I've been told to look into using a framework like Blueprint or 960 for my CSS.
What I don't understand is how it makes a site look consisent even if two users have different screen resolutions.
How does that work?
They specify sizes using units that are not relative to the window size. So if the user has a wide window there is a gutter and if a narrow window, a horizontal scrollbar.
Resolution is irrelevant except as a limiting factor on the user's maximum window size.
Related
I'm having a problem with a website I've built: whenever I view the site on a smaller monitor or when I resize the browser window, the content gets covered by the other divs. I need the content to be fully visible, no matter what size the browser is.
http://sophisticateddesign.nl/cfreport/overons.html
Also, on the homepage the text gets cut off a little bit on the bottom row when I resize the browser. I need this row to increase in height a bit, which apparently can't be achieved by simply increasing the divs' height.
http://sophisticateddesign.nl/cfreport/index.html
You should take a look at responsive web design. By using a fluid grid together with one or many media queries you can achieve what you're asking for.
Here's a good introduction if you'd like to get started. I can also highly recommend Ethan Marcotte's book about the subject!
The simplest way is not to define widths in pixels but using only width in %. You defined for example width: 960px; for <html> so if the browser window is less than 960px the whole content of this site won't be visible. You also defined the footer width and probably some more elements.
But the true is nowadays you should learn rather Responsive Web Design to create your page adjusting to device width. Many sites are being used by people on PC, laptops, tablets and mobile phones and you cannot create complex site to look nice on all those devices without using responsive design techniques.
I need to put together website for mobile devices, so iPhones and various androids. The problem is I struggle with getting viewport right and other settings. My goal is so webpage would be coded for specific width e.g. 640px wide. Then once open device would zoom it in/out to the width of the screen so everything became larger or smaller same like after zoomig in/out via pinching on the device screen.
So I would like to develop it for lets say 640px width and depending on device it would scale up or down once open. So if device screen would be 960px wide it would automatically scale to this width via viewport somehow. Is this possible at all to have it coded for predefined width in css and have zoomed in/out as needed by device itself?
I apologize if the question is too generic, will explain details if needed.
EDIT:
So the most common approach if I understand correctly is to provide few layout versions for most commons screen sizes? Using media queries in css provide different values for widths, fonts sizes etc is that right?
If I decide however to go with percentages rather than media queries, given the design provided I think still would have a problem with resizing fonts as layout has images with text in it and text needs to be proportional to the image. Also percentages would take care of widths, height might be an issue though as the images would have to be resized vertically too. Some parts of the design would need to "fit" each other it seems and it would become problem I think.
Now if I simply build a website of certain width, lets say 640px I should be able to position everything on the screen with pixels, no diffeent from normal non-mobile website.
So I tried to set <meta name="viewport" content="width=640"> and inside of a page set width of widest container in css to 640px making page width 640px basically. If I understand correctly it will set up viewport to exact width of the page. So the page would be build as any other non-mobile webpage. User will have to adjust scale by pinching as when the page opens it is usually zoomed in/out for some reason. Is my understanding of what is happening here correct or is there some problem with it. Having it predefined size takes care of different mobile screen sizes as viewport is always same, fits into page width and only scale seems the problem, that is unless I'm missing something here.
I also should have mentioned that I need to do only portrait and make it only option, so no landscape view (that will be another question).
Would love to know your thoughts and I appreciate all the answers so far.
This is called Responsive Web Design when a website adjusts according to screen size...
You can make this kind of responsive website easily through CSS3 Media Queries:
How to write CSS Media Queries for common types of devices
Responsive Web Design: What It is and How to Use It
If you google for Responsive Web Design you will find lots more information on this topic. It's really an amazing method to make your website look great on all devices from small to large screens.
We have a series of tutorials on creating web pages using responsive web design. If you want a quick introduction to it checkout Introduction: Creating a Responsive Web Design, it lists common mobile phone and tablet sizes, so it might lead you to the answer you need. You can find the link to our tutorial series in the article. The solutions provided use Bootstrap in order to provide easy to create pages. And it also provides free samples of responsive web design pages.
I hope this helps to provide the answer that you need, if not, then please let us know if we can provide any further assistance.
Regards,
Arnel C.
InMotion Hosting Community Support Team
Specify the width in percentage say width=100%,which automatically adjusts the width with the screen.
What are the most commonly used pixel sizes (primarily widths) and what are there advantages and disadvantages?
How can I best find a happy medium to give a good experience to people with a wide variety of monitor sizes?
An answer with an explanation rather than just the size would be greatly appreciated.
the most grids use a width of 960px. (When the design has a fixed width).
When you take a look at global statistics 1024 range resolutions are still the most common: http://gs.statcounter.com/#resolution-ww-monthly-201006-201106
Do not use 1000 width. (You have to count in the border width of the browser and the scrollbar, in certain browsers / OS they are larger then in others)
I don't think there is a ultimate resolution that's why you should check the statistics on the concerned webpage (if the page already exists), to decide what resolution is most appropriate. If you can't do this you can check stats for you target market on http://gs.statcounter.com/
Or even better use responsive webdesign: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/
Since max- and min-width attributes in CSS, you can target whatever resolution you want, if you have the time / budget for it of course.
960px width is a good standard, as others have already elaborated on.
However, one should keep in mind that websites are viewed on a lot more than just desktops these days, so the answer could vary based on what the site is being styled for. For example, 960px would be a poor width for a mobile stylesheet.
One resource that could help you is www.resizemybrowser.com. (There is a similar tool built into Firebug.)
At the end of the day, I think 960px is a good standard, but really, "it depends". :)
960 is a standard for fixed-width websites. It is to ensure that 1024x768 resolution will pick it up easily. As for height - it does not really matter.
In general, for a fixed-width website, that is meant to be read on a computer screen, nowadays, I'd say around 1000px (because there's no 800*600 resolution anymore and the least you can find is 1024*768).
You should really aim for an extensible design (generally harder to do though).
Out of experience, for the web i would say a width greater than 850 and less than 1000 px preferably in the 900's and a height of around 750 px, but bear in mind that the height would be variable in case of dynamic content. so the height could be set to 100% or auto.
and best to align the website in the center, via the css property margin: 0 auto;
The most common size is between 900-1000 pixels there are some good sources for screen size useage which most people tend to desgin for the largest group. mostly its assumed anyone with a 800 by 600 screen wont want to be doing much business. ie strapped for cash (big generalisation)
I won't consider only the desktop monitor resolutions. Nowadays you can browse websites on almost any device, and is fairly common for people to browse also with their mobile phones and tablet PC, so you really should consider them both.
This could result in a different site version for different devices, or a site layout that is ableto accomodate based on different sizes. This is something you have to consider when first thinking about the website you are planning to do, since not every website is suited to have a layout of this type.
An adaptable layout has the added benefits that it will be good even if new devices with custom (non standard) resolutions came out, you won't have to worry about checking it in those new devices because it will fit ok (if the layout was done right).
Anyway my standard minimun width is still 960px for desktop monitors, and for an adaptable layout I usually choose a max-width for really huge monitors (think about viewing a site which extends for the entire monitor width on a 2500x1600 monitor... gosh) of about 1200px, and a 100% width if the browser size is less than that, to allow the website to fit good everywhere.
I am creating a website and would like to get the opinion of some of the more experienced web developers.
How does one create a website where the element style attributes (padding, margin, height, width, etc) are appropriate for the users screen resolution?
With CSS i get to choose one value and that is the final value which will be displayed for all users, regardless of their browsing resolution.
For example, say i would like an image to be displayed 10% to the left of its container i would do the following: padding-left: 15%; Now, that may work fine for some resolutions but for others i may need that value to be higher.
What do more experienced web developers do in regards to screen resolution differences?
It sounds like your goal is to have your layout look literally the same at any resolution, which isn't really practical. Remember that images scale poorly! What most designers do is use percentages where possible to allow the layout to "flow" to fit most resolutions while remaining attractive.
If you analyze (for example) Stack Overflow. you'll see that it is a fixed-width set that is itself centered in the browser. Apple does the same thing, with some art elements that are displayed gracefully at any window width. It's an artistic problem, and I'm not sure the answer can be given with any more clarity than that.
It depends entirely on your design goals.
Most designers use fixed-width areas and let it center on the screen.
In some cases you can use CSS media-queries to apply specific rules to different types and sizes of screens (browser support is limited).
You can use min/max-width to handle many cases of content growing too large or small - but there is no equivalent for margins.
SVG graphics can be used to provide scalable images that look good at any resolution.
Some companies provide an entirely separate site for mobile users.
There are other tips and tricks but in general most designers avoid these issues by using fixed-width layouts - even though that's not always ideal.
I usually define those styles in em units, which are relative to the font size. So, increasing the text size increases padding & margins proportionately.
I am developing a website.
I heard that it is best to have a website with a fixed width.
What possibly could be the best fixed width I can allocate to my website ?
As Yahoo says:
* #doc - 750px centered (good for 800x600)
* #doc2 - 950px centered (good for 1024x768)
* #doc3 - 100% fluid (good for everybody)
* #doc4 - 974px fluid (good for 1024x768)
I recommend using yahoo styles and follow their advice.
Another helpful resource is Display Browser Statisics from w3schools.com.
While I agree to a point with those who say variable width has its benefits, I find that unless there is significant content, when a site stretches the content winds up looking pretty sparse as it's stretched out to wider widths. It's for this reason alone that many of my client request fixed-width skins. Keeping a site narrow can help frame the content and maintain a more 'constant' appearance (when that's a concern). Usually, when designing fixed width sites I use the stats over at the W3C for the most popular resolutions. Currently, I've been designing with ~980px wide, this allows for 1028 wide, with scroll bars and some background to still be seen. However, I am noticing a shift in statistics towards wider resolutions as more people adopt wide screen monitors.
However, it really does come down to what you feel is a good fit for the site, content and client.
960 Grid System argues that 960 pixels is a wise choice since the number has so many divisors. I am not sure that I agree, but they sure have an impressive list of demo web pages on their site.
You can find a link to a fluid alternative at the bottom of the page.
In my experience the fixed vs. fluid debate seems to be a designer vs. programmer discussion. Designers generally prefer a fixed layout because that will give them more control, while programmers generally prefer a fluid layout because that will let them choose the width they want, by setting the width of the browser window.
Ideally your website should scale with the width of the screen resolution. But that is difficult in most of the cases. Since most of the users still use 1024x768 resolution, so any width such that all the content appears on such a screen without needing to scroll is a good width.
Where did you hear that? A website with a fixed width comes with the problem that it (most times) only looks good where the screen suits the width. Think of a website with a fixed width of 768px, how would that page look on a resolution of 1920x1200?
You should develop websites that scale with the browsers resolution.
Here is a little hack that might come in handy. On the larger screens I find that not having a 100% width is good as the amount of horizontal eye scrolling is more than what is comfortable. About an A4 or foolscap page is what people like their content width to be.
However on very small screens if you set your width to 70% or 80% you will be wasting valuable screen resolution. So workout what is the smallest width in pixels that you will allow - for argument's sake let's say it is 800px.
Create a 1x1 pixel image the same color as your background. Then put this image into your content pane (div, table whatever you are using for layout) but set width="800px" height="1px", this will force your content to always be at least 800px wide but not cover the fullscreen on resolutions that have width greater than 800px.
As I said it's hack, and it may or may not be exactly what you were looking for.
Because websites can appear in any number of browsers, on any number of devices, at any number of resolutions, (phone, netbook or cinema screen?) a fixed width is a kludge. Kludges can work, but it would be better to design for a purpose, instead of deciding on some arbitrary rules and then sticking to them without really knowing why.
Don't just go with 1024px because most people can handle that in most cases. Know what you're trying to achieve, and use that to inform your decision.
So, who're you targetting, and what do you want them to do?
This kind of question really has to do with theming/templating and if you are using a CMS like drupal (and many others) can be flexibly handled to provide you anything you want. Fixed or fluid - whatever. You even can let your users decide.