fixed vs fluid
 

I think we should debate which is better and why :mad:

Just kidding.

But I would like to take a poll to figure out which you prefer. Do you typically like a fixed width or do you prefer fluid?

I have no idea why I am so bothered by fixed, but the fixed widths sometimes drive me a little nutts. Or maybe it's just the fixed widths that are REALLY narrow that bother me. I don't mind the wider ones as much.

Fluid.

There is nothing worse than half a screen wasted by a fixed width forum. I hate them.

it depend on what you require, sincerely...

1- taste of the visitors... (visitors, not clients, are usually just lurking, so forget it!)

2- taste of the members... your members may have an opinion on the look of your site, so maybe providing both versions of your skin is the best solution.

3- your own vision of the site... if you decide that your site is not to be decided by your visitors or members, do what you like most.. remember, the design of your site is supposed to reflect what YOU think of that site...

fixed OR fluid have the same problem.. they have to fit in all browsers...

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oh, btw, add the Elastic Design to your poll.. ;)

Fixed
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FIXED!!

It won't let me edit. :(

I prefer fluid and I think designing anything as fixed width only is just begin plain lazy. Designers often say things like "It gives us more control over how the style looks". Which is true, but I normally read that as "I spent hours designing this only to have it break in certain screen resolutions. Rather than fix this issue I'll just deploy a fixed width layout and force everyone else to deal with it".

Another vote for "fixed" skins from me. I personally find them very sexy. :)

I prefer fluid but I don't set my browser at full width of my screen. It is just about 1100 pixels wide.

what i like about Elastic, is that it is not related to your screen width, but your screen depth... if you need big fonts or have disability, your fixed or fluid will change nothing ... elastic will... ;)

I prefer fixed layouts but I wouldn't call designing them lazy. Fixed layouts are often harder to design because you're dealing with pixels. I'm quite anal when it comes to detail, especially how elements render across browsers. I design for accuracy and not for good enough. Though, I might be the exception since I also use various measuring tools to ensure that the content is layed out to the pixel.

One of the bigger reasons for me is that with fixed layouts content is easier to read. Most media (e.g, newspapers, books, magazines, tv ads) that displays text use fixed layouts, often in blocks for wider layouts. *With these media formats, I'm referring to line and character length while making the argument for fixed layouts. There are studies on the length of the line (by measure or by words/characters per line) and the effects it has on eye fatigue.

With that said, in a newer project of mine I'm planning to give the users the option for any particular style of fixed or fluid. :)

I used to go fixed, but nowadays I think fluid is more professional on the default skin.

Designs that are designed specifically for fluid width look okay. Trying to make a fixed width design fluid takes away from the design. I prefer fixed, but not extremely narrow.

I find myself doing alot of fixed designs however this is due to the exterme detail and hrs put into certain images. I have logos that total have about 40-50 man hrs in them and would look horrible if stretched.

Fixed. All the way.

Paul M - That's quite a strong response. Do you have a resolution greater than/equal to 1920x1200? If so, you probably shouldn't be maximizing your browser, and therefore I'm not sure where you're getting the "half a screen-width wasted" estimate from. :)

I'm on the largest fixed width style here (950?), and there is currently only 60px on each side of the main body. I'm on a 1920x1200 screen. No wasted space here.

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Anyway, readability turns to CRAP on fluid widths; they are the bane of my existence. I got into this entirely too long drawn out argument with a friend (who has a 30" 2560x1600 screen), and he actually believes fluid width on a forum is a good thing. When sitting at his desk you actually have to pan your head back and forth to read anything. I seriously think he's either really stupid or completely delusional.

I can't believe so many have voted for fluid, either. Quite disappointing actually. Fluid introduces soooo many damn complications that can be removed completely if you just design around a decent fixed width. A wide fixed width at that. I don't care about users who still use 800x600 monitors either. I have people screaming at me over at vB.com that 20-30% of the internet still uses 800x600 and that gave me a really good laugh.

But if you really want to get technical, the best design possible is a fluid width with min and max widths set on the body. :)

fluid all the way

Fixed...they just look better to me...fluid seems so old school and barbaric. :D

<font color="Red">fluid all the way </font>

With widescreen monitors becoming thew norm, fluid is the only way to go. I have a fixed skin but am looking for a good fluid skin to replace it.

What's an "elastic' skin? I have never heard of that before or have ever seen one that I know of.

fluid - dont see why people want everything cramped up in one small area.Fixed is fine is u have side bars on etc for advertising but if not then its a waste of valuable space.

fixed, when it's done right it looks best IMO though I'm guilty of the style breaking in a couple of places on my forums... fluid styles more often than not look empty to me since everything is so stretched. I have a 24" widescreen monitor too though so its even more exaggerated for me lol.

Also depends on your monitor size :p

How about a "Don't Care, as long as the design is a good one".

rofl

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I agree with what Boofo is saying about widescreens' being the new norm, and I cannot counteract my statements in a discussion on enlarging my editor.

BUT

On our board we actually used Fixed and it's because we can't find a solution to the problem namely. Since some of our semi-transparent skins, ok...all of them, use a jpeg background fixed is the only way we can figure to make it look good for the "majority" of screen resolutions out there.

Unfortunately it tiles on bigger screens but if we go fluid the 70% or so of people that have 1024 x 768 will not even come close to seeing all that the bg shows, it basically stretches to hell and don't look good.

We asked for any suggestion to this since it's not like a simple gradient or one color bg, it's an actual image and we cannot find a solution to it. So unfortunately for those with bigger monitors it prolly doesn't look so great.

If fixed is done right, then it's not a problem.

Elastic layout (using em's for padding and margin) is absolutely wonderful... until you want to raise the font-size. Then you raise everything and have a bit of tweaking on your hands.

I personally mixed both fixed and fluid in my design, and I think it's working out just fine.