Best page size?

Hi,

The book I have been reading recommends designing your web page to fit comfortably within 780 x 429 pixels in order to allow people using IE on a 800x600 monitor to view your page. I have been doing this, but I feel very constrained by it - can I have a larger page, or will this cause access problems?

Thanks,

Ruby

A width of 780 seems about right ... that's what I use as well mostly. I've been toying with the idea of stopping the support of 800x600 res users. I've just recently purchased mint to get stats for my site and noticed that only 2% still view my site at a 800x600 res. Ok ... that's for my site but still ... I think it kind of gives the impression that 800x600 res users are finally getting the drift

I know that it also depends on your target audience.

BTW ... what book is that?

Thanks - that's useful. The book is Web Design in a Nutshell, by Jennifer Robbins. It's been my main source of info - it seems to have enough info to get me started & seems quite sensible. It's also very keen on 'access' - which I think is important.

By 'access' do you mean accessibility? If so then, I totally agree. Accessibility is a very integral part of designing a site. And doing simple things like using h1, h2 and the like properly helps. Mostly with the forms and I could go on and on.

Have you heard of Roger Johansson's blog 456bereastreet? This guys is VERY keen on accessibility. He's got quite a few articles on the subject.

BTW ... I just found a really good thread on the subject on the sitepoint forums which might help

Cool - thank you, I will check those out. Yes, I did mean "accessibility" - well interpreted.

Ruby

Karinne, do your stats list browser width stats or just resolution? Like I've said a billion times, I have a high resolution, but my keep my browser width well under 1000 pixels wide.

It might just be personal but I'm always impressed when a site can be viewed properly in a large browser window and in a little 600x800 window. When designing a site I will either go for a fixed 750px wide or a fluid that will match the browser window and be perfectly viewable in a 600x800 res.

I'm actually a bit weird - almost every site I go to I check to see what it looks like in 600x800 using the Firefox developer toolbar. And if it's good I'm pretty impressed. A lot of sites neglect this issue.

It's all well and good for alistapart.com being massive as it's target demographic is web professionals who will more than likely have a high resolution (thought not necessarily a browser maximized) but if you're designing a website that it aimed at people who aren't very computer literate then the likelihood of them having low res is higher and also they won't look for a solution most will simply get a bit confused and leave (probably deciding that this computer lark isn't for them - see the potential damage ).

I think it's a massively important topic, hence why I've gone on... and on... and on.

Pete.

Let's not forget some nifty JavaScript solutions! Style sheet switching depending on browser width... that's just a great idea. I haven't had the need to use it yet, but I can't wait to

I know I know ... I knew that comment was going to haunt me

See for yourself - my minty stats

Look at the section called Real Estate and Window Width ... that's basically what you're saying about the actual width of the browser

Mint is sweet, I just wish it was free.

I don't know, it seems like everyone's trying to move away from the whole 800 min-width sites because of today's normal resolution sizes. However, until I get a resolution that lets me keep my browser at 1024 wide with enough room for chats and an FTP program on one side and HTML/CSS/PHP documents on the other, I won't be changing anytime soon. At any rate, I would consider that 8% of worth of a more intuitive solution if you really want a wider website.

*drools some more on Mint.
*wipes it up... sorry Karinne...

I know what you mean about mint not being free but ... I think that the 30 bucks I forked out is the best expense I've ever done! I love this thing. I mean ... it's only 30$ ... one shot not per year so it's definitely worth it

Go one ... you know you waaaant it

It's per site, though. If I could use it on all my sites, I would get it in a heartbeat. I'll just have to stick with Google Analytics.

Yeah ... that's the only kicker.

I was looking at some of the panes more closely, more specifically the Real Estate pane and looks like I could go somewhere between 744px and 968px wide for a site (or just short of 968px to compensate for scrollbar) since 92% of my viewers have at least their browser window open that wide.

Anywho ... it's pretty interesting stuff.

Indeed it is. I really wish a large site would publish their statistics on browser width and resolution width. I'd like to see how many people are like me and don't maximize their browser.

I don't maximize my browser at home since I have a 20.1 inch widescreen

WOW, I really like mint...oh man, it is so nice, and clean!! I think I am going to have to buy it...I want to, but I don't want to if that makes since...lol

Doesn't make sense at all ... just buy the darn thing

hahaha...it is all just I have other things I need to spend the $30 bucks on...lol, but I think it is probaly worth it...lol

If I didn't have analytics, which is almost as informative, even though the UI isn't near as functional, I would by a few copies of mint.