June 2, 2005
Greetings,
I have a whole lot of questions that all have to do with the same topic:
Width.
By "width" I mean how wide a particular Web page is, how wide a table
is, how wide a particular cell or column is, how wide a particular font
is, and so on.
It seems there is a bewildering number of choices with regard to how
wide things look on the monitors of the visitors to the Web pages I
create. Ideally, of course, those pages will look right to as many
visitors as possible, regardless of the choices THEY'VE made.
Here are some of those questions, and at the end I ask just one question
of you.
(1) WHAT VISITORS CAN CONTROL. Visitors to Web pages have a number of
choices that affect how wide things look to them.
--(a) Visitors can set their browsers to a large number of text sizes.
For example, Firefox v1 offers at least three larger and three smaller
than "normal." Can I control how those choices look?
--(b) Visitors can arrange their browsers so that more or less space is
taken up widthwise (and vertically, for that matter). For example in IE
one user will have the History window open at the left side of the
browser window whereas another will not. What is the optimum way to
adapt to such differences?
--(c) The visitor's monitor size can range from the size of a Blackberry
screen up to a 21-inch beast and bigger. Does that make a difference to
me as the Web author?
--(d) The visitor's screen resolution can range from 800 by 600 (if not
lower) up to 1280 by 1024 (if not higher). Does that make a difference
to me as the Web author?
(2) WHAT I CAN CONTROL. I as the Web site author have an even larger
number of choices that affect width, and I'd like to standardize and
automate my code as much as possible, while retaining the appropriate
uniformity of appearance.
--(a) For the widths of tables, cells and columns I can choose percent
or pixels (or neither). How do I decide?
--(b) When is it preferable to use css and when to use regular html
tags? Is there any reason to use css to apply, say, bold or italic or
underline? Is there any reason not to? What about using CSS rather
than HTML to control more complicated elements such as all the
characteristics of a table or the appearance of an entire form?
--(c) One of the most immediate questions I'd like answered is how to
control the font size. The methods I can choose from are ems, pt, px,
and font-size:3, and maybe others. How do I decide? (I use Front Page
2003 on Win XP.) How do I decide between CSS and HTML (or some other
method)?
--(d) What is the best way to set up a CSS file? Which elements do you
set to what and why?
--(e) What is the optimum width for the content of the site? I use 736
pixels, but I can't remember why now.
Obviously this is a lot of questions, and obviously I don't expect you
to answer all of them, or even any of them if you don't want to
(although if you want to take a crack at 2c, feel free).
No, the reason I'm writing is that it seems to me I can't be the only
Web author who has had such questions. It seems to me there must be
someone out there in cyberspace who has tried to figure out the optimal
method of making all these decisions about width and who got it right.
It seems to me someone out there must have written a FAQ or a tutorial
or a whole Web site that answers these questions.
Or maybe several people.
Who are they, and what are their URLs?
Thanks.
--Johnny
johnnyg aatssign barelybad d.o.t c.o.m
Greetings,
I have a whole lot of questions that all have to do with the same topic:
Width.
By "width" I mean how wide a particular Web page is, how wide a table
is, how wide a particular cell or column is, how wide a particular font
is, and so on.
It seems there is a bewildering number of choices with regard to how
wide things look on the monitors of the visitors to the Web pages I
create. Ideally, of course, those pages will look right to as many
visitors as possible, regardless of the choices THEY'VE made.
Here are some of those questions, and at the end I ask just one question
of you.
(1) WHAT VISITORS CAN CONTROL. Visitors to Web pages have a number of
choices that affect how wide things look to them.
--(a) Visitors can set their browsers to a large number of text sizes.
For example, Firefox v1 offers at least three larger and three smaller
than "normal." Can I control how those choices look?
--(b) Visitors can arrange their browsers so that more or less space is
taken up widthwise (and vertically, for that matter). For example in IE
one user will have the History window open at the left side of the
browser window whereas another will not. What is the optimum way to
adapt to such differences?
--(c) The visitor's monitor size can range from the size of a Blackberry
screen up to a 21-inch beast and bigger. Does that make a difference to
me as the Web author?
--(d) The visitor's screen resolution can range from 800 by 600 (if not
lower) up to 1280 by 1024 (if not higher). Does that make a difference
to me as the Web author?
(2) WHAT I CAN CONTROL. I as the Web site author have an even larger
number of choices that affect width, and I'd like to standardize and
automate my code as much as possible, while retaining the appropriate
uniformity of appearance.
--(a) For the widths of tables, cells and columns I can choose percent
or pixels (or neither). How do I decide?
--(b) When is it preferable to use css and when to use regular html
tags? Is there any reason to use css to apply, say, bold or italic or
underline? Is there any reason not to? What about using CSS rather
than HTML to control more complicated elements such as all the
characteristics of a table or the appearance of an entire form?
--(c) One of the most immediate questions I'd like answered is how to
control the font size. The methods I can choose from are ems, pt, px,
and font-size:3, and maybe others. How do I decide? (I use Front Page
2003 on Win XP.) How do I decide between CSS and HTML (or some other
method)?
--(d) What is the best way to set up a CSS file? Which elements do you
set to what and why?
--(e) What is the optimum width for the content of the site? I use 736
pixels, but I can't remember why now.
Obviously this is a lot of questions, and obviously I don't expect you
to answer all of them, or even any of them if you don't want to
(although if you want to take a crack at 2c, feel free).
No, the reason I'm writing is that it seems to me I can't be the only
Web author who has had such questions. It seems to me there must be
someone out there in cyberspace who has tried to figure out the optimal
method of making all these decisions about width and who got it right.
It seems to me someone out there must have written a FAQ or a tutorial
or a whole Web site that answers these questions.
Or maybe several people.
Who are they, and what are their URLs?
Thanks.
--Johnny
johnnyg aatssign barelybad d.o.t c.o.m
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