I designed this site starting with the main background image, but I was afraid to make it too small, cuz I wanted to limit the page to the image, so I made it 950x713. Well, the result looks great on 1024x768 resolution or higher when you you have it maximized or full screen, but I'm afraid the design is too flawed because of the size limitations. What do ya'll think?

tcogga.org

when i design a website..i design it thinking and starting with 800x600 rez ( 750x600)

i use % rather then a fixed pixel size in images and tables/cells

I realize that, and that's generally my standard. But if you'll go to the site and see how i configured the entire thing on that one graphic, you'll see where my question is coming from. So far I haven't had any complaints. I thought about adding something that says, "This site is best viewed with a screen resolution of 1024x768 or higher." And then having a "tutorial" on how to change your resolution.

There's a faulty assumption being made here, which is that screen resolution = browser window size, and this is simply not an assumption a Web developer can make. The whole concept of "windows" is that the browser doesn't need to fill the entire screen, and it is likely that people using even higher resolutions will have browser windows they are comfortable using to which your site does not adjust. Don't count on people to make those adjustments - it's an unrealistic and inappropriate expectation.

It is especially unrealistic when you're discussing visitors who need the advantages lower resolutions have to offer, such as children, the elderly and anyone with visual impairments. Add to this the number of public venues that offer access at lower resolutions to accommodate the public's lowest common denominator (libraries, school computer labs, Internet cafes, common workstations on the job, etc.), and you are running the risk of needlessly alienating a large percentage of your potential audience.

Further, reliance for IFrames support makes the use of alternative browsing devices impossible, and it can dramatically and negatively affect the ways in which your site is indexed by search engines, if this is a concern at all. (Scrolling <div>s are a far superior option!)

There are ways to employ fluid design techniques that remove the reliance on browser window size.

Most people don't complain about sites they can't use. They usually just leave. Now, people will likely be more forgiving given the focus of your site (forgiveness is divine, and all that :) ), but outside visitors will not bother. They'll simply go away. Here's an interesting article on the matter - http://www.ddj.com/documents/s=2684/nam1012432092/index.html It's from 2001, but simply substitute "1024x768" everywhere that you see "800x600" and everything is pretty much completely applicable.

There's no easy solution to the problem here, but starting with percentages and learning about overflow instead of hardcoding container sizes would be a good place to start.

Here's an excellent primer on background wallpaper:

http://www.efuse.com/Design/background-basics.html

The site could scale down, and just 'clip' the background image, instead of linking the table size to the dimensions of the background image.