Unusual request maybe!

Can someone post a few links to some well designed fluid layouts/website, preferably with a lot of content or pages to view. Most of the big corporate websites (cnn for example) are fixed width 985px or there abouts.

I`m putting together my first fluid design, but I`m running low on ideas for filling the extra space.

Seeing what others do will hopefully inspire me!

Thanks.

Hey, mesobob.
are you talking fluid design in terms of CSS?

Yes, as in % width.

Thanks.

Sascha, at yootheme.com, is doing interesting stuff with Joomla templates. Dunno, if that helps....
:cool:

This is just something to think about and my opinion.

I think fluid sites are ok, but they aren't going to be around much longer, or at least they wont be as popular.

It's great to have that self adjusting resolution, but what if you have a 20 inch widescreen? how bout a 22, a 24 or even a 30? sites don't look so great in those widescreen monitors when they're fluid like that because they are way too stretched out.

For people with widescreen monitors I don't think they'll like that idea as much. I certainly know I don't. And with the price of those monitors coming WAY down, they're going to be every day items any time now.

Just something to keep in mind.

Lol, I`m actually starting to think I made a grave mistake putting many hours into a fluid template!!

Now that I have the complete template, I`m now realising what a pig this is going to be adding the content, images etc and getting it looking right in various resolutions. It`s probably going to give me more headaches than it`s worth.

760px fixed width anyone :D

fastnoc, you're right, sort of.
I have clients who are a video editing facility, and they use 23" Apple monitors. That may not seem that big when you just think about it, but when you're in front of one, it 's "OMG!" big.
If a web page had to fill the screen, it would probably be overpowering. It's like trying to read an A3 document filled with 12 point text. I'd rather look at one of those 70's style fractal posters.
I believe the actual standard maximum size of web pages won't go over 1024. That means fluid widths could have a minimum and maximum size, say 1024 max and 768 min.
Then there's the pain that mesobob mentioned: To not design within definite width parameters is nothing short of a nightmare, so to further standardize, i.e. remove design headaches, you could design for one or two fixed widths in between your min and max, and then design width switching into the site, so that viewers have control over the viewable width. Have a look here (http://demo.yootheme.com/) to see what I mean.
:cool:

I've used fluid widths in the past. My fix for the larger displays was just to set a maximum width. You didn't make a big mistake mesobob (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/member.php?u=146899), just make such a modification. Post the link, I'll tell ya how it looks on my 30".

BTW, a 30" display is quite overwhelming. But the only thing that would make me feel more like a geek would be having 2 of them... Oh yeah!

I've used fluid widths in the past. My fix for the larger displays was just to set a maximum width. You didn't make a big mistake mesobob (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/member.php?u=146899), just make such a modification. Post the link, I'll tell ya how it looks on my 30".

BTW, a 30" display is quite overwhelming. But the only thing that would make me feel more like a geek would be having 2 of them... Oh yeah!

Yeah I`d agree with that.

I spent a few days putting together a couple of fluid layouts, filled in some temporary content. Looked fine in 800 and 1024, but getting any higher and it starts looking stretched and ugly. Heck on wide screen you could end up with neck cramp.

I`ve decided to go with a fixed width. I use a lot of large images and trying to get everything looking good in most resolutions is proving too much trouble. Fixed width will be fine and a lot less hassle.

Who cares how wide someone's monitor is? If people don't like looking at text stretched across the screen, they'll adjust their browser windows (you only need to adjust once to set the size you like best). For those people who like having longer lines of text, they have the option. If someone with a 20" screen is browsing with the browser maximized, don't you think there's a reason, like they might prefer it if your site doesn't take up 1/3 of their screens? They paid for the real estate; no sense in denying them as large or as small a viewing experience as they desire.

If you have the opportunity to create a fluid layout, by all means do it!

Who cares how wide someone's monitor is?
I do.
They paid for the real estate
yes, ill be buying panoramic 20" or 21" soon, for the real estate - for programming and photoshop purposes.
hey'll adjust their browser windows (you only need to adjust once to set the size you like best)
But i would be pissed as hell if i had to resize my browser window, im not used to it. I hate it , and will probably never get used to it. So when i rethink our last conversation on layouts in other thread , im not so sure now is fluids are always perfect solution.

i would probably switch off site that would force me to resize my browser ( if the site info is not critical for me ofcourse ).

So there are different points of view.

i would probably switch off site that would force me to resize my browser ( if the site info is not critical for me ofcourse ).How would a site be forcing you to change your browser size? Fixed width sites are being displayed ~750-1000 width, so you never have to adjust your browser size for those, and if you have a preferred width to read fluid text, you set it once and that's that.

Will you stop using WHT once you get your new monitor just because it respects your desired browser width, or will you set up your browser so you like what you see? If you only like viewing the web through a 1000 pixel window, why on earth would you keep your browser window maximized? What a horrible waste of space.

IMO, the best use of a fluid layout is when it's combined with many other processes that make your site look exactly how you want it to on every resolution, browser, OS and PDA/mobile phone.. Yes, I develop/design my sites to work well on those too.

Will you stop using WHT once you get your new monitor just because it respects your desired browser width, or will you set up your browser so you like what you see?i will probably have to live with that, as the content is important to me.
How would a site be forcing you to change your browser size?personally i dont find columns of text that are very wide a pleasnt reading experience.

If you only like viewing the web through a 1000 pixel window, why on earth would you keep your browser window maximized? What a horrible waste of space.because i have lots of other programs running , lots of othger windows, the reason is very easy, im very used to my workspace that is not very friendly to browser floating in windows, i closed incorrect windows many times because browser wasnt maximized. you cant judge everyone by your personal likings or your work habits ;-) .

call me silly , but this kind of layout ( if not consists of multiple columns ), is not friendly for me, but this is personal taste.

PS. i like to have free spaces on my desktop - 1 window at a time if possible, does that mean that im wasting soo precious space ? ;-)

because i have lots of other programs running , lots of othger windows, the reason is very easy, im very used to my workspace that is not very friendly to browser floating in windows, i closed incorrect windows many times because browser wasnt maximized. you cant judge everyone by your personal likings or your work habits ;-)If you have lots of programs running at the same time, but you only have one program active at a time (for fear of closing wrong windows, etc.), then having every non-active program minimized makes sense, and then you can make your browser window whatever size you'd like, because there's nothing else to accidentally close ;) Or you can use a browser that has docking, such as Opera (by default) or Firefox (by way of extension, IIRC). Problem solved.

Any decision a Web designer makes regarding a site, any decision will have negative impact on someone. That's just how it is. With all due respect, the last thing a Web designer should be basing his or her development decisions upon is whether the end user has bad aim with his or her mouse ;)

I predict you won't make visiting decisions based on fluid v. fixed design once you get your new monitor. I think you're going to LOVE having so much more information available on the screen when you visit sites. I'd love to hear how it actually works out for you once you've made the move!

Any decision a Web designer makes regarding a site, any decision will have negative impact on someone. That's just how it is. With all due respect, the last thing a Web designer should be basing his or her development decisions upon is whether the end user has bad aim with his or her mouse ;)


Yeah, that`s a good point.

At the end of the day I`m going to design for my target audience. We ran a poll and asked questions, 99% of those that answered were more than happy with a fixed width.

No doubt a few will moan, but hey it`s not a perfect world and not everyone can be pleased.

Yeah, that`s a good point.

At the end of the day I`m going to design for my target audience. We ran a poll and asked questions, 99% of those that answered were more than happy with a fixed width.

No doubt a few will moan, but hey it`s not a perfect world and not everyone can be pleased.Try showing a work-in-progress to your audience and see what type of response you get. You can always fix the width of a site after designing it fluidly by limiting the width of the outermost element. Otherwise, you're surveying people for their opinions on something that doesn't even exist yet ;)

I predict you won't make visiting decisions based on fluid v. fixed design once you get your new monitor. I think you're going to LOVE having so much more information available on the screen when you visit sites. I'd love to hear how it actually works out for you once you've made the move!
could be , i will love extra code in eclipse window , that is for sure ;-)
and photoshop toolbars.
Im sure i will write somthing about changing "user perspective' after all those years on 4:3 screen.

With all due respect, the last thing a Web designer should be basing his or her development decisions upon is whether the end user has bad aim with his or her mouse
you are right, but im talking about my taste here , i always ask client what he wants and only advise them if i think they are incorrect( 80% of time they want fixed width), its a matter of project what is the best thats for sure.


i like fluid layouts , but dont know how they perform on widescreens :]

i always ask client what he wants and only advise them if i think they are incorrect( 80% of time they want fixed width), its a matter of project what is the best thats for sure.Very true. Every project has its own needs and works best a certain way. :)

i like fluid layouts , but dont know how they perform on widescreensYou might be surprised! I do dual 1600x1200 monitors, and I keep one browser window fully maximized on one screen. I actually like the long lines of text - just a personal observation. My eyes have really gotten to like them :)