Already quite a bit of feedback on the sidebars.
Just an FYI. These are fully configurable by the site admin. Each can be turned on or off, the boxes within each one can be put in any order.
Currently we are working on the change to allow users to turn these off in their profile. One small caveat. When viewing the main "Portal Page" where the site news is located the columns will always display as the admin has them configured. This way if they have content they want you to see, you'll have access to it. Once you leave the main portal page and go anywhere else in the forum, the user preferences will take over.
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Forgot to mention. This will all be contingent on the admin. They will have an option that they can choose to force columns to be on. So if they don't want you to turn off the right column, you won't be able to.
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These changes will be in the next update, Alpha 6.
