Now that I have your attention...
Is it time to design a wider page yet? Yeah, I know this question gets asked periodically but trends change constantly with monitor resolutions.
I'm really struck by a nice wide page when I see them. And I would love to design a wide site but I'm afraid to pull the trigger. I really want to be slightly ahead of the curve but i don't want to turn off many surfers. But some of the highest traffic mainstream sites are already designed for 1024px.
Some questions that spring to mind...
Does it matter if the target audience are broadband users?
Do most surfers maximize their windows and how many have righthand docked toolbars or aps?
To upsize to 1024, do you just make design elements larger or do you cram more information along the width of the page? Remember, everything gets smaller as resolutions increase. Set your screen resolution to 800px wide for a moment and see how ridiculously large everthing is.
Are surfers with smaller monitors going to be totally turned off or are they getting used to horizontal scrolling as more mainstream sites are going wider?
I know some of you will suggest to use percentages when setting table width but I hate how that compromises the intended look of a site and is not an option for me.
So, what do you think? Is it time to go to 1000px wide yet... or even 1250 yet?
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