Forum layout - Fixed width or Expanded?

[Erwin]

Just doing a quick poll. Do you prefer forums that have a fixed width (like yaxay and others) or forums that are expanded to fill the screen (like this one)?

:)

[Smoothie]

Lets see, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays fixed. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays expanded.

[mr e]

the way i do my localhost board right now is expanded, but with a minimum width setting so it'll only go so small

[Velocd]

My forums are fixed, and I enjoy it much more, since there is an outer background giving a nice blend of colors. Smaller and more compacted is also a preference of mine.

Though the expanded view, like vBulletin.org, isn't bad either.

[Boofo]

Expanded. Not as much wasted space that way.

[Disturbed]

which layout?

they all look good as they are now ;D

[Xenon]

expanded like boofo said :)

[RDX1]

Old forums used to be expanded, now it is fixed to meet the site

[filburt1]

Static layout here because it's easier to make and maintain a good looking layout with it.

[Tony G]

I prefer expanded. :)

[N9ne]

I prefer working with fixed, but I don't mind either.

[colicab-d]

from a graphicaly perspective fixed is far easier to design for. thou in sayin that expnaded will work for every user due to resolutions etc.

[grog6]

Between 80 and 95% such as here is good I think :)

But there are really good forums with a really smaller layout wich are really beautifull ....

[Dean C]

Fixed as it's easier to code for me :-p

But i don't mind really :)

- miSt

[futureal]

I wouldn't mind fixed, except it is difficult to select a width that will work for everybody, since people have such different resolutions. A layout really shouldn't be any bigger than 800 pixels wide (or more like 770-780 or so) if you want to accomodate all of the 800x600 users out there. Still, that is really not enough space to do what I'd like to do... so I try to come up with an expanded layout that looks OK.

[rake]

Fixed width, like futureal said, means maximum width of 778. And i use only resolutions of 1240x1024 and above, since i have a 19'' monitor.

I prefer expanded for forums and fixed for my site.

[Link14716]

On graphically heavy styles, fixed width definetly. But with styles like this where it's not so graphic heavy, expanded is best. :)

[Brad]

Expanded on forums like this one where there is heavy use of the code and php tags. One thing I couldent stand about vBt's old layout was the fixed width, sure it looked nice but you couldent use the php or code tags without fear of breaking the layout.

[SouledOut]

I think it goes with your type of site. Like my site works well with expanded width, but I could see sites that could benefit from having tables on the side or whatnot for a fixed width, and it alkso depends on layout.

[GaleForce]

Mine are expanded, I don't like to have to compress text into a thin column when I read it :)

[Tony G]

I've seen some fixed width shockers, or ones with huge side menu's which makes things crammed. Not an ideal look.