Fixed or Fluid? And what fixed width?

[amnesia623]

Hello,

I am rebuilding my forums and am going to be doing a custom style/template. Just curious on your thoughts regarding a fixed width vs a fluid width?

My last community hada 750 pixel fixed width. I will never go that small again.

So what are you running your boards at? I was thinking 1000 pixels or fluid?

Thanks

[SCRIPT3R]

fluid... i can't stand skinny forums. especially when using a widescreen monitor.

[SmashinYoungMan]

I tend to go with 900 or 950px. I never do fluid these days, at least not when working on one of my own sites.

We're actually in sort of an uncomfortable time when it comes to settling on a screen resolution. Not so long ago, you could count on 99% of your users using just a couple of different resolutions. These days, resolutions are much more widely varied, with the plethora of different sizes and types of LCD monitors...not to mention those folks who run multiple monitors in a spanned configuration.

Still, I believe the average resolution these days is 1280x1024, and 900 to 950px suits that perfectly, while remaining friendly at other resolutions from 1024x768 on up. It can look sort of odd at extremely high resolutions, but not as odd as a site stretched to hell and back, in my opinion.

[Neo_Angelo]

fluid... i can't stand skinny forums. especially when using a widescreen monitor.

agreed.

for me if i don't use fluid its around 928 or 957 pixels for width.

[Princeton]

I have a 21" widescreen @ 1600 resolution and I still prefer 760px.

You may not agree...

But the more content you have on a page the more it is ignored. I'm referring to portals and/or custom main pages. This is the main reason why people would want to increase page width.

As an admin, you want as much info on the page to make your life easier. This is a great idea FOR YOU. But, it's the wrong approach to take for your readers.

Just think about it for a minute...
when you visit other sites do you review all the content on the page?

What's more readable?
THIS
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* **** ** ***** *** ** ** *** ** * *** ** **** *** *** *** **** ** ***** *** ** ** *** ** * *** ** **** *** *** *** **** ** ***** *** ** ** *** ** * *** ** **** *** *** *** **** ** ***** *** ** **

OR THIS

*** ** * *** ** **** *** *** *** **** **
*** ** * *** ** **** *** *** *** **** **
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*** ** * *** ** **** *** *** ***

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If the copywrite (message) is lengthy it's more readable if it's within a fixed width. (just think of a newspaper layout)

Also, keep in mind ...
that we as a society are accustom to reading within a certain format ... it's not wide; it's 8*10 .. think of books, business memos, flyers, fax, etc, etc


So, I recommend a 760px default width and provide your readers an option to change style width.

[amnesia623]

good points here! thanks

[wtricks]

I am doing fixed most of the time and try to have something between 800-1000 width. I don't go for a bigger resolution since it's a bit too big as width even for me .

[Andrew]

I like to design for both options and give my users the choice. Many people like a fixed width style, but many people also like a fluid width style. It also depends on the type of forum you're making. A forum that's going to frequently have large images within posts is usually better off with a fluid width style, as you'll frequently run into issues with the images messing up the layout of a fixed with style once they get beyond a certain size. I think this is one of those things that has no better or correct answer - It all depends on your target community and purpose really.

[StrifeX]

I definitely suggest coding skins fixed, and the width being somewhere between 720-960px so that it looks compact and fits on most and all up-to-date screen resolutions. Princeton just made some amazing points, and I completely agree with him.

[unenergizer]

I design my styles with two types of widths.

Fixed = 770px
Fluid = 100% or 98%

It really depends on your layout. But if you are looking for a fixed layout, 770 may be your best bet.

Andrew

[SatsujinX]

I either use 750px for fixed or 85% for fluid. I don't like fat pages that fit the screen. It depends on your type of content. If you have a lot, put it as a 95% fluid. If you're less professional and a recreational site then have it slim, it's easier to read small amounts of content on a slim page, makes it look as if there's less.