

Why You Should Design Fixed-Width Websites - rogercosseboom
http://www.zmogo.com/design/why-i-design-fixed-width-websites/

======
ghostz00
I think when choosing b/t fixed width and fluid depends on your content. But
don't get caught up with this, you'll always have arguments for either sides.
It doesn't matter which layout you choose (as long as it's readible). What
really matters is that you have good content.

------
ars
I think he's 100% wrong, but in the spirit of HN, I'll upmod the story.

CNN, Yahoo, BBC, ebay, there are tons of major sites the use a fluid layout.

He is wrong that you have to deal with ANY size. You can assume the browser
will be at least 800 pixels wide, you can assume it won't be more than about
1280, because people with larger screen typically shrink the browser.

It is harder yes, but not that hard to make a fluid site - especially if your
designer actually makes websites and not flyers (as so many seem to).

And as a bonus you are a good deal of the way to a mobile version of the site
if you make it fluid.

And a fluid site does not mean you need to have extremely long columns of text
- max-width to the rescue (it can be made to work on all browsers, including
IE6).

------
russell
I prefer fixed width text because it is a lot easier to read than stretched
text.

The article links to another that describes using fluid width to achieve
similar results and probably works better on mobile devices. <http://css-
tricks.com/the-perfect-fluid-width-layout/>

~~~
gojomo
'Stretched' text? Do you simply mean extra-wide lines?

Supposedly 8-12 words per line is easiest for eyes to scan.

I've never seen -- but often wished for -- a fluid-width layout that
automatically scales its text so that the average line in the main content has
8-12 words on it. (I often do this manually with the browser's text-zoom
options.)

~~~
Daniel_Newby
"I've never seen -- but often wished for -- a fluid-width layout that
automatically scales its text so that the average line in the main content has
8-12 words on it."

That's easy to do with a fixed width in units of ems:

    
    
        min-width: 15em;
        max-width: 35em;
    

For IE 6/7, conditionally add:

    
    
        width: 35em;

~~~
gojomo
_That's easy to do with a fixed width in units of ems_

Almost, but not quite. That adjusts the width to match the font-size. I want
the other way around: adjust the font-size to match the width. (If I make my
browser window wider, the text should scale up.)

Currently, this would take Javascript -- either adaptively scaling the font
until the desired words-per-line is reached, or calculating what font-size
would mean the existing width, whatever it is, is ~35em.

~~~
Daniel_Newby
Newegg does that with the menus and sidebar and it pisses me off. I find the
text uncomfortably small, but when I fix it their Javascript jams it back to a
small size.

With high-res screens and/or people with vision trouble, setting a particular
font size is generally a bad idea.

~~~
gojomo
Good point; any such auto-sizing shouldn't override user zooms.

------
cardmagic
You should design websites with a width that complements the content

~~~
Watts
Agreed, and frankly these "You Should Do It This Way" articles are getting a
little old.

------
kyochan
Two advancement are working in favor of fixed-width sites

1\. Monitors are getting wider more than it is getting taller. 2\. The latest
browsers replaced "increase text size" with a zoom entire site feature
instead.

Liquid layouts are useful if executed correctly and only if there has to be a
lot of content to present.

------
tokenadult
Did I miss it, or did the author not mention doing usability testing to find
out what the actual users of the site will do with it?

(As it is, it was troubling to me that his examples of what he doesn't like
are all big, profitable businesses while most of the examples he likes have
yet to turn a profit.)

------
sam_in_nyc
For me, the answer is obvious: because it's much easier.

------
pasbesoin
The Firefox extension "Web Developer Toolbar" has a Resize menu wherein you
can define your own window sizes (based on either the overall window or the
viewport). I've come to use this as a reading aid, with a few preset sizes
that work well with my monitor and the sites I frequent most. Drop the menu
and click a preset size, and I'm reading at a convenient width. Maximize the
window to undo.

------
d13hard
i strongly disagree. fixed width works in the world of 1998...everyone with a
17 inch monitor on their desks. today screens tend to be very big (24 inch
monitor) or very small (iphone). the only viable method for addressing the
inverse bell curve of monitor size is with liquid layout.

~~~
tptacek
This presumes that the goal of all websites should be to maximize use of
screen real estate. But that goal is in conflict with the basic principles of
typography, which suggest that line lengths are not going to scale up with
monitor sizes.

