diff --git a/doc/footer/column_a.mdwn b/doc/footer/column_a.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..da365e9525
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/footer/column_a.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+Recent [[news]]:
+<blockquote>
+[[!inline pages="news/* and !*/Discussion" archive=yes show=2 feeds=no]]
+</blockquote>
+
+[[Dev blog|design/assistant/blog]]:
+<blockquote>
+[[!inline pages="design/assistant/blog/* and !*/Discussion" archive=yes show=5 feeds=no]]
+</blockquote>
diff --git a/doc/footer/column_b.mdwn b/doc/footer/column_b.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ac85e8c8b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/footer/column_b.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+Recent [[videos]]:
+<blockquote>
+[[!inline pages="videos/* and !*/Discussion" archive=yes show=2 feeds=no]]
+</blockquote>
+
+Recent [[forum posts|forum]]:
+<blockquote>
+[[!inline pages="forum/* and !*/Discussion" archive=yes show=5 feeds=no]]
+</blockquote>
diff --git a/doc/index.mdwn b/doc/index.mdwn
index 3db9eabd00..55f00b37c9 100644
--- a/doc/index.mdwn
+++ b/doc/index.mdwn
@@ -35,50 +35,18 @@ B, then git-annex may be the tool you've been looking for to expand from
 keeping all your small important files in git, to managing your large
 files with git.
 
-## documentation
-
-* [[git-annex man page|git-annex]]
-* [[key-value backends|backends]] for data storage
-* [[special_remotes]] (including [[special_remotes/S3]] and [[special_remotes/bup]])
-* [[sync]]
-* [[encryption]]
-* [[bare_repositories]]
-* [[direct_mode]]
-* [[internals]]
-* [[scalability]]
-* [[design]]
-* [[related_software]]
-* [[what git annex is not|not]]
-* [[videos]]
-* [[sitemap]]
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td width="33%" valign="top">[[!inline feeds=no template=bare pages=links/key_concepts]]</td>
+<td width="33%" valign="top">[[!inline feeds=no template=bare pages=links/the_details]]</td>
+<td width="33%" valign="top">[[!inline feeds=no template=bare pages=links/other_stuff]]</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
 
 <table>
 <tr>
-
-<td valign="top">
-Recent [[news]]:
-<blockquote>
-[[!inline pages="news/* and !*/Discussion" archive=yes show=2 feeds=no]]
-</blockquote>
-
-[[Dev blog|design/assistant/blog]]:
-<blockquote>
-[[!inline pages="design/assistant/blog/* and !*/Discussion" archive=yes show=5 feeds=no]]
-</blockquote>
-</td>
-
-<td valign="top">
-Recent [[videos]]:
-<blockquote>
-[[!inline pages="videos/* and !*/Discussion" archive=yes show=2 feeds=no]]
-</blockquote>
-
-Recent [[forum posts|forum]]:
-<blockquote>
-[[!inline pages="forum/* and !*/Discussion" archive=yes show=5 feeds=no]]
-</blockquote>
-</td>
-
+<td valign="top">[[!inline feeds=no template=bare pages=footer/column_a]]</td>
+<td valign="top">[[!inline feeds=no template=bare pages=footer/column_b]]</td>
 </tr>
 </table>
 
diff --git a/doc/links/key_concepts.mdwn b/doc/links/key_concepts.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fe3d1246c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/links/key_concepts.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+### key concepts
+
+* [[git-annex man page|git-annex]]
+* [[walkthrough]]
+* [[how_it_works]]
+* [[special_remotes]]
+* [[sync]]
+* [[direct_mode]]
diff --git a/doc/links/other_stuff.mdwn b/doc/links/other_stuff.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0ba4c14769
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/links/other_stuff.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+### other stuff
+
+* [[what git annex is not|not]]
+* [[related_software]]
+* [[sitemap]]
diff --git a/doc/links/the_details.mdwn b/doc/links/the_details.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a7f8633a8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/links/the_details.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+### the details
+
+* [[encryption]]
+* [[key-value backends|backends]]
+* [[bare_repositories]]
+* [[internals]]
+* [[scalability]]
+* [[design]]