Smashing Magazine has a nice write up on one of the eternal questions of Web Design – Fluid Width or Fixed Width. Even we have gone back and forth on this topic at CU*Answers Web Services. Currently we are in the fixed width camp, but we’re fickle enough that our minds will change again.
The article reviews the different formats, outlines the pros and cons of each and even gives some tips on how to get around the problems.
If you truly have a preference, this article will give you some good ammunition to support your point of view, as well as give you a heads up to address the detriments. The real thing to remember here, is your visitors have different screen sizes and monitor resolutions than you. So, although a fluid width site fills our your widescreen monitor better, it may look too busy on your visitors standard 4:3 monitor.
Lets not even get into ideal content line length. That’s a whole other subject to consider.
