660 pixels or 100%?
Every time I request feedback on a website somebody tells me there is xxx amount of space on the right, you need to use that space. Do these people think that everyone has the same screen resolution so it looks like that on everyone's screen?
Maybe I'm doing it incorrectly. I like to set the width of the page to 660 for two reasons.
#1 - I know exactly how it will look on everyone's screen. It doesn't matter if you have 800 x 600 or 1600 x 1200, it looks the same.
#2 - It is always printer friendly.
Should I be building for 1024 x 768 instead of 800 x 600? It's the 1024 users that always seem to comment on the page not fitting 100% of their screen. Should I be using 100% instead of defining the width? I know the amount of work to set that up is minimal, but it also brings a lot of other variables into each page that I am able to avoid today.
What is your resolution? How do you define the width of your pages (660, 800, 100%)?
Megan posted this at 13:24 — 6th May 2005.
She has: 11,421 posts
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Why 660???? That is awfully small at 1024 x 768. Why not 760???? I usually design fixed width at 760 px. If the max-width attribute worked it might be good to allow flexibility to a point, but otherwise it can cause problems with line lengths getting too long at higher resolutions (although, you could say that most people running at higher resolutions don't maximize their browsers anyway...). So, 100% can work if you are careful about line lengths.
My SR is 1152 x (forget that number) but I never have my browser at full width. I always have my opera panels on the left, and at work I keep my windows taskbar on the right side. I don't like it when line lengths get too long.
Megan
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artsapimp posted this at 13:29 — 6th May 2005.
They have: 330 posts
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660 because it is printer friendly. I have found that 670 cuts part of the screen off and I didn't want to keep testing until I found the exact number of pixels (maybe 665?).
I use 1280 x 1024 both at home and at work. My browser is at full width 90% of the time just because it's easier to maximize than to just set the max height. The height is what I care about with my resolution.
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Megan posted this at 13:50 — 6th May 2005.
She has: 11,421 posts
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If you want a printer friendly option then use a stylesheet switcher to provide a different stylesheet for printing.
ETA: This is another argument in favour of right side navigation. If the navigation (or something else...) is on the right, that is what gets cut off on printing rather than the main body text.
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artsapimp posted this at 14:18 — 6th May 2005.
They have: 330 posts
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That is a great idea. I will have to play around with right side navigation to see how I like it.
I just hate having to click a "printer friendly" button before clicking the "print" button. I know it sounds like I'm lazy, but I am sure a lot of users feel the same way. That is why I attempt to make every page printer friendly.
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andy206uk posted this at 10:40 — 12th May 2005.
He has: 1,758 posts
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If people moan about space down one side or the other, use a centered design. I've found it helps to minimise the moaning.
You can actually specify different media types, ie screen for the website and print for printing and the browser will load different stylesheets depending on what you are doing.
Andy
artsapimp posted this at 13:33 — 12th May 2005.
They have: 330 posts
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Are you saying you can specify different values for different media types without changing the stylesheet / redirecting the user?
chrishirst posted this at 17:01 — 12th May 2005.
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Yep Media Types and HTMLHelp
Greg K posted this at 20:06 — 12th May 2005.
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I remember a few years ago working in a computer lab at the university. Someone went to a site, and when they went to print it, the site had CSS set to only print like 3/4" wide on the paper. Something that should of only took like 2 pages to print, ended up being like a 25 page print job. And they printed it like 4 times trying to get it to print right.
I was stumped at first myself, thinking someone screwed with the default margin settings on the printer.
Nice joke huh LOL.
-Greg
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