Don't panic guys, we're just doing a lot of experimenting right now. And the feedback is great because the bottom line is we want to deliver the best experience possible to everyone here.
I'm not a fan of the fixed width. I have a 1680 resolution width, and it feels like I'm trying to peer inside of some tiny window with the big 200 px of purple on both sides. Obviously, I'll be around no matter what we do ultimately, but since you want opinions, I like the automatic width resize.
same here i'll still log on every day since i have no life, but this fix width is kinda phucking with my eyes.
i like the fixed with as a standard at the current size. the video card and monitor manufacturers expand and grow at astounding rates but many people can't or don't keep up with that. while Browser Display Statistics shows us that in January, 2009, 57% had display resolutions higher than 1024, 40% had 1024 or smaller. as a website administrator, you don't want to automatically eliminate or create a bad internet experience for 40% of web surfers. one has to consider one's entire potential visitor base and decide at what % of 1024 or less are you willing to potentially write off by going above that. i tend to look at the major companies for guidance on fixed or floating and what size fixed width should be used. both apple and windows used fixed width that fits snugly in 1024. i believe both of their current content areas are around 960 pixels (which leaves room for scrollbars and a slight non-content margin. other major companies using fixed width are UPS, Fed-Ex, all major car manufacturers (although nissan's width is a bit small), the White House, and many, many others. so, i support this fixed width 1024 fit tigerforums.com. the fixed because it is what the major corporations do and therefore gives a site an aspect of professionalism and the width because 40% at 1024 or less is just to many to possibly write off. just my 2 (ok, well maybe 3) cents.
You do realize that before the size was dynamic and auto-adjusted for any resolution and/or window size right? It's not like there was a ton of purple off to each side if you had a wide screen monitor and had your browser open full screen. Now in lower resolutions, or smaller windows, you are forced to use the left/right scroll bar a lot. In higher wide screen resolutions, there is a ton of wasted empty space to the right/left of the screen.
Right. And, inversely, if you had small window sizes, it squeezed the content appropriately to fit to your screen. I see no reason at all to make the fixed width. I can read more posts on one screen when it's not being wrapped at such a short line length.
Dymanic is so much better. Allows any user to utilize the full dimensions of any screen or window they are in at the time. Such as this other forum I frequent. Note the difference:
