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Subject: Re: "Stretchy" vs. Fixed-width
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:24:30 -0000
Message-ID: 
 <E7F85A1B5FF8D44C8A1AF6885BC9A0E407B44D@ratbert.vale-housing.co.uk>
Thread-Topic: [pgsql-www] "Stretchy" vs. Fixed-width
Thread-Index: AcTPa4c5FZ2M3ImSQT6KTZwJEzGj2gAg24+z
From: "Dave Page" <dpage@vale-housing.co.uk>
To: "Josh Berkus" <josh@agliodbs.com>, <pgsql-www@postgresql.org>

Hi Josh,

Add www.microsoft.com to the list of variable ones :-)

I originally designed the current fixed-width site, which at the time =
various people liked, however, the one complaint that I think many of us =
kept hearing was that it should be variable width so ppl could utilise =
their screen real estate if they wished. Originally, Robert worked on =
just that update to the current site iirc.

Personnally, I don't care which way it goes, but based on feedback I've =
heard over the last couple of years, stretchy is definately preferred by =
others.

/D


-----Original Message-----
From: pgsql-www-owner@postgresql.org on behalf of Josh Berkus
Sent: Sat 11/20/2004 8:16 PM
To: pgsql-www@postgresql.org
Subject: [pgsql-www] "Stretchy" vs. Fixed-width
=20
Robert, Dave:

Hey, I wanted to settle -- or at least discuss -- the "stretchy" issue =
on=20
website designs.    Aside from Omar's design, I think this is a useful =
issue=20
to settle for a draft website spec, and *having* browsed the archives, I =

don't feel that it was ever discussed fully.  Tom, Robert and Dave have=20
expressed that they *like* variable-width in the past, but I cannot find =
any=20
discussion on the WWW list that lays out why we would, as a group, find =
it=20
important to choose variable over fixed width.

So, some comparisons:
If you look at corporate websites, they tend to go for fixed-width:
www.ibm.com
www.hp.com
www.redhat.com
www.ca.com
www.sun.com
http://www.novell.com/linux/suse/index.html
www.vmware.com
www.apple.com
www.harpercollins.com
... in fact, I've been trying this morning to find a large tech software =
or=20
hardware manufacturer web site that uses variable-width, and cannot.  =20

The sites that go for variable width seem to be:
(a) News sites
www.the451.com
www.slashdot.org
www.theregister.co.uk
... but not, interestingly, www.cnn.com
(b) Open Source projects/companies
www.mozilla.org
www.mysql.com
http://www.jboss.org/products/index
www.kde.org
www.debian.org

... actually, it's interesting how the web world is split; the big =
proprietary=20
software/hardware companies seem to almost universally opt for =
fixed-width,=20
and those centered around OSS projects are pretty much universally=20
variable-width.    Partly the OSS projects are explainable because many =
(if=20
not most) of them use community website packages which tend to be =
universally=20
variable-width.

What this means, I don't know.   Thoughts?

What it seems to show me is that either format strategy is "valid" and=20
"contemporary" and that our decision should be based on practical and=20
aesthetic concerns, and not on what's "too 90's".

So, do people have reasons why one is better than the other?

--=20
Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco

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