Comments on: Fixed vs Fluid Website Layouts

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:30:41 +0000

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By: Patrick Burt

Patrick Burt — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:26:05 +0000

min-height as well as max-width, are not valid in all browsers iirc.

By: Robberto

Robberto — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:37:51 +0000

In fluid layouts you can solve the problem with line length by using css to give that div. a “max-width: 700px” (or whatever width suits you).

See the effect at the simple layout I ‘m experimenting with on my website.

By: Patrick Burt

Patrick Burt — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:37:53 +0000

Hi Devman, thanks for the comment.

The fluid/liquid layouts I’ve seen were often the result of web developers rather then web designers. Although there are bare areas to the right and to the left of fixed layout websites, they don’t give a sense that the website is barren or lacking. Which I like.

By: Devman

Devman — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:22:46 +0000

Well, this is an interesting topic. I prefer the fixed size. A website is merely a marketing tool. There are lots of debates but when it comes down to it even if you are selling products directly the site is there for a marketing purpose. Now, if you come at it from a marketing perpective you want to keep the look to be the overal experience that was intended. I have not seen a fluid/liquid layout that actually does this. For example, on this sit the article whould be about 1/3 the size (hieght wize) and the comments would be very tiny looking. Giving the website a baron and laking feeling. I am sure not what the author would want to portray.

It is just like movie, it has an aspect ratio because that is the way it is ment to be viewed. Sure some televisions will strech and pull an image but that is up to the end user. Much like what browsers are doing now with zoom. Anyway that is my 2 cents. The idea of fluid is great but when a site does go really big or small i have never seen one that looks good (or looks like what the designer would intend), there is always a general browser size that works best for any site. Which is why i think that people with large monitors don’t have the browsers in full screen. So why not just fix the size.

By: 10 Variables of Article Readability » Wayne Liew Dot Com

10 Variables of Article Readability » Wayne Liew Dot Com — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:45:17 +0000

[…] more of it at Fixed vs Fluid Website Layouts and do you see why this affects your post […]

By: New Design and Some Weekly Links << Vandelay Website Design

New Design and Some Weekly Links << Vandelay Website Design — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 16:09:03 +0000

[…] Fixed vs. Fluid Layouts from Patrick Burt. This article covers the differences between the two different styles of layout, with the advantages of each. […]

By: Patrick Burt

Patrick Burt — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:47:21 +0000

Xeos, please don’t mention font tags, I might get a hernia.

Anyways, I am working on a slight redesign/tweak. I’ll be honest, when I did this template (really quick) i didn’t know the limitations/options in WordPress. Now I’m pretty aware of what’s going on, so I can afford to do something a little cooky.

By: Xeos Celeres

Xeos Celeres — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:01:30 +0000

Your post + Kevins comment makes this an interesting topic. It is highly essential that the site looks consistent. And when I say consistent, I also mean the issues like: When you goto another page on the same site, and you notice this ‘nudge’ or some of the content move.

Remember the old days when there wasn’t any CSS ? Oh man. Anyway, I do prefer a fixed layout. Most people with widescreen monitors and high resolutions usually work in window mode anyway. Unless they are doing heavy duty stuff that requires alot of real estate - like 3D, or post production.

By: Patrick Burt

Patrick Burt — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:20:48 +0000

Thanks for the lengthy comment Kevin.
Being a Adobe Flash guy myself, I often find it convenient and exponentially easier to design for a fixed layout.

As for site looking the same all the time, for example, if you have a graphical banner, sometimes it’s inconvenient to make sure it’s left side and/or right side of the graphic can expand as the monitor expands.

The sites where content is moved based on browser/window size, do you have a link to that resource? I imagine it has to do with Javascript figuring out browser/window size and changing style attributes, eg. changing display from inline to block.

I’m definitely looking forward to CSS 3 spec and agree with the suggestions you mentioned in your final paragraph.

Again, thanks for the comment Kevin, appreciate it buddy.