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How Do I Get the Different Layouts?

The template tag, compact_archive, has some parameters:

    compact_archive($style='initial', $before='<li>', $after='</li>');

If $style == 'initial' (the default) the display will fit into a sidebar:

    2009: J F M A M J J A S O N D 
    2008: J F M A M J J A S O N D 
    2007: J F M A M J J A S O N D 

If $style == 'block' the display will be wide enough to fill the main column of a page:

    2009: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 
    2008: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 
    2007: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

If $style == 'numeric' the display will use month numbers:

    2009: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
    2008: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
    2007: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

$before and $after wrap each line of output. The default values make each line of the archive into a list item:

    <ul>
        <?php compact_archive(); ?>
    </ul>

Is There Any Scope for CSS Styling?

The year links at the start of each line are wrapped in tags while months with no posts are wrapped with so you can differentiate them visually using your style sheet.

What if My Site is in Another Language?

The plugin chooses month names and abbreviations according to the language locale, WPLANG, set in wp-config.php.

Compact Archives also honours whatever kind of permalink pattern you have set.