# What are your sidebar options?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [September 23, 2022, 7:48am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203 "2022-09-23T07:48:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Entity](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/entity/32/3376_2.png) [@Entity](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Entity)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:48am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/1 "2022-09-23T07:48:53Z")

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Just curious as to how other people have optimized their sidebar for displaying as much info while still being readable. Even with the ever growing amount of options, I find myself sticking with much of the same compact layout. However, this new structured layout might have me switching it up.

> **compact**
>
> ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/d/dcee4c9126897cb610218cc42fa5ca7a123e5d48.jpeg)

> **structured**
>
> ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/d/dc3f73350e1117ba4ba3a941cf15a54bdd8474e3.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![latav\_iczanin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/latav_iczanin/32/12083_2.png) [@latav\_iczanin](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/latav_iczanin)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/2 "2022-09-24T15:13:42Z")

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I came to appreciate structured. You practically have to learn what stuff means from reading descriptions, and then remember it, but then it displays a lot of useful info that’s otherwise hidden somewhere in menus. The encumbrance widget shows % weight carried against the max, and ‘Health + all graphs’ displays rough encumbrance and temperature per body part.

It’s possible that you can still accomplish this with other styles, I never tested it thoroughly. I switched to structured mainly because I liked using a larger font size.

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**Author:** ![GrandpuhTy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/grandpuhty/32/1391_2.png) [@GrandpuhTy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/GrandpuhTy)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/3 "2022-09-28T19:22:55Z")

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I’ve made some minor edits to the spacebar sidebar. It’s the best in my opinion, really easy to find everything without it all being scrunched together. I dig the huge circular maps in those shots of yours, that looks really nice.

> **Spacebar**
>
> ![barghest bump](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/e/e643a0da17c699512a539271e3046944a4498bcf.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![Entity](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/entity/32/3376_2.png) [@Entity](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Entity)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/4 "2022-09-28T22:59:50Z")

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Interesting layout, my first thought with spacebar was to remove the separators to make room for more info, but the red separators look really good here.

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**Author:** ![GrandpuhTy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/grandpuhty/32/1391_2.png) [@GrandpuhTy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/GrandpuhTy)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 3:22am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/5 "2022-09-29T03:22:40Z")

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The cool thing about the separators is they’re linked to your pain levels. They’re only red because of the severe pain status. Good bit of feedback when it goes from white to code red for an extra punch of “Oh things just got serious.”

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**Author:** ![Entity](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/entity/32/3376_2.png) [@Entity](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Entity)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/6 "2022-09-29T03:36:00Z")

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That is a really cool feature, I might have to try it out!

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**Author:** ![Entity](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/entity/32/3376_2.png) [@Entity](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Entity)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 6:39am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/7 "2022-10-03T06:39:40Z")

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I tweaked the structured sidebar json file to include the code from the spacebar pain separators, I’m quite happy with the results.

> **no pain**
>
> ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/e/e036111ec51fb1eb145e331bb8f5a1a65f85778e.jpeg)

> **some pain**
>
> ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/2/259168b1e7b0c6ce11e3b03783288439af8a6101.jpeg)

> **more pain**
>
> ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/a/ac4abcf790378b234761fbd8f718a6769a8be5de.jpeg)

> **max pain**
>
> ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/7/71acca826db709a3c7e7029cc01d0d35c887a07e.jpeg)

If you’d like to make these changes for yourself, go to **cataclysmdda\data\json\ui\structured**

Create a new text document and rename it to **structured\_seperators.json**

Copy and paste this code into the new json file.

> **structured\_separator.json**
>
> ```nohighlight
> [
> {
> "id": "structured_separator",
> "type": "widget",
> "style": "text",
> "label": "separator",
> "clauses": [
> {
> "id": "light",
> "text": "----------------------------------------------",
> "color": "yellow",
> "condition": {
> "and": [
> { "compare_int": [{ "u_val": "pain" }, ">=", { "const": 3 }] },
> { "compare_int": [{ "u_val": "pain" }, "<", { "const": 40 }] }
> ]
> }
> },
> {
> "id": "mid",
> "text": "==============================================",
> "color": "light_red",
> "condition": {
> "and": [
> { "compare_int": [{ "u_val": "pain" }, ">=", { "const": 40 }] },
> { "compare_int": [{ "u_val": "pain" }, "<", { "const": 60 }] }
> ]
> }
> },
> {
> "id": "heavy",
> "text": "##############################################",
> "color": "red",
> "condition": { "compare_int": [{ "u_val": "pain" }, ">=", { "const": 60 }] }
> }
> ],
> "default_clause": { "text": " ______________________________________________", "color": "dark_gray" },
> "flags": ["W_LABEL_NONE"]
> }
> ]
> 
> ```

Next go to the **sidebar-structured.json** and under **“widgets”:[…]** rename all instances of **“seperator”** to the newly defined **“structured\_seperator”** , or copy and paste this entire line of code.

> **sidebar-structured.json**
>
> ```nohighlight
> [
> {
> "id": "structured_sidebar",
> "type": "widget",
> "style": "sidebar",
> "label": "structured",
> "description": "A compact, structured sidebar. Ideal for playing with large font size or small resolution.\n\nFeatures compact body graphs for HP, encumbrance, status and temperature.\n\nHighly customizable in-game!\n\n(It is recommended to disable sidebar spacers under Options -> Interface.)",
> "separator": ": ",
> "width": 48,
> "padding": 1,
> "widgets": [
> "structured_time_moon_layout",
> "structured_weather_layout",
> "structured_place_sound_layout",
> "structured_separator",
> "structured_health_all_layout",
> "structured_health_encumb_layout",
> "structured_health_hp_layout",
> "structured_health_status_layout",
> "structured_health_temp_layout",
> "structured_health_overmap_layout",
> "structured_health_sa_layout",
> "structured_all_body_graphs_layout",
> "structured_separator",
> "structured_all_weariness_text_layout",
> "structured_all_weariness_graph_layout",
> "structured_mana_layout",
> "structured_separator",
> "structured_ma_buffs_style_layout",
> "structured_overmap_compass_9x9_layout",
> "structured_overmap_compass_7x7_layout",
> "structured_overmap_compass_5x5_layout",
> "structured_weapon_compass_layout",
> "structured_separator",
> "structured_separator"
> ]
> }
> ]
> 
> ```

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**Author:** ![bug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@bug](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/bug)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/8 "2022-10-18T23:36:56Z")

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I was just looking at these options, since classic doesn’t show air temperature when you have a thermometer on you. I really like the big map structured provides, but it doesn’t have a vehicle tab. The vehicle tab has become a must for me since I discovered how cruise control works (we really need some docs for some of this stuff; some of us are less quick than others; how long did it take _you_ to figure out how to climb off a roof?).

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**Author:** ![Entity](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/entity/32/3376_2.png) [@Entity](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Entity)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 6:26am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/9 "2022-10-19T06:26:58Z")

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While driving, the walking speed will change to cruise control. Any other bit of info, such as gas and battery levels is easy enough to check by pressing “e” and then “enter”.

> **cruise control**
>
> ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/7/71bedcdab9276f36d5ee690d9e560fa5f435e7d4.png)

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**Author:** ![bug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@bug](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/bug)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-are-your-sidebar-options/28203/10 "2022-10-19T18:14:20Z")

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Oh, that makes sense. Never even noticed a walking speed, I always just checked faster/slower than against the zombs. Thanks!