Contrib.social

Global two-column layout setting lacks flexibility for context-specific sidebar layouts

Open on Drupal.org →
Created on 17 July 2025, 17 days ago

Problem/Motivation

The SOLO theme utilizes a single, global theme setting to define the width ratio for all two-column layouts (i.e., pages with either sidebar_first or sidebar_second active). This architectural choice creates a significant limitation for site builders who require different layout structures on different parts of their site.

The core of the issue is that the theme applies one fixed ratio (e.g., "67%/33%" or "33%/67%") universally. This global approach prevents flexible, context-aware layouts. For instance, a site builder might want a standard layout with wide content and a narrow sidebar_first for most pages, but require a specific node type to have a wide content and a narrow sidebar_second. With the current system, this is impossible to achieve, as changing the global setting for the node type would undesirably alter the layout of all other pages.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install and set SOLO as the default theme.
2. Go to the theme settings page at /admin/appearance/settings/solo.
Under "Layout settings" > "Main Containers" > "The two columns' settings for main region", select "33%, 67%" (solo-col-1-2). This establishes a site-wide "narrow sidebar first, wide content" policy.
3. Go to the Block layout page (/admin/structure/block) and place a block in the "Sidebar First" region.
4. Visit a page where this block appears. Observe that the layout is correct: the main content is wide (67%) and the left sidebar is narrow (33%).
5. Now, attempt to create a different page or scenario where the layout needs to be "wide content, narrow right sidebar". For example, place a block only in the "Sidebar Second" region on a specific content type page, with the intention of making that right sidebar narrow (33%).
6. You will find that the layout is still governed by the global "33%, 67%" setting. The content becomes narrow and the second sidebar remains wide.

The only way to achieve the desired "wide content, narrow right sidebar" layout is to change the global theme setting to "67%, 33%" (solo-col-2-1). However, doing so would break the intended layout on all the other pages that use sidebar_first.

Proposed resolution

A more flexible approach to handling two-column layouts should be considered.

Remaining tasks

🐛 Bug report
Status

Active

Version

1.0

Component

Code

Created by

🇺🇸United States weibing82

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Comments & Activities

  • Issue created by @weibing82
  • Comment 17 days ago →
    🇺🇸United States flashwebcenter Austin TX

    Hello,

    Thanks for highlighting this limitation. I completely agree it's important. I’m enhancing the Solo theme to support both global and per-content-type column ratio settings for grouped layout regions.

    This feature will:

    • Allow site builders to define custom column width combinations (e.g., 25/75, 50/50) per content type.
    • Maintain a global default ratio for all grouped regions (top, main, bottom, sidebar).

    Feature development is now underway. More updates will follow soon.
    Best wishes,
    Alaa

  • Comment 16 days ago →
    🇺🇸United States flashwebcenter Austin TX

    Hello,

    The new feature has been added to all grouped regions: Top, Main, Bottom, and Footer. Please download the latest development version → and test the functionality.

    Feature Overview:

    1. Within the settings for any grouped region (e.g., Main), you can now define the global column layout using the two-column or three-column dropdowns.
    2. A new checkbox has been added below these dropdowns to enable per-content-type layout settings.
    3. When this option is activated, a collapsible section will appear for each content type in the system.
    4. You may expand any section and define custom layout settings for that content type.
    5. You are not required to configure every content type, those left unchanged will inherit the global settings for the selected region.

    Important Behavior:
    If you later disable the feature and click "Save," all content types will automatically revert to using the global settings defined for that region.

    Please let me know if you encounter any issues or have feedback.

    Best regards,
    Alaa

  • Comment 16 days ago →
    🇺🇸United States weibing82

    hello Alaa,

    I installed the development version on Drupal 10.5.1 and it works as expected.

    Thanks very much for fast development.

  • Comment 15 days ago →
    🇺🇸United States flashwebcenter Austin TX

    Hello,

    Thank you for testing and confirming the functionality on Drupal 10.5.1. I'm glad to hear everything is working as expected.

    Please feel free to share any feedback or suggestions as you continue testing. I appreciate your support!

    Best regards,
    Alaa

  • Comment 1 day ago →
    System Message

    Automatically closed - issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.

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