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Computer Screen Resolution


LisaW

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Hi Lisa, I don't think there is a normal resolution, today we see a lot of different screens, that said I think you can consider 640x480 and 800x600 too "old".

But my advice would be to make pages that can stretch so they will fit any kind of screen, or a fixed width that doesn't stretch so you know you won't have problems. You could choose a fixed width of 1024 (or if you want to stay on the safe side even an 800, but to me it's not so common now).

HTH

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Yes but my thought in designing a site is that it should be readable from anyone. I don't think it's good to plan a site with a screen width as target, even it 'd be normal that someone could see pages not very well. Too many computers, too many browsers, too many screens... so my idea is going with something simple and really readable.

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Actually, if you don't lock your font sizes, a person can adjust the font size by using Ctrl + + and Ctrl + -. Adding that tip to your website might help with font readability.

Maybe I'm slow tonight, but how do you "lock" your font sizes?

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I can't quite remember actually, it's been a while since I've coded in HTML.

UPDATE: Ah, ran a quick search. This is a little specific, only really applies if you're playing around with raw HTML code, though I think some building tools for websites incorporate it as well.

Excerpt from: http://www.helpauthoring.net/help/index.html?hm_projectprops_htmlex_htmlex.htm

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Font size encoding:

This setting allows you to choose how font sizes are defined in your output. You can choose pt (points), px (pixels), % (percent) or ems (where 1 em = 100%). Which setting you choose controls how fonts are displayed on the user's screen and whether or not the user can change the font size.

arrow_r.pngChoose Pixels to lock your font size and layout, Percent to allow the user to change the font size.

Points:

When you export the font size in points the user cannot adjust the font size. However, the size of the fonts displayed on the user's computer screen will vary depending on the Windows screen DPI setting and/or font size settings. For example, if you develop your help on a machine with Windows set to 96dpi (the standard) your text layout may be incorrect on computers set to 120dpi (fonts look much too big, text in hanging indents may be wider than the indent etc). This is because the size of the fonts changes but the size of the other layout elements (indents, locked table cells etc.) doesn't.

Pixels:

This is the only setting that ensures that the fonts and your layout will always be displayed exactly as you see them on your development machine. The font size is always uses the same number of pixels, so it is always the same size relative to other elements of your layout like indents, graphics and so on.

Percent or Ems:

If you select percent or Ems the user will be able to adjust the font size in the help, for example by holding down Ctrl and turning the mouse scroll wheel. This may or may not be a good thing, because the size of other layout elements (graphics, indents, locked table cells etc.) will not change, so the user adjustments may "break" your layout.

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Basically, if you specify font size in the HTML block, you'll be locking it to a specific number of pixels/points/percent. The CTRL + mouse scroll in this excerpt functions the same way CTRL + +/- works, but I don't like using the mouse scroll because it's easy to overshoot.

The way CTRL + +/- works varies according to browser. Excerpt from: http://forum.echoechoplus.com/showthread.php?threadid=9085

The only browser that really complies to the standards is Opera: it scales everything in the page when you enlarge text: images, etc. It's like a magnifying glass. Firefox is only scaling the text and it breaks your layout. IE does not enlarge text with certain length units (px, pt) and it's against the standards to not scale if the user wants to. Many webmasters like that IE is not scaling because they have control over their layout. I like it too. If the browser is going to scale text, make it scale not only the text but the whole page, like Opera.

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correct.

everything you specify in % (tables, columns, boxes) will expand or shring accordingly to the resolution or if the user expand or shrink the window. if you use pixels instead you have fixed dimensions.

IE is becoming more standard than it was in the past, but the older version could not work well with CSS and other bits.

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Well, I can tell you as a programmer who works on large commercial sites- believe it or not, there are still a lot of people that use 640x480 screen resolution- even with larger monitors and such. We build our sites to fit the 640 max width. Height isn't as big of an issue, as you have to scroll vertcally for most sites anyway. End users (myself included!) get annoyed if they have to scroll horizontally.

HTH!

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this is what I collect in my visit tracking tool (for my website)

43.61% 1024x768

37.53% 1280x1024

5.61% Unknown

5.24% 1152x864

4.78% 800x600

3.22% 1600x1200

it is not a full mirror of what's out there, but these are the screens my visitors use mostly.

I (as a software developer) strongly believe that old is bad, here we see many offices still using old pcs and screen because it's a cost to change them. They don't understand it's an improvement. But I'm a techno-addicted so this is only my opinion!!

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Ok, I shouldn't be posting late at night and when I'm tired... I totally spaced. :o

I meant to say 800x600! About 2 years ago it was still 640x480, but you're right, that is all but obsolete at this point. We build our sites now to 800 max width.

(Note to self- get more sleep!!! Quit staying up so late on CT!! :D )

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