What size do you make fixed-width sites?

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If you create a fixed width site, what size do you make it?

800 x 600
8
57%
1024 x 768
4
29%
1280 x 1024
0
No votes
Other
2
14%
 
Total votes: 14

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Maugrim_The_Reaper
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Post by Maugrim_The_Reaper »

1024 x 768 is the most popular current resolution. 800x600 is far behind. Within a year or two it will be outpaced by 1280 x 1024. For text I find fixed width designs a pain in the ass - it's far too narrow with a resolution of 1280x1024. For more image based/media content it's usually okay though.
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Burrito
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Post by Burrito »

so does anyone know how yahoo does it?
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

770 is my default for fixed with, but I rarely, if ever, use that anymore. Fixed widths are so non-flexible, and there really is no reason to use them (not from I can see anyway). I see fixing the width of a content area, but the entire site... just seems silly to me to restrict the feel of the site.
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s.dot
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Post by s.dot »

how do you guys see things on 1280x1024 =[

I have a 17 inch monitor, and that resolution is far too tiny for me.
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Burrito
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Post by Burrito »

scottayy wrote:I have a 17 inch monitor, and that resolution is far too tiny for me.
monitor size is one thing...but monitor quality also helps.

I actually use 1920x1200x2 at home and things look perfectly normal.
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

I am 1280X1024X2 at work, 1024X768X1 at home. I always test every design in 800X600 before selling it off for approval though.
alex.barylski
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Post by alex.barylski »

Just curious, but what about mobiles devices and such? Most cell phones, PDA's, etc...can't possiblly be running anything higher than 800x600 are they? I should check my phone... :)
matthijs
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Post by matthijs »

Some reading material I found interesting:
http://www.baekdal.com/reports/actual-browser-sizes/
http://justaddwater.dk/2006/09/02/browser-size/
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/screen_resolution.html
http://mentalized.net/journal/2006/10/2 ... l_numbers/

Some more thoughts:
When you cannot choose between fixed or liquid some other options are
- Liquid with min/max-width
works well in most modern browsers, some hackery needed for IE
- Resolution dependent layout
http://www.themaninblue.com/writing/per ... 004/09/21/
http://particletree.com/features/dynami ... t-layouts/
both depend on javascript but CSS-only is possible if you use a design in which you let floated columns shrink-wrap.

Designing for mobile devices is a different beast (something I haven't looked into enough, yet), but keep an eye on the forthcoming book http://mobilewebbook.com/ or read Cameron's articles about the subject. Only thing I know is that valid, clean coding according to standards (no frames, tables, etc, see also http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/2 ... obile_web/) does help a lot for mobile devices.
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