[Debate] Forum Width - Percentage vs Pixels

[myke]

A common choice when setting one's forum width is to use a percentage, or pixels.

Percentage
Percentage width is how much percentage of one's screen the forum over the background will take up. The width will change to compensate depending on what screen resolution one is using. The width here on ProBoards Support is set to 92%, meaning that the actual forum covers 92% of one's screen. To see how the width will change depending on one's screen resolution, click the restore down button in the middle of the top right of your browser. Focus your mouse on either end of your browser now, click and hold and move your mouse left or right, to shrink or enlarge the width of your browser. You should see the width of this forum change to stay within your browser.

The upside to this, is that no matter what screen resolution one is using, the forum width will remain the same in contrast to the screen. This is good for people using large resolutions, as the forum will not appear to be too skinny.

The downside to this is, a lot of people like their forum width to match their banner width, and this cannot be done in all screen resolutions using percentage. Some people have detailed gradients on their forum which they do not want to repeat. They will repeat in different resolutions using the percentage.

Pixels
Pixel widths will set the forum width a specific width. This width will not change depending on one's resolution. If it is set to 700 pixels, the width of the forum will be 700 pixels in all screen resolutions, and will never change.

The upside to this is the forum width can be set to the match the banner width. Some think this helps make a forum look more customized and tidy. This also helps when using detailed gradients that are a specific width, as the gradients will not repeat.

The downside to this is that the forum may appear too skinny for those on a larger resolution, there may be a lot of space on both sides of the forum.

If you do use pixels, it should be noted that anything over 800 pixels in width will go off screen for those using a 800 x 600 screen resolution. A bottom scrollbar will appear which can be annoying. Please see this thread for further detail.

____________

Since I know people will ask, here are the codes for both percentage and pixels, to go in the global footers of a forum.

Percentage:
<script language="JavaScript">
var Table=document.getElementsByTagName("Table")
for(t=0;t<Table.length;t++)
if(Table[t].width=="92%"){Table[t].width="92%"}
</script>

Pixels:
<script language="JavaScript">
var Table=document.getElementsByTagName("Table")
for(t=0;t<Table.length;t++)
if(Table[t].width=="92%"){Table[t].width="700"}
</script>

You can change the purple text to format it to the width you want.

____________

So, which do you prefer to use, which is the best to use?

Debate.

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

myke said:

A common choice when setting one's forum width is to use a percentage, or pixels.

Percentage
Percentage width is how much percentage of one's screen the forum over the background will take up. The width will change to compensate depending on what screen resolution one is using. The width here on ProBoards Support is set to 92%, meaning that the actual forum covers 92% of one's screen. To see how the width will change depending on one's screen resolution, click the restore down button in the middle of the top right of your browser. Focus your mouse on either end of your browser now, click and hold and move your mouse left or right, to shrink or enlarge the width of your browser. You should see the width of this forum change to stay within your browser.

The upside to this, is that no matter what screen resolution one is using, the forum width will remain the same in contrast to the screen. This is good for people using large resolutions, as the forum will not appear to be too skinny.

The downside to this is, a lot of people like their forum width to match their banner width, and this cannot be done in all screen resolutions using percentage. Some people have detailed gradients on their forum which they do not want to repeat. They will repeat in different resolutions using the percentage.

Pixels
Pixel widths will set the forum width a specific width. This width will not change depending on one's resolution. If it is set to 700 pixels, the width of the forum will be 700 pixels in all screen resolutions, and will never change.

The upside to this is the forum width can be set to the match the banner width. Some think this helps make a forum look more customized and tidy. This also helps when using detailed gradients that are a specific width, as the gradients will not repeat.

The downside to this is that the forum may appear too skinny for those on a larger resolution, there may be a lot of space on both sides of the forum.

If you do use pixels, it should be noted that anything over 800 pixels in width will go off screen for those using a 800 x 600 screen resolution. A bottom scrollbar will appear which can be annoying. Please see this thread for further detail.

____________

Since I know people will ask, here are the codes for both percentage and pixels, to go in the global footers of a forum.

Percentage:
<script language="JavaScript">
var Table=document.getElementsByTagName("Table")
for(t=0;t<Table.length;t++)
if(Table[t].width=="92%"){Table[t].width="92%"}
</script>

Pixels:
<script language="JavaScript">
var Table=document.getElementsByTagName("Table")
for(t=0;t<Table.length;t++)
if(Table[t].width=="92%"){Table[t].width="700"}
</script>

You can change the purple text to format it to the width you want.

____________

So, which do you prefer to use, which is the best to use?

Debate.

Nice topic Myke (something I can always refer to when I do my rates )

lol well I could tell you this much (so far). Every time I've rated a forum in GOAYB, and whenever I've recommended the forum width code, I've always recommended the thread creator to change to 728pixles = MUCH EASIER. If I told them to change to a percentage (i.e. 72.8%) then they'd get muddled up and wonder why their forum output is massively huge over-stretched

Here are my ups and downs for using that particular method of resizing...

POSITIVES

NEGATIVES

It'll be alot easier to structure (no matter what screen resolution you have). This will allow you to match your banner width when you feel that your banner is not as big as you want it to be It'll neaten up the forum appearance so that the horizontal scrollbar doesn't appear down the bottom which is absolutely annoying.

If entered in wrong, it'll screw up the forum structure and slow it down massively (hence some of the support threads have been based off of copying a code wrongly lol). Even if the forum width is set, that means that the admin is limited to having images, gradients and banners etc to the EXACT width of what they set to the forum width resize code. If the width of the banner/gradient or whatever is NOT the exact width, then it'll appear out of place and become obvious that the image has been copied from someone else's forum. Make sure your screen resolution is even with your members or you could end up facing fvery unhappy members who believe your forum had been hacked

Overall, Pixles get my vote I usually have more to say about this, but this is about all I can think of now lol ;D

~*Improvisator*~

[rosebud]

I went to a few message boards that have had a higher resolution then mine, and it was very annoying because you have to use the scollbar on the bottum since it makes that forum look bigger than your actual screen. I tried asking the admin about it, she tried changing her resolution to the smaller version, but didn't like it. Although, I don't think it improved the forum. She didn't bother to ask help for it from ProBoards here, either. =/ I told them apart of me wanted to leave because of it. They thought that was silly and they were offended by it, but they didn't get it. Forum width makes a difference on your computer.

[Beatle Aimee]

I think percentage of user's screen is better, some people's screens are tiny (mine only goes up to 800x600 or something ) and some are huge but I have yet to see one. Let's just say my computer monitor is a little bigger than an LP cover. Old.

And about banners, on my forum I made a more squarish one then one that streches out. My computer goes weird and on one forum that has a regular banner and it screws up the whole page. hehehe. Gradients don't really matter to me if they repeat because it's just a rainbowy thing.

I better shut up now, I'm getting boring.

[kelendria]

I don't really worry about pixels, percentages & resizing my forum.
I am concious though when I go to another pc, & the screen resolution is smaller to make it so that it fits overall.
But you can't please everyone.
So I check not only other pcs to see if I'm off the mark, but also loading time too (but that's another topic)

[Bones]

kelendria said:

I don't really worry about pixels, percentages & resizing my forum.
I am concious though when I go to another pc, & the screen resolution is smaller to make it so that it fits overall.
But you can't please everyone.
So I check not only other pcs to see if I'm off the mark, but also loading time too (but that's another topic)

If not the size of your forum then i hope at least you consider it with any images you make for your forum, especially banners. A standard banner for me is 700 x 120 (or 100, though that's a but too skinny for my tastes), but with any images it's percanly easier for me usinf the pixel range:

For one i prefer pixels, simply as it's easier for me to work out with centering the board and to go by when making stuff like Gradients and banners, especially the latter. Back in 2002 when i had my first board i never gave a second thought to other browsers or screen resolutions and i think it's something every forum admin who has a Proboard should think about.

[kelendria]

Of course I consider images
I also prefer to use an image resizer because I hate when the pages are stretched.
I just don't spend all day worrying about the size of my forum

[myke]

kelendria said:

Of course I consider images
I also prefer to use an image resizer because I hate when the pages are stretched.
I just don't spend all day worrying about the size of my forum

As long as it's set to a size that is not too wide for smaller resolutions, then there should be no need to every worry about the width again.

[rivenriver]

I preffer the percentage thing, because it works on all the different screen sizes. It really annoys me when I use one computer and have MASSIVE ammounts of space on the sides (even worse when a large background image gets tiled poorly!), and then I go to a different computer and I have to scroll way over to read the things.

With the banner issue, I tend to avoid the 700x100 size banners, as I think they look too much like the ads that you get. I'd rather go for something in a different shape, one that you can tell is obviously a part of the forum, and that is small enough to work on all screen resolutions.

[//. Concha <3]

same here

[Enchant]

ddazzlingdreams said:

same here

Please do not come in here and spam the boards. If you cannot contribute to the discussion with a thought provoking post then please do not post. Please read the rules and guidelines of the boards. We are more for quality then quantity.

[Kmylove]

I think pixels are easier to understand than percentages, since it's easier to relate to more common stuff like the skin resolution or the size of the banner.
Although I use a resize code, I get contradictory feedback on it. Some people tell me it's still too large (right now it's 810), other say it looks too small. And I have to admit I've viewed the forum on a smaller resolution and I get the bottom scrollbar but happily it's not too much scrolling to do. As much as I try I just can't please everyone.

[rivenriver]

kmylove said:

I think pixels are easier to understand than percentages, since it's easier to relate to more common stuff like the skin resolution or the size of the banner.
Although I use a resize code, I get contradictory feedback on it. Some people tell me it's still too large (right now it's 810), other say it looks too small. And I have to admit I've viewed the forum on a smaller resolution and I get the bottom scrollbar but happily it's not too much scrolling to do. As much as I try I just can't please everyone.

That's why I use percentage. It's 700 pixils for smaller screens, and 1400 pixils for my giant screen. It makes everything so much simpler. Also, no complaints!

[Alnarra]

I personally think that proboards customization is actually inherently held back by pixel design. Now and days the overly standard thing to do is slap on a 700x100 banner and call that the width, It has been a good while since I have seen a board that was a.) not advised to drop to a pixel amount rather than the base percentage. b.) the few boards that did due it based off of a size greater than 750 + were criticized for doing so.

I try to keep a pretty close eye on goyab, and 700-800 is quite draft at this point, I would love to see some CSS level innovations by PB skinners, in an attempt to do something that does not revolve around a pixel level number. Right now 90% of the PB width hacks, and standards (the standards that are somewhat invisible, like have gradients, customize images, etc. the things we think about when rating a forum) revolve around that 700 pixel idea, and I have only seen one forum so far that really actually took a different approach to the "standard setup" (gotten away from banner then menu, than boards.

I would personally love to see more pixel based percentages, but with the CSS level coding not across the board yet (as there is a css code for width out there) it will be along time before we see really decent pixel based boards, (just because PB is so JS reliant, that CSS which would do the job 10x better with particular problems such as image width etc. , is often ignored)

[myke]

fullphaser said:

I personally think that proboards customization is actually inherently held back by pixel design. Now and days the overly standard thing to do is slap on a 700x100 banner and call that the width, It has been a good while since I have seen a board that was a.) not advised to drop to a pixel amount rather than the base percentage. b.) the few boards that did due it based off of a size greater than 750 + were criticized for doing so.

I try to keep a pretty close eye on goyab, and 700-800 is quite draft at this point, I would love to see some CSS level innovations by PB skinners, in an attempt to do something that does not revolve around a pixel level number. Right now 90% of the PB width hacks, and standards (the standards that are somewhat invisible, like have gradients, customize images, etc. the things we think about when rating a forum) revolve around that 700 pixel idea, and I have only seen one forum so far that really actually took a different approach to the "standard setup" (gotten away from banner then menu, than boards.

I would personally love to see more pixel based percentages, but with the CSS level coding not across the board yet (as there is a css code for width out there) it will be along time before we see really decent pixel based boards, (just because PB is so JS reliant, that CSS which would do the job 10x better with particular problems such as image width etc. , is often ignored)

Fullphaser, currently one can adjust the width of a ProBoard using CSS.

Headers:

<style type="text/CSS">
body table tr td table.bordercolor, body table.bordercolor {
width: 92%;
}
blockquote table.bordercolor, td.windowbg table tr td table.bordercolor, 

td.windowbg2 table tr td table.bordercolor {
width: 92%;
}
</style>
<div align="center" style="align: center;"><div style="width: 92%;" width="92%">

After using that, one could use a javascript to hide the welcome table and menu bar, then design their own banner, and buttons in their own table(s). This would give them the option to customize them so the banner appears to adjust to the width of one's browser/resolution like is being done on a lot of websites today.

As for titlebars, catbars, menubars, & head and base images, I haven't really figured out how to have them anything other then a solid gradient at this point and look good while repeating and adjusting to widths, but then again I've never claimed to be a designer.

Anyway, if I'm understanding your post correctly, I think what you're suggesting can be done already, it just would take some innovative thinking and creativity.