web page size

[joinerjim]

We have created a website using one of the templates in xara xtreme 5. When we preview the website it does not fit to page, its central to the overall screen with blank space all around.

Is there anyway to make it so the pages fit to all screen sizes as it is leaving us little room to work with and looks unprofessional.

Thanks in advance

[gwpriester]

No. (The short answer).

The web page is centered in all browsers whether they are 800 x 640 or 1900 x 1200 or larger. Usually err on the side of the smallest browser or those users will have to scroll the page.

On the other hand, if you know that all your visitors will be using larger screens, then make your web page to that size.

But it will be centered either way.

[joinerjim]

Hi

We have created a website using a template in xara xtreme 5. when we preview the website it is small and central with a large blank space around it. How do we make it so the page fits the screen?

Thanks in advance

[sledger]

Hi Jim,

Xara made sites are fixed width, they are not dynamic.

[aridzone]

To make templates larger

Pick a template and double click to open.
Go to file/page options/page size and change to custom width like 1024 X 800
Make sure everything in the layer gallery is checked.
Draw a rectangle around the webpage with the selector tool.
With the lock aspect ratio on increase webpage width to 1024.
Move page to position xy=0
Change the font size to whole number pix.
Pull up bottom page length.
Preview and everything should work!

[Soquili]

Hi joinerjim,

Xtreme 5, Xtreme Pro 5, and Web Designer do not create dynamic resizing pages. Being a true WYSIWYG web page creation tool the content will be the exact size you created. If your browser window is larger than the page content will be centered and the browser will fill the extra space with the background colour.

People viewing your page could have many different display sizes and may or may not view the page in full screen. You cannot control how the viewer will view the page. It is best to decide on a page size that is a compromise to fit a majority of viewer's. If you are creating for a web site you can use tools available from your web host to find what size screen visitors are running, then decide what would satisfy the most viewers.


If you are creating for an intranet at a business, viewable only by employees then create for the size screens the business IT department has configured for their machines.

[Soquili]

Joinerjim I have merged the two threads where you asked essentially the same question.

[socialdavid]

I understand the value of Xara or Web Designer for web page elements, but I don't understand the continuing lack for frames and dynamic web page sizing. With netbooks and the wide variety of monitor sizes, it seems the simple tested methods of web page design should be built in, even if it doesn't build on what Xara sees as their selling point. Making it a combined single source software for graphics, editing and webpage design would be great. I for one also object to being constrained into a centered format with variable backgrounds - and that it also looks unprofessional sometimes. I'm just a very rare user, so perhaps there are workarounds. If so,I'd like to know, while I consider upgrading to 5.

[sledger]

I can't really agree that web sites can look unprofessional because they are fixed width.
There are many fluid width sites that are a complete dogs breakfast as well.
It's all down to how skilled the designer is rather than the choice between fluid or fixed.

By far the vast majority of high-end, serious players with commercial / professional websites choose 'fixed-width'.

To name just a few:

► Xara ► Magix
► Microsoft
► Internet Movie Database (IMDB) ► Netflix
► McAfee ► Symantec ► Trend
► Lenovo (fixed and left aligned) ► Dell
► Ebay ► Walmart ► Apple ► YouTube
► Toshiba ► HP ► Gateway
► CarSales.com ► Redbook.com
► Almost every Australian Bank site ► Australian Government
► BBC news ► ABC news
► New York Times ► Washington Post ► The Weather Channle
► Winter Olympics (AU site) ► Vancouver 2010
....et al - the list goes on.

Fluid really does seem to be last century Web.

I never have a browser full screen, fluid is meaningless to myself. But that's a personal choice.

[slavelle]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there's an option in the Tweakset to allow for the site to left-justify in the browser window.

Also, I prefer the static nature of fixed-width sites because they always look like the designer intended them to . The "old way" of allowing for fluid resizing has always seemed problematic and often made sites look like they simply lacked content to fill the space, which with a browser streched to 1920px wide with a site that only had 1000 pixels of content in it turns into absolute garbage - what used to be a three line paragraph into is now a single line high. Not cool to me.

Some of the trick is knowing what resolution visitors are common to sites like yours and designing accordingly. I typically use the 955px wide template because it will show in full in 1024x768 without horizontal scrollbars, but you can pretty much make the page as wide as you need it to be.

Remember also that some of this stuff is illusion, like the background of the site being the same as the background of the page (without and outlines on the page's bounding areas) leaves you with a site that SEEMS to be super wide, but the content is still centered and a smaller area.

If you want to have a background graphic that extends outside the "bounds of the page", then just make the page itself wider, and create your containers for the "actual site content" within that space. This will give the illusion of a really wide site as well (though you will have to consider the implications that this will present when the site is centered - if you create a 1700px design that then has to center on a browser that 's "only" 1280 wide, you will get results that you probably don't want).

I think we will see some of these standard widths go away with the greater proliferation of widescreen displays.

Does that help at all?