Fixed or Fluid

Form over function.

I prefer fixed skins as they keep the original format of the content. Books are a certain size for a reason, to keep the format. Larger screens mean the formatting of content will suffer if fluid skins are used.

Discussions said:

Form over function.

I prefer fixed skins as they keep the original format of the content. Books are a certain size for a reason, to keep the format. Larger screens mean the formatting of content will suffer if fluid skins are used.

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Interesting

Would you then have to inform everyone that the index should be viewed at x resolution on x browser then?



gogo

youradhere4222 said:

Once I overcome my laziness I'll make a fluid skin.

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It takes more effort to design a fixed width site. Because you're dealing with pixels rather than percentages there's less room for error. Because you're dealing with pixels every pixel counts; so make the best use of them. Fixed styles that look crammed weren't designed well. That is not the flaw of a fixed width layout but a flaw in the design.

Discussions has a point about readability on fixed styles (keeping the content in original form). It's much easier to read text when the columns are closer together. Granted, too narrow of text columns isn't good either so balance it wisely.

With wider screen sizes (especially widescreen monitors) many users are multi-taskers so they have several windows open at a time. The screen sizes are not always stretched out either. This way they can have the windows open side-by-side.

Know and listen to your audience. With the growing trend of users with screen resolutions 1024x768 and higher I no longer code in 760px fixed width; in my latest project I have it set to 860px. So far the feedback has been positive. For every design I also have a fluid version for those who prefer that. Despite what my preferences are, I like to give my audience the option to change the styles. *Though, the options are only available to the members, not guests. The default look will be fixed.

In my About page I have "For Best Results". People viewing the site know what the standards are. The minimum screen resolution is 1024x768. I used to have a notice down at the footer indicating which screen resolution to use but found out more people tend to look at the "Help" links so I placed the notice in the About page.

I prefer fixed myself, but design in fluid...as the previous poster pointed out, it's a matter of good design skills. I tend to design fluid pages because it's what I've been doing for ages, but now my statistics tell me that over 40% of my users browse at a browser width of 900+ pixels. This means I can start thinking about fixed-width designs in a more reasonable way, but I think having the option to keep things fluid should be open to the user.

Fluid vs fixed is a debate we've had since 1995...it's a debate that will never end. None of the solutions is bad, but it is important to understand why you choose one over the other.

Actually, I majored in Devil's Advocate and Alternative Point of View. With a second degree in Think Outside the Box. I also sat in on Contrarian 101.

A forum is a place for the open discussion of topics, not a feel good gathering of like minded people. If it is the latter, it soon loses any real validity.

As an old man with poor eyesight I would prefer to have my rez at 800x600 but within the last 3 or 4 months have adapted to 1024x768 because I got tired of scrolling.

Which pretty much proves what I said, I adjusted because I was more interested in the content than I was my convenience.

Leap and the net will appear.
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As an old man with poor eyesight I would prefer to have my rez at 800x600 but within the last 3 or 4 months have adapted to 1024x768 because I got tired of scrolling.

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This is another thing that needs to be thought about. People with bad eyesight need to be able to increase the font size on some forums to be able to read them.

I believe with a true fluid design they should be able to do this. Some forums I go to when searching for information, if I cant size the font larger, I leave.

Accessibility is something that all designers should be thinking about.

peteVA said:

You left out a third answer - Who Cares?

I join a forum for the content.

To judge a forum simply by it's page size is pretty narrow minded, regardless of your screen rez.
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Its not a judge of a forum, its to give your members the best viewing experience.

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My forums are fixed width at 800 pixels.

I do not really care for fluid width forums. My monitor is a 19 inch wide screen and is set to a resolution of 1284X1024. On a fluid site, the text gets stretched the width of the page, making it hard to read. I prefer my sites to be like a book, not a book printed landscape.

The images people post to my site are resized to 640X480 by a java script - fitting nicely into an 800 width page. So that is only @ 160 pixels of wasted space. On the other hand, if that image was resized on a fluid site, and my monitor set to 1284, that is 640+ pixels of wasted space.

I have a lot of embedded videos on my site. The video size youtube uses (425) looks better on a fixed width site. With a fluid site, and a monitor set to 1284, there is about 800+ pixels of wasted space with a embedded youtube video.

I like fixed width because I do not want wasted space. Everything should fit into the forum with as little wasted, or empty space as possible.

I don't really have a preference I have some sites that are fixed and some that are fluid.

cssaddict said:

This is another thing that needs to be thought about. People with bad eyesight need to be able to increase the font size on some forums to be able to read them.

I believe with a true fluid design they should be able to do this. Some forums I go to when searching for information, if I cant size the font larger, I leave.

Accessibility is something that all designers should be thinking about.

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You can achieve accessible font sizes in any fixed or fluid design. One method is to set a base font in px (<body> = 11px) then using absolute font sizes (e.g., small, medium...) in other areas of the design, mainly the content. People using (even) IE browsers can adjust the font sizes.

One example is to use in the <body> tag Verdana 11px or 12px (former better). Then for your postbit (posting) content use: font-size: small.

Another method is to use different styles people can select from. Have one set (possibly the default set) at the pixel sizes while an alternative of that same style in font sizes that are adjustable.

On my board I'm playing with different ideas. Right now only the postbit content is adjustable and that is only for the content itself. See, my titles alone are set to 16px in Verdana (yeah ). I'll keep playing with it until I find a nice solution (since there's no absolute solution).

So again, it's not a matter of fixed or fluid but everything is in the design.

You can easily adjust the font size of any website, as long as you have a scroll wheel on your mouse. Hold down CTRL and scroll the wheel up or down, to increase/decrease the size.

Along with the text it also adjusts the width on fixed sites.

Fluid, of course.

fluid is best

fixed. i can code it better...

i make 2 versions of the skin: one for high resolution monitor and an other one for 1024*768 or less..

gogoblender said:

Interesting

Would you then have to inform everyone that the index should be viewed at x resolution on x browser then?



gogo

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No, I wouldn't inform anyone of this.
I personally use a 19" LCD with a screen resolution of 1280x1024 and I fix my skins anywhere from 800px-975px. I prefer 975px to most other fixed sizes. In my stats less than 1% of all users are using a screen resolution that will not correctly display the skin (800x600 or less)

The way I do my fonts is with ems. In my html and body I put font-size: 100.01% then the rest of the page I do with ems.

My forum software is smf, and it has been a while since I have been able to get in and work on it. however, the font size can be adjusted on it.

I prefer fixed, not so keane on fluid as it is too streched for me (I use a widescreen), however there are some fixed designs I don't like, they are too small (500px) .

That's just wrong.

We did have a fixed forum until recently. It looked GREAT, but we found members with different screen resolutions were having problems, so we switched to fluid. It looks wonderful and all our members are happy.

I have a several templates in both fixed and fluid , my choice is fluid but members have a choice of style.