Of ideas that can’t just cease to exist.
The news that Sidebar.io was taking a break felt a bit like a heartbreak. Sidebar has been one of my favorite sources to keep up with design, and with content that would make me a better, smarter, more informed designer.
No noise, no endless scrolling, just the good stuff.
5 links a day. That’s it.
Sacha Greif has been doing an incredible job for the last twelve years of curating and maintaining Sidebar — without skipping a beat. That’s dedication. It’s easy to start something, much harder to stick with it. That’s a massive achievement and something that needs to be celebrated. As someone who also dedicates personal time to editing and curating content, I know the grind. You pour your heart into it, hoping it resonates, that it provides value. It’s endless work. It feels pretty rewarding, but it is not always rewarded.
When I saw the news, I felt I needed to act. Sidebar — not just the website, but the idea itself — couldn’t simply fade away.
Sidebar has always felt different. It has advocated for a healthier web ecosystem and has always prioritized links pointing to small, curated digital gardens around the web. Links that come from the makers and doers out there. Sidebar was a signal boost for the kind of web I think many of us miss. A web built by individuals, not algorithms. It championed the small, the curated, the personal. I’ve always seen Sidebar as a force of resistance or sorts. Built for people who still believe in the web as a platform for knowledge sharing, long-form writing, and community.
Starting today, I’m taking over the daily curation of Sidebar, as well as its management duties and operational costs. It’s a big responsibility but also an honor — and I can’t thank Sacha enough for trusting me on this mission. I’m bringing Sidebar back to basics: 5 links a day, published on the website and sent via our email newsletter. All the other features will be archived for now. As usual, folks can submit their own links. If you know of great websites that often publish great content, please drop me a note so I can add them to my watchlist.
Can I keep this vision alive for a few more years?
I don’t know. I hope so. I genuinely hope so.
What I do know is that certain ideas can’t just cease to exist.
How you can help:
- Spread the word that Sidebar is back by sharing this post or the site (https://sidebar.io/) with your networks.
- Follow our RSS feed, our newsletter, our Twitter, or simply add sidebar.io to your daily browser bookmarks.
- If you work at or know any company that might benefit from talking to an audience of designers and makers, reach out to them about sponsoring Sidebar. Or tweet at them. This can help cover the initial costs or revamping the project — including hosting, database, emails, and others.
Sidebar is back from its break was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.