hi all, Just wondering what size the majority of people build their websites at. Also what methods are people using to tackle browser and screen resolution size compatibility? e.g. fluid, fixed etc. Thanks in advance.
I usually build fixed and center. For width it all depends what you feel is most comfortable for your users. There are still a lot of people who have 800x600 resolution. So usually I keep it at max a little over 800, maybe 810 to 820 if really needed. I think skinnier sites look better. However thats my personal feeling. There is a cool tool for fire fox that allows you to resize your window to see what a website would look like in different sizes. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1985
Although there are still many sites made for an 800x600 resolution, new sites are generally made for 1024x768 pixels. Some important existing sites have also changed to bigger screens. It all depends on how much material you want to cram into a page. If you are satisfied with showing your information a little at a time, you may develop for lower resolutions and make everybody happy. With respect to browser incompatibilities, I think the most popular approach is to code according to the rules, and then modify as needed by the current favorite browser (always IE ;-).
I still tend to design for 800x600. If you are looking to redesign an existing website, it's worth checking your stats to find out what resolutions are most popular with your visitors first.
As I've said in the past 20 or thirty times the subject has come up on these forums alone, fesigning to any one resolution is in my book a total miserable /FAIL/ at life. Screens come in multiple sizes, widths, dot pitch - and fixing the width is just utter and total rubbish. IF you are going to take the sleazy route and fix the width - that means 800 friendly, so 768 width (or thereabouts) because it's the lowest common denominator. While high end desktops are pushing past 1600 width - we are seeing a rise in more capable ultra-mobiles like the EEEPC and CloudPC with 800x480 screens... AND as has been said many times here before - all that 'everyone is running 1024 or higher RUBBISH doesn't take into account people like me - who has three 1600 pixel wide screens and will often vary the width of the browser to make room for other things like chat windows, open text documents, the sidebar built into Opera, or even my taskbar which I run in portrait mode on my left display. I make this CRAZY assumption that if the user has the browser window blown up to full screen, they want to see content ON THE WHOLE SCREEN. Who'd have thunk it? In a handful of cases, when the page just doesn't have enough content I will resort to semi-fluid, usually 768-1130 (800 to 1152 minus 32 for borders and scrollbar) - though these days my preference is to just add more content and mcSwitchy it. Either way - fixed width? Total miserable lazy sleazeball /FAIL/
Are you asking what size we design for purely out of interest or are you asking for advice on what size to design for? If it's the former, my answer would be that for my personal sites, I generally design a fixed with with 1024x768 in mind... sometimes 800x600. Their my sites and for the most part, I'm not generally too fussed if some people click away because they have a 12000x80000 res. Sites I design for other people I try to make scalable. If you asking for advice one what to design for, as with my own sites, it depends who your audience is. If you designing to be as accessible as possible you should have a scalable site. At the very least a "low vision" version which you should be able to do with an alternate style sheet if you make the site with web standards. Low vision sites should always be scalable. Failing that there's ways of doing things server side (though not ideal) like detecting the screen res and changing the width values of your site... or even having a different design all together. You can do this with javascript but for things like that, if I AM going to doing I'd do it server side as some people don't have javascript turned on. Hope this helps.
I usually set a width of 800-900, really depends on the design as well as the company. If it is for a companies portal, I will make it has wide as the smallest computer on their network is. However, for e-commerce websites who depend on having the largest audience as well as the most compatibility I stick 800 width. For the length a design I start with an above the line approach. After the above the line design is finished I can always expand the design to include anything that will be below it.
Don't waste time contemplating which resolution to use through forums like this, instead just follow the big guys who have vast resources and millions to spend on everything to do with their website. I think Yahoo and MSN know better than most, their portals are a fixed width design based on 1024 resolution.
And for more information on why screen resolution is meaningless, please read The Definitive FAQ on Screen Resolution by Simon Pieters.
I personally use a fixed width of 910px max. Most of my clients sites are between 850px and 900px. Not too narrow but not too wide. Very rarely do I encounter a site that needs fluid width. Its all personal preference though. Hope this helps.
i usually build mine in 800x600 lets you keep control of the site alot easier. as you knwo the size that everything needs to be
i prefer 800*600 px u can see what resolution ur visitors have by checking weblogs (webalizer, awstats) TechnoGeek can u tell me why new resolution size has been increased? I think ppl prefer 800*600 px resolution.
They just don't care about the poor schmucks who have to scroll back and forth to read every line : ) Usually though they have sidebars and they figure it's no big deal if someone doesn't see a sidebar without scrolling. Before I knew to make flex-width sites, I made one that had to be 1024 for a few reasons. I consider it a mild fail but not horribly because all the actual content the user is looking for can still be read and used after only one centering scroll-- the rest they can just scroll down as the main content's like 600px wide. Don't go looking at your stats-- they don't tell you what browser size people are using. Don't go by what sounds popular-- use what works for the widest range of your audience and as much flexibility as the page can stand.
Many of the big name sites detect your screen resolution and create a fixed width on the fly. If you use Google Analytics you can view your users screen resolution by going to: Visitors --> Browser Capabilities --> Screen Resolution
The resolution (or more properly, the screen size) has been increasing, I think, due to two factors: people always want to put more things on the screen (or at least power-users do) and bigger screens are less expensive that they were. Everything, of course, is relative. Less affluent countries have people with smaller screens, and people who don't use intensively the computer tend to work with fewer applications at a time. It is not a matter of preference. You always buy the bigger screen that your pocket permits, and big sites are acknowledging the fact that now more people can afford to buy big monitors with big screens. Ah, and also new technologies like LCD make possible to build big screens with a smaller footprint than old CRTs. But, as Stomme poes said, it is not a necessity. In the majority of cases, you can show your things one at a time. I bought my 1024x768 monitor five years ago and only recently I have needed to maximize the browser's window.
I personally go for about 900 + my last few sites have been designed that way - luckily for me i've based my discussion on my given audience (i.e my own site statistics) but generally it would seem as though designers are going with 1024 x 768 designs or fluid. If your site can lend itself to being fluid then its a good idea to do that.
In 2006 less than 10% of U.S. population used a setting of 800. Most people today use a setting of 1024 or greater. When designing a site you should make use of the screen not the vertical scroll bar.