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Do you want 800x600 support
With the advent of cheap 1024x768 or higher resolution LCD screens and the increasing use of laptops that run at this resolution or higher, many websites are moving towards designing for 1024x768 as the minimum, rather than 800x600 as has been the standard for a few years now.
I've been investigating this - and have found that many of the larger sites (especially the media companies) have standardised on 1024x768, with varying levels of "graceful" support for 800x600 (some ensure their prime content will show up on a 800x600, with only "sidebar" information being what is lost off to the right of the screen). Many just do it, and don't even try to support 800x600 users.
I've agonised over this for quite some time - catering for 800x600 as a minimum reduces the flexibility in what you can do on the screen, leading to a more "vertical" design, which means more scrolling up and down to see the whole page.
I personally prefer to read the forums in the narrower 800x600 layout, hence my current design using this as the default, but there are alternative styles available (see the style chooser at the bottom left of each page), one which uses a fixed width that is fixed at 1024x768, and one that is full screen (or "fluid" as we call it in the industry) and adjusts to whatever screen size you are using (with about 800x600 as the practical minimum). These other designs simply show the main content on a page (eg the post text or thread list) in a wider box, there's no other optimisation to take advantage of the screen width.
If I had more screen real estate to play with, I would go for more use of "sidebars" to contain supplementary information, which would allow a more compact page design and less scrolling.
I could do two separate designs, the main optimised for 1024x768 and an additional (more vertical) design for 800x600, but that's essentially doubling my design and testing workload, which means less time available for creating content and new features.
The challenge with designing for something higher than 800x600 is that, according to the statistics, we still have around 6% of our traffic viewed on screens that are set at 800x600 resolution. I do know of some people who find their screens to be too difficult to read at higher resolutions (my suggestion is to get a larger screen !! My 20" screen has HUGE fonts if I run it at 1024x768 as opposed to the normal 1600x1200 resolution  ). So, I've been reluctant to change and make life difficult for a not-insignificant portion of our membership.
I just wanted to get a more direct indication from everyone about this issue - hence the poll.
Comments and suggestions welcome.
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Sim'
This is a general comment only and does not constitute advice. Before making financial decisions you should seek advice from a professional adviser, who can take into account your specific circumstances and investment goals.
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