Page dimensions??

[Big-B]

Ok, So i'm getting around to setting our graphics, and layin down some ground ideas for a web site that i am learning on. Now from all that i have read and learned so far, everybody says that pages should be sized and designed for monitors running 800x600 res...... which is fine, i understand why, but it just dawned on me, i have never had a monitor run at 800x600!http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/dry.gif Granted i have not learned anything about coding or anything, (still have much much to learn), i don't know if depending on how the page is written, it will resize to fit, but with monitors now and vid. cards, shouldn't the base size for a web page chang a bit???
Just a wondering babble i thought of.
any ideas?http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/thumbsup.gif

[EC]

Last I checked, 1024 x 768 users are about equal to 800 x 600, with the larger setting gaining ground due to the price of larger monitors coming down. For now, combine the both of these users and you've got MOST users covered.

Are you on a PC? You absolutely DO have a monitor that runs 800x600, this is a personal setting. It's why we web designers have no control over how the information is viewed, the user chooses how they want their monitor to look. It's why people opt for Flash, it's why some choose a fluid design (one that 'stretches' to fit the browser). Many tricks you can use to make sure your site looks good to MOST users. No such thing as making a website look exactly the same to all users, too many variables on the user side.

On a PC anyway, you find your monitor settings in your control panel under 'Display' ... you will want to be testing these two browser settings as you work, just as you will want to test your site in diffent browsers: Netscape, Firefox, IE, Safari, etc. (they all display code a bit differently).

I am not a *huge* fan of fluid designs, but I will do them if the client requests. (What I don't love about them is that when you resize your browser, everything squishes up.)

I design for 800 AND 1024, making sure the content is all viewable within 800 pixels and looks good. Then I do some 'designy' schtuff to fill in the rest for the 1024 users (background, etc.)

Make sense?

[jamodu]

Hiya Big-B,

I don't know about other agencies, but at our place, the general rule is to design to a width of 780px (which leaves enough room for a vertical scroll bar). Heightwise, we always try to fit the homepage within 430px so that anyone on 800x600 screen res can see the whole page without scrolling. The rest of the site can be as high as you need it to be as people are used to scrolling these days. As EC says, anything outside of the 430px width is usually just backgrounds and designy indulgence.

:)




http://www.impact.me.uk/ebay/images/jamodustrap.jpg

[1984]

You can also run a script that checks browser size then loads pages based on browser, monitor size etc...more work but it may solve the problem.

and here's a link to some stats. looks like 1024 x 768 has 800 x 600 beat by almost double, but i heard elsewhere it's neck to nexk like EC said.

www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp (http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp)

Hey how come Andrew gets to get up? If he gets up, we'll all get up, it'll be ANARCHY!

[Big-B]

I guess i chose my wording poorly EC, your right i do have a PC that has 800x600 resolution, i have just never set it at that res. But your 'designy' schtuff does make sense.

Thankx for the replies, glad i'm not just thinkin crazy!!
good link 1984, much appreciated.

[Ulysses]

Last I checked, the typical Dell user accounts for over 80% of web users; they typically have LCDs which tend to be fixed at 1024 x 768. The important thing, is to do your market research, rather than meet the common denominator of the entire internet ... unless you're developing a search engine.

Post Edited (Ulysses) : 4/17/2005 1:00:12 AM GMT