I want to simply know each and everyone’s opinion on the type of layout they use. Are you an individual that developes using “px” for a fixed layout or “%” for a liquid layout? And why do you use that method rather than the other?
It’s just a fun perspective to know what’s your best. If you do not want to reply or get involved please refrain from any harsh comments that could offend us in any way.
I hope to hear all your guys secrets to page layouts.
-Jonathan Vazquez
These days responsive design is the buzz word and a lot of people are moving towards fluid sites that cater for all devices. If you create fixed width sites then you can still make them responsive but it means catering for specific devices which means that you miss out on any new devices as happened with the ipad and other tablets.
I do a lot of corporate templates and they still favour fixed width designs but my preference is for fluid designs. Fixed designs are easier to code as you can more or less place stuff where it needs whereas fluid designs need a lot more care but can be more rewarding in the end.
[font=verdana]
It’s not a simple black-and-white issue with just two choices.
Sure, you can have a fixed-width design, or you can have one that scales proportional to the page, but there are other options as well, like
[list][]constrained liquid layout, where you set a max-width to stop the design expanding ad infinitum.
[]semi-fixed layout, where some elements (eg navigation) have a fixed width, and the main content area expands to fill the space. May also be constrained as above.
[]elastic layouts, that depend on the base size of the text (and may be constrained within the window or allowed to expand beyond it)
[]responsive design using media queries, where a series of fixed width or liquid designs are made and the browser uses the one that is most appropriate to the window size.[/list]
Out of all those options, I would say that a single fixed width is the worst possible, and an unconstrained proportional layout is the next worst.
A single fixed width will be absolutely fine for some people, but will be wrong for others. If you have a large window, it doesn’t make good use of that space … but if you have a small screen, it will be too big, and that’s definitely worse. Any site that generates a horizontal scrollbar in an 800px window is a failure, in my opinion, because it pays too little heed to users’ interests, and puts the designer’s aesthetics above basic usability.[/font]