Question
this would explain some of our stupid questions, like sizing, when its more than clear on the page if they would have scrolled down 1 inch.
after reading one of jayne's threads, i relized what was going on.
but, i've been kinda scared to make our pages wider , we do most of them around 680/700 pixels
what is the acceptable range?
Answer
Your best guide to size is to study your website stats and see what the majority of your visitors are using for screen size. There are still masses of users using 600 X 800 screen size, although 1024 x 768 is also very large is usage.
Answer
Well, you're gonna hate me for this....but you should never make your pages a fixed size. They should expand and contract with the size of the monitor displaying them.
Of course, if a person has a 600x800 monitor, they will HAVE to scroll or they will miss stuff. It's a trade-off.
The best thing you can do if you're looking at a website, is track your web stats. See what the majority of the viewers use. I'm betting with your customers it will be 1024 or bigger, simply because you cater to a younger crowd. They'd have newer computers, and are more tech-savvy.
You also need to keep an eye on what browser they're using. With that group, I bet you have a higher percentage of FireFox or Opera.
Once you have a handle on what the majority of your visitors are using, program for that--but don't forget to tweak for the other monitors/web browers, too. Make it readable for everyone, but make your design choices based on YOUR stats.
If you want some advice about the pages you want to change--or auction templates--post a link. If you have stats about your customer base, post that, too. There are plenty of people here who can help.
Answer
They should expand and contract with the size of the monitor displaying them.
Ya know, that sounds nice but I can hear everyone thinking...what the heck does that mean?
An example
You have a page with 8 thumbnail pictures.
Set it up so that on the 1024 screen (or whatever your majority) it shows eight across. Descriptions, etc, underneath.
BUT...also tweak it so that the 800 screen users will see 2 neatly laid out rows of four across.
The way to do that is by using percentages in your table width tags AND by experimenting. Also helps if you can do a little math in your head--like, on a 1024 screen, I've got 850 pixels for pictrures. On a 800 screen, I've got 375px. (I pulled those numbers right out of the air.) Therefore, the thumbnails need to be approx 80px wide. That will give me....
on the 1024 screen (850px pic area), 8x80=640px of pictures in one row.
on the 800 screen (375 viewing area), 4x80=320px in each row and two row of pictures.
Whereas, if you didn't consider the 800 screen, you'd take 850/8=~100px per picture. And then, the person with the 800 screen would see 3 rows of pics. the bottom row would be short and mabe not aligned with the others....and they'd have to scroll more.
If you want to see how your pages look on other screens, there's a Browser Sizer tool on the Webmaster Resource page.
btw, your website is great. Geared for your audience:
a little ragged and unplanned looking--kids like that look
black, lots of black
you don't oversell your products--You give the impression they already know what your're selling, and that makes them cool.
You've got that whole look down cold.
Have you tapped the blogger/selling market? I don't know much about it, but I understand it's the next greatest thing.
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Adjustable website is nice, if your host allows/enables it.
For those that don't, I understand that designing your site 'centered' will effectively do the same. Some will have no or little 'margins' on either side, others will have larger.
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What does your host have to allow or enable?
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Jayne-
My (VERY limited) understanding is re: Homestead (my web host); because Homestead uses CSS and absolute (*something-or-other, positioning?) it does not allow those of us who use their WYSIWYG editor to make our pages 'expand and contract' to fit the size of the viewing monitor.
A temporary work-around, as I've read, is to make all one's pages 'centered', which would cause some viewers to see the pages with no margins either left or right, and other viewers to see a thin to wide 'empty/blank' margin right or left.
For the way I've designed my site/s, 'centering', or lack thereof isn't an issue. No one's complained about it, and I keep making sales from each.
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Kathleen,
are you using homesteads designer or something?
If homestead is your host then you should be able to just upload your html files to your FTP and run them without any influence from your host.
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JMHO....
a FIXED design should normally remain between 728-760 wide.
a FLUID design should have a minimum width of no less than that, then the FLUIDness comes into play with any settings that are wider.
The problem with a lot of FLUID designs is that if the minimum width is not set, your content could sometimes become overly crunched.
Basically, "design" for the FIXED, and let your content within that design become FLUID.
-Jim
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That works, except for the WebTV viewers...but they expect to scroll : )