layout. I'm happy to know that people are willing to help out and are willing to take the time most importantly.

hada
cingib said…
HELP! I'm not getting it. All I see when I look in the HTML template code pages are bunches of inexplicable gobbledy -gook! What about all of us out there that have no clue as to determine "the problem"? The above says, for example, "look in the sidebar for graphics code that may be too large.."? Well, how do I know what I'm looking for? Everything looks pretty much the same..?
Nitecruzr said…
Cingib,

Take a look at the blog, and the pictures in the posts and the sidebars. Do you see any that look wider than the others?

If that doesn't help, then you may have to do some reading, and learn how to read the problem analysis procedures. Everything can't be digested for you, some of it you have to make an effort, and do some learning.
Oldfool said…
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I copy and paste to my blog from Open Office and that is adding incompatible code. I have been doing that for a long time and the problem just recently showed up.
Thanks for the help. From now on you will be a daily read.
I use PCLinuxOS and Firefox and check it with Opera and Kongueror
Myriam said…
CHUK CROLL: Thank you so much for your help!!!

It´s Ok now with my blog:

deamoresyrelaciones. Blogspot.com

Bye

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