When I first checked out UBB.threads' Beta months ago, I was appalled at the "clutter" -- they even had a "portal" page that I found useless and of course disabled it here.

But in no time I got used to it, and actually started to like it (the columns, not the portal). Now, after playing with this for some time, I don't even notice.

GRANTED - So far the posts kinda look like shit with the header bars on each one, etc. I'd like to tighten it up a bit. I only used the same colors as the current board to reduce the "shock" value. I still like these colors, but maybe it needs to be toned down a bit.

UBB.threads 7.0 just came out. Down the line I'm sure there will be further customization hacks and such.

But the biggest problem right now isn't the sidebars -- like anything else in life, you'll get used to them and eventually won't even notice them unless you use them. The biggest problem right now is getting the colors more pleasing to the eye -- I think that is the biggest issue here at the moment. And obviously it's something I'll be working on!

I could move all the right-side stuff to the left as a default, but I like shout box where it is. When you ADD features, you gotta put them someplace, right? :p

And sure, I can turn off the left sidebar as well. But right now I don't wanna. MAYBE I'll make it a user option down the line, but I doubt it.

Try the "ubbthreads" stylesheet in preferences. I think that's more pleasing to the eye at this point. Maybe a blue like the ubb homepage. I'm still playing around.