Any design that I do for a client (read: not myself) has to be optimized for 800x600 viewers. Has to be -- no exceptions. About 25% of web surfers still use that resolution. If you view <insert name here's> site at that resolution, there is absolutely no extra space on either side of the main column. And in the design I did -- it's really a "fixed pixel" kinda deal, so doing percentages to tie up the whole browser based on viewing size aren't an option either. It would throw off the rest of the design as the site scaled up and down accordingly. In most blogs that we design for Sekimori, we use a hard-fixed pixel design, because they are optimized for most browsers. It's virtually impossible to code for IE (5.5, 6.0 and Mac), Mozilla, Opera, Netscape, Safari...etc...and keep everyone happy. So if you can force a design to stay the same in most if not all of the above, you do so. And I did.

Just as you would complain about a design being too "narrow" for your tastes viewing at 1600 wide, <insert name here> would receive an onslaught of mail complaining about the opposite from the 800 viewers if it were any wider and they had to scroll. For instance, in my own stats -- I have 53.29% of my viewers in 1024x768, 25.62% of my viewers at 800x600, and only 2.48% (less than three percent) in 1600x1200. I'd rather have three people out of 100 complain, than twenty-five. And that said, my current default skin has a slight scroll on 800x600. I created a second, scaled-down version of that Mae West design for the 800 crowd. I made myself happy first, because I'm allowed to do so at my own site -- while creating another option to keep others from yelling at me as well.

But you can't make everyone happy. You just can't.

posted at 10:22 PM | link--it | mail it | (23) shout it