[thelist] DEBATE: Fixed Width Vs Liquid

aardvark roselli at earthlink.net
Wed Jun 5 08:19:31 CDT 2002


> From: "John Handelaar" <genghis at members.evolt.org>
[...]
> No 'ice' site I do at 600px ever forces anyone to
> resize a window any more often than (I'm picking an
> example 'cos he won't mind) Aardvark's stuff, by his
> own admission a few posts ago.  By contrast, *lots*
> of liquid sites, far far more, are less considerate.

hey, i *do* mind... i'm cryin' in my cheerios...

and yes -- you are exactly right... liquid sites *can* be just as
offensive to users...  that's why seeing the use of the max-width
CSS property with em-based units (so it conforms to the type size
of the user) has the potential to be so useful....

but ideally, with proper user testing and the like, we can all make
ice/liquid/jello/manure sites that work for our users...

and that 600px thing is dangerous, too, since if you kick scrollbars
up above default in Win, you'll get horizontal scroll... 580 is safer,
but then, that's all moot in liquid and may be moot if you know your
audience, too...

the one thing i don't like about ice sites is when they ram
themselves into the upper left corner...  otherwise, i don't notice
unless it's ice over 600px, since i keep my windows ~640px in
width anyway...


--
Read the evolt.org case study
Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904151035/evoltorg
ISBN: 1904151035



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