Recommended web page size

[Scotty]

Hi,
I have a 24" monitor and I design my page 1024X768 and when previewed I use "sizer (a utility) and adjust the size of the preview window so it is the size a want without scrolling, then adjust Wd page size accordingly, save as template. This is my solution that caters to the majority of browsers which is 1024X768. I believe you loose 10% with scroll bars.
JimM

[Technoir Design]

Hi Sledger,
thanks for your reply on this. I can design my site so that it is based upon paging rather than scrolling - that isn't the problem.

As you quite rightly say, users like to configure their browsers with extra toolbars & use bespoke window sizes etc. I fully accept that I can't cover every possibility.

My goal was not to eliminate vertical scrolling per se but to eliminate unnecessary vertical scrolling under a set of conditions that I will describe as 'the general norm'. My working assumption was that 'the general norm' was full screen browsing at 1024x768 res using the latest version of IE or Firefox.

Under these conditions the available page height (and by that I mean actual real estate inside the browser - rather than the full screen resolution) varies between IE & Firefox. There is less available in Firefox.

I started with a default WD6 page size but then decided to design for a theoretical minimum standard that would prevent a User seeing a scroll bar for what might amount to a very small amount of the viewable web-page (e.g. half the page footer). IMO it just looked badly thought out and unnecessary.

I suppose my question should have been "Does anyone know the maximum page height (in pixels) that can be accommodated within Firefox 3.6 (standard installation) without a vertical scroll bar being visible, when the user is viewing full screen at 1024x768 resolution?".

Phew! What a mouthful. No wonder I didn't quite manage to ask the right question correctly last time..

I guess I can work it out by trial and error but just wondered if anyone else had already addressed this matter.

Just spotted Scottys response on this too. Thanks for the tip re: use of 'Sizer' I will try that!

Thanks again & Best Regards


TD

[steve.ledger]

As you quite rightly say, users like to configure their browsers with extra toolbars & use bespoke window sizes etc.

Oh yes..... I have seen some computers with so many 'addon' IE toolbars that half the window hieght is taken up already

[Technoir Design]

Sledger, it is very interesting to read about your observations and experience but do you have the answer to my question?

Best Rgds

TD

[steve.ledger]

Post#10 I think covers it TD,

In particular;

Xara have provided a good selection of web site templates in the Designs Gallery which are 'designed' to be viewable on an average computer in an average web browser.

One thing I find useful is to install all the major browsers and test my pages in them to ensure they look fine in them all.
They're free so why not

[Technoir Design]

Hi Sledger,
actually (your) post #10 does not answer my question or I wouldn't have asked you if you had an answer in my last post.

If you read my reworded question carefully you would see that all I needed was a recommended pixel height for available screen real estate within Firefox 3.6, using standard installation & view setting, full screen display of the browser window and 1024x786 screen resolution.

Naturally, I intend to test against a representative range of browsers and, yes, I knew they were free.

Rgds

TD

[jimhanus]

TD,
I think you need to chill a little bit. There is no set answer. Don't you get it? I just experimented on page size (took all of about 5 minutes, make a page, export, and view it in a browser at 1024x768) and the biggest page height I can get without seeing a scrollbar is about 580 pixels at 1024x768 with standard toolbars. Here's something else to think about: I have my Windows taskbar on the left side of my screen. Most people have theirs along the bottom which will take up another 20 or 30 pixels as it is adjustable. If you're trying to cover every possibility for every option, good luck. Ain't going to happen unless your website is extremely small in height. These are my results, your results may differ.

Jim

[Jimi King]

From the viewing stats that I get from sites I administer I would say that a page width of 900 is best to minimise the risk of a horizontal scrollbar. Yes most people are running 1024 or above but a heck of a lot of people have their history permanently displayed in a lefthand column.

As for the maximum safe height, based on experience I would say that 500 would cover most typical browser layouts.

[Technoir Design]

Hi jimhanus & Jimi King,
thanks for your responses on this. Greatly appreciated.

jimhanus,
I think the point I was trying to make is that there IS a definitive answer given the conditions I described. You proved that with your investigations. Thanks for publishing your results.

You make a good additional point about the Windows taskbar. I have mine at the bottom of the screen and it is not visible when the browser window is displayed full screen. I'm certainly not trying to cover all eventualities - not even close. Just the 'general norm' I described earlier. I just hadn't gone to the trouble of working it out for myself - I wish I had now...

I am chilled and thought my question was pretty straightforward. However, it seems to have caused a lot of confusion. Hence, being told that the XWD6 standard page sizes 'cover it' was AN answer, just not the answer to my question. Something more along the lines of (your) 580 pixels was what I was looking for.


Jimi King,
thanks for your suggestion. I'll do a bit of investigation of my own based upon the value you suggest and see what I find. Maybe I'll follow-up with my results thereafter, maybe not. It would appear that nobody else has really seen this as much of an issue.


Finally, a quick note to Sledger. No disrespect intended. Just wanted a simple answer. Nuff said! Keep up the good work on TG.

Rgds


TD