diff --git a/templates/base.tmpl b/templates/base.tmpl
index 5a37f537b..08443b0bc 100644
--- a/templates/base.tmpl
+++ b/templates/base.tmpl
@@ -118,17 +118,8 @@
             <span class="icon-bar"></span>
           </a>
           <a href="$basehref/" class="logo-top"><img src="$basehref/static/theme/img/freedombox-logo-32px.png" alt="FreedomBox" /></a><a class="brand" href="$basehref/">FreedomBox Dashboard</a>
-          <div class="nav-collapse">
-		<script type="text/javascript"> 
-		<!--
-		   main_menu(main_menu_items); 
-		// --> 
-		</script>
-            #if $username
-            <p class="navbar-text pull-right"><i class="icon-user icon-white nav-icon"></i>Logged in as <a href="$username">$username</a>. <a href="$basehref/auth/logout" title="Log out">Log out</a>.</p>
-            #else
-            <p class="navbar-text pull-right">Not logged in. <i class="icon-user icon-white nav-icon"></i><a href="$basehref/auth/login" title="Log in">Log in</a>.</p>
-            #end if
+	  #block add_nav_and_login
+	  #end block add_nav_and_login
           </div><!--/.nav-collapse -->
         </div>
       </div>
@@ -136,18 +127,26 @@
 
     <div class="container-fluid">
       <div class="row-fluid">
+        #if $nav or $sidebar_right or $sidebar_left
         <div class="span3">
+        #if $nav
           <div class="well sidebar-nav">
-		#block nav_block
-		$nav
-		#end block nav_block
-		#block sidebar_left_block
-		$sidebar_left
-		#end block sidebar_left_block
           </div><!--/.well -->
-        </div><!--/span-->
+	#end if
+        #if $sidebar_left
+          <div class="well sidebar-nav">
+		left $sidebar_left
+          </div><!--/.well -->
+	#end if
+        #if $sidebar_right
+          <div class="well sidebar-nav">
+		$sidebar_right
+          </div><!--/.well -->
+	#end if
+        </div>
+	#end if
         <div class="span9">
-          <div class="hero-unit">
+          <div class="hero-unit" class="pull-left">
   		<h2>
 		#block title_block
 		$title
@@ -157,15 +156,6 @@
 		$main
 		#end block main_block
           </div>
-
-          <div class="row-fluid">
-            <div class="span8 alert alert-info">
-              	#block sidebar_right_block
-		$sidebar_right
-		#end block sidebar_right_block
-            </div><!--/span-->
-          </div><!--/row-->
-
         </div><!--/span-->
       </div><!--/row-->
 
diff --git a/templates/err.tmpl b/templates/err.tmpl
index 74dc12cc4..02106184b 100644
--- a/templates/err.tmpl
+++ b/templates/err.tmpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#extends templates.two_col
+#extends templates.login_nav
 
 #def title_block
 <span class="label label-important error-large">Error: $title</span>
diff --git a/templates/login_nav.tmpl b/templates/login_nav.tmpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..05780d05b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/login_nav.tmpl
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#extends templates.base
+
+#def add_nav_and_login
+          <div class="nav-collapse">
+		<script type="text/javascript"> 
+		<!--
+		   main_menu(main_menu_items); 
+		// --> 
+		</script>
+            #if $username
+            <p class="navbar-text pull-right"><i class="icon-user icon-white nav-icon"></i>Logged in as <a href="$username">$username</a>. <a href="$basehref/auth/logout" title="Log out">Log out</a>.</p>
+            #else
+            <p class="navbar-text pull-right">Not logged in. <i class="icon-user icon-white nav-icon"></i><a href="$basehref/auth/login" title="Log in">Log in</a>.</p>
+            #end if
+#end def
+
+#def sidebar_left_block
+$sidebar_left
+#end def
+
+#def main_block
+$main
+#end def
+
+#def sidebar_right_block
+$sidebar_right
+#end def
+
+#def nav_block
+$nav
+#end def
diff --git a/util.py b/util.py
index a2fb61dc6..b4eaf7115 100644
--- a/util.py
+++ b/util.py
@@ -57,15 +57,15 @@ class Message():
     def add(self, text):
         self.text += "<br />%s" % text
 
-def page_template(template='base', **kwargs):
+def page_template(template='login_nav', **kwargs):
     for k in ['sidebar_left', 'sidebar_right', 'main', 'js', 'onload', 'nav', 'css', 'title', 'basehref']:
         if not k in kwargs:
             kwargs[k] = ''
 
     if kwargs['basehref'] == '':
        kwargs['basehref'] = cfg.base_href
-    if template=='base' and kwargs['sidebar_right']=='':
-        template='two_col'
+    #if template=='base' and kwargs['sidebar_right']=='':
+    #    template='two_col'
     if isinstance(template, basestring):
         exec ("from templates.%s import %s as template" % (template, template))
     try:
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ def page_template(template='base', **kwargs):
     kwargs['current_url'] = cherrypy.url()
     kwargs['username'] = cherrypy.session.get(cfg.session_key)
 
-    if not kwargs['nav']: kwargs['nav'] = """	<script type="text/javascript"> 
+    if not kwargs['nav'] and submenu:
+       kwargs['nav'] = """	<script type="text/javascript"> 
           <!--
               side_menu(sub_menu_items); 
 	  // -->