Surf the net as often as I do each month and you notice duplicate sidebars. Much of it is repeat design too. You’ve got your basic sidebar with social media content telling visitors to follow, friend or subscribe. Then you’ve got advertisements (if your not using AdBlocker) plus “ranking” statistics. If the site offers usability, you should be able to locate a search box, tag cloud plus categories (topic) list. Every site has different requirements.

Here is content that may enhance your sidebar.

• Advertisement Blocks (promote a message)
• Affiliate Link (drive business)
• Breadcrumbs (seo navigation)
• Category / Topic Filter
• Chess.com Profile
• Facebook Button / Recent Activity
• Feedback Form (get voice from audience)
• Google+ Add Circle
• Login Form
• Member Signup
• Newsletter Subscribe
• Flickr Feed
• PayPal Button (accept payment)
• Popular / Recent Posts
• Popular Links
• Recent Comments
• Recent Tweets / Follow Link
• Search Box
• Skype Button (call + chat)
• Slideshow
• Stats
• Tag Cloud (powerful if you categorize posts)
• Top Selling Items
• Visitor Map

Just visit your favorite blogs or sites to gather sidebar content inspiration. Take ideas from what you like than add your creative twist. The more and more time I invest, the bigger this list grows. Check back on occasion to see updates.

Just discovered a Tool for Alphabetizing Text – a great alternative to launching Word / Excel.

If your open-source (and verified by Open Source Initiative), you may be eligible for a free GoDaddy SSL. You may wish to have an SSL to enable commerce on your domain without requiring your customers to leave. You might just like the pretty factor of showing the famous “padlock” in the URL browser bar. Perhaps you just want to encrypt all data between your audience connection and your domain.

• Free SSL (Open-Source required)
• Paid SSL (solid investment)
• Self Assign SSL (waste of time)

Comodo is an industry-leader in issuing trial 90-day SSL’s using InstantSSL as the “Authenticator”. This means when a popular browser visits a site, the padlock is shown, and the “untrusted connection” popup is hidden.

If your in need of an SSL, purchase one of the bajillion options from any vendor you find with a swift search. Rumor has it, Bing will make a decision for you. It’s a marvelous idea to accept payments on your site (directly). Although, PayPal offers a “subscription” button (recurring payments); SSL Certificates may not be important.

Our understanding behind SSL is similar to insurance. It offers peace of mind, protection plus assurance. Self-assign option may produce exact results, but each browser will confuse the average visitor with that horrific pop-up. With a couple extra greenbacks in your bank, an SSL might just be that great invest your looking for.

When your raking cash, will this matter? We think so.

If you’ve not read disgusting tracking data, read it now. You may integrate Ghostery with every major browser – even Opera! Let’s optimize your surf speed. One way is to reduce the amount of “requests” your browser makes. Using Ghostery will block requests from social buttons, analytic stats plus tons more. Using Greasemonkey will block boat-loads of advertisements.

Since your already downloading an extension, pickup Greasemonkey. The huge database of userscripts is marvelous! When your making moves online at your favorite chess site, your browser will have direct control of what loads. This includes tracking tools (Ghostery) alongside of J$ / HTML / CSS (Monkeyscript).

If your already using Opera (the most advanced browser in the world) than you’ll want to skip Greasemonkey and load into the built-in-browser option. Go ahead and add those two words to your dictionary too