# Reducing white space and increasing main content column width

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929
**Category:** UX
**Created:** [30 Setembro , 2016 20:18 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929 "2016-09-30T20:18:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![ron\_jeremy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/ron_jeremy/32/56621_2.png) [@ron\_jeremy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ron_jeremy)
#### Post date: [30 Setembro , 2016 20:18 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929/1 "2016-09-30T20:18:22Z")

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I’m not sure if this is even possible or even a good idea, but wanted to ask, nonetheless.

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/0/f/0f971ed4c35c8e40988322e0d812e1a6d974629d.jpeg)

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### Author: ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [30 Setembro , 2016 21:31 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929/2 "2016-09-30T21:31:18Z")

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Yes, just modify the relevant CSS.

Be mindful of media queries so you set the width appropriately scaled to browser width and never “all the way across”.

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### Author: ![jcasman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jcasman/32/120874_2.png) [@jcasman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jcasman)
#### Post date: [17 Janeiro , 2017 19:13 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929/3 "2017-01-17T19:13:30Z")

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@ron_jeremy Were you able to edit your CSS to widen the main column and/or get rid of more white space? Do you have an example? I can use the customize CSS/HTML section to add some CSS to the Discourse pages, but I can’t seem to override what’s already there, so I’m not getting any change to my pages. Any help appreciated.

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### Author: ![ron\_jeremy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/ron_jeremy/32/56621_2.png) [@ron\_jeremy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ron_jeremy)
#### Post date: [17 Janeiro , 2017 19:26 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929/4 "2017-01-17T19:26:36Z")

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No, after reconsidering, I just left it as is. I would not have the skill/knowledge to do this on my own, anyways.

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### Author: ![jcasman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jcasman/32/120874_2.png) [@jcasman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jcasman)
#### Post date: [17 Janeiro , 2017 19:54 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929/5 "2017-01-17T19:54:41Z")

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Ok, thanks for the response.

Anyone else? I am looking for a way to post documentation in Discourse. I believe that the standard Discourse “look” isn’t conducive to documentation. No easy way to create a Table of Contents (TOC) for one piece of documentation, for example. Mostly I see communities that have one system for documentation (maybe ASCIIDoc) and another (Discourse) for forum interactions. They do not use Discourse for both. I was hoping to just post more documentation directly in Discourse. One simple tweak would be widening the main Discourse column to look more like normal documentation. After looking at a bunch of [other communities that use Discourse](https://www.discourse.org/customers), I believe posting documentation into the forum is basically not done.

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### Author: ![dax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/dax/32/244677_2.png) [@dax](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dax)
#### Post date: [17 Janeiro , 2017 20:03 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929/6 "2017-01-17T20:03:34Z")

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Try in another way, instead to reduce the white space, try to increase the space for messages:

```
.topic-body {
  min-width: 66%; 
}

```

I don’t recommend to use more than 70% otherwise you need to move on the right the timeline too.  
If you want you can try btw.

The amount of white space on the right (or left) depends from screens resolution.

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### Author: ![Falco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/falco/32/179432_2.png) [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [17 Janeiro , 2017 20:04 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reducing-white-space-and-increasing-main-content-column-width/50929/7 "2017-01-17T20:04:47Z")

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> [@jcasman](#):
>
> No easy way to create a Table of Contents (TOC) for one piece of documentation, for example.

There is deeplinks support now, so it’s possible:

> [@Linking to a heading within a post or topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/deep-linking-to-headings-anchors/47552):
>
> bookmark This guide explains how to link directly to a heading within a Discourse post or topic, enabling users to navigate long posts efficiently. person_raising_hand Required user level: All users Adding headings within long posts can make the content more readable and allow users to link directly to specific sections. This can be particularly useful for navigating extensive discussions and documentation. Summary This guide covers: Creating headings using Markdown Linking directly …
