How wide are you supposed to make a Fixed-Width Format?
Why do you use that size?
TomTees
I also normally use 950px for the content wrapper div and then centre it unles I need to do otherwise.
Nowadays,with 950px you’re unlikely imho to force anyone to scroll across their monitor to view all your content.
How do you plan to stop people browsing your website on a hand held device.
If you don’t care how your site renders in ever increasing numbers of hand held devices then it’s not an issue.
It seems to me that cellphones are so much more different (and so much smaller) than a computer monitor, that you would have to re-engineer everything to go mobile?!
I don’t believe that is true at all. Read the article posted by ralph.m that discusses some options for handling different devices.
Either. Just remember that it would be in cm for us, inches for you. 
I thought it would be something like 600px or 800px? (Aren’t those magic numbers?)
They were once upon a time, but not now. Monitors have grown since that was a rule of thumb.
Well, feel free to jump into my other thread on here…
Which one is that?
Would that be Australian string or American string?
Well, it’s up to you. The wider you make it, the more chance that some people will have to scroll sideways, but these days a width of around 950px is pretty safe for a majority of viewers.
I thought it would be something like 600px or 800px? (Aren’t those magic numbers?)
A better bet is to make the layout fluid or at least elastic (in ems). That, maybe combined with a max-width, is a nice solution.
Well, feel free to jump into my other thread on here, because I have lots of questions on this and related things!!
TomTees
Same length as a piece of string. 
Well, it’s up to you. The wider you make it, the more chance that some people will have to scroll sideways, but these days a width of around 950px is pretty safe for a majority of viewers. A better bet is to make the layout fluid or at least elastic (in ems). That, maybe combined with a max-width, is a nice solution.
Technically, as soon as you have a website, you’ve “gone mobile”, as people can visit the site from a mobile device.
I guess I was asking more from a content standpoint.
It seems to me that cellphones are so much more different (and so much smaller) than a computer monitor, that you would have to re-engineer everything to go mobile?!
(Funny thing is, that I’ve never owned a cellphone - can’t stand the damn things - and so I have NO CLUE what it looks like to surf the Internet and websites on a cellphon/PDA/iPhone, etc!!) 
I’m not planning on going “mobile” with my website anytime soon, but since I’m laying out the foundation of my wesbite, now seems like a good time to ask these questions!
TomTees
OK guys, this is a good discussion, so let’s call it a draw and stick to the main topic. 
- 960… doesn’t matter, it’s just a random number that generally seems about right. I’m sure I read recently that the most common width is 1040px, but then you have to account for scroll bars etc., so you need to reduce it to 1000px or less. Can’t find that link now, though…
I wasn’t being sarcastic at all.
I gave you my reason in the clearest way I can. I can’t do anymore than that.
If for some reason you don’t understand my reason for choosing 950px then so be it 
In an earlier post I gave my reason as
Nowadays,with 950px you’re unlikely imho to force anyone to scroll across their monitor to view all your content.
and in my last post I said
I already said why I use 950px.
I could have used 937, 882, 646, 571, 1293, 1534, 1278, 1584, 1328, 1156, 1346, 1485 or any other number I like.
You can pick one of the above numbers or any other number you like.
I don’t know how to make my reason any clearer than that.
Smart * ss. (I KNEW you’d say that!!!)
I could have used 937, 882, 646, 571, 1293, 1534, 1278, 1584, 1328, 1156, 1346, 1485 or any other number you like.
You can pick one of the above numbers or any other number you like.
But seriously, why did both you and Ralph say 950px? There must be some reason, although it doesn’t seem to fit into monitor sizes/resolutions?! :-/
TomTees
So where do you guys get 950px?? (Seems like an odd number?!)
Which one is that?
Need help choosing a Page Layout
I have LOTS of questions!!
TomTees
No, it’s actually an even number
I already said why I use 950px.
I could have used 937, 882, 646, 571, 1293, 1534, 1278, 1584, 1328, 1156, 1346, 1485 or any other number I like.
You can pick one of the above numbers or any other number you like.
No, not at all, it’s very topical. Good question. Both options are used in different cases, but there’s a lot of argument for using different CSS styles on the one site. A growing trend is to use media queries, which are extremely sexy and a lot of fun. Check out this great article from a few months back.
That sounds like a more logical response…
Thanks Ralph!
TomTees
No need to be sarcastic…
Well, there must be some reason in the physical world you would choose such an odd number?! (Maybe because all monitors made after 2005 are 951 pixels wide?!)
I just don’t see it, since my MacBook can be set to 640 X 480, or 800 X 500, or 1024 X 768, or 1152 X 768, or 1280 X 800…
Or did you just throw a dart at a dart-board and go with what you hit?!
TomTees
Sort of off-topic, but what do designers do for all these new-fangled portable devices like PDA’s, cell-phones, etc?
Do they have to create TWO websites to handle the large difference in medium? (No cellphone is 950px wide!!!)
TomTees