Sparks! has two basic configurations — the two pane mode (the "tree" and the browser) and the three pane node (the "tree", the "list" and the browser).

The three pane mode is very useful when recording radio, looking for podcasts, browsing OPML directories and so forth. The list control allows you to quickly locate a particular item that you're looking for. The two pane mode is useful for weblog reading, where items are generally accessed sequentially (as opposed to randomly).

The next version of Sparks! will automatically hop between two pane and three panel mode depending on what you're looking at. If you a different default mode, you can switch between two and three pane mode using the control buttons at the bottom of the application.