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Author Topic: Absolute - relative table widths  (Read 1668 times)
kerryb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #15 on: Friday 22 September 06 14:50 BST (UK) »

Bill

I agree, I always design for the lowest common denominator too, although my resolution is set at 1024 x 768. 

I still think the tables would look awfully stretched by using relative.  Some of the boxes in the family tree only have a name in them and would look silly.

Now my graphic designer colleague likes 'white space' and hates websites that don't have enough white space because it helps to eye to see whats going on.

Kerry
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Searching for my family - Baldwin - Sussex, Middlesex, Cork, Pilbeam - Sussex, Harmer - Sussex, Terry - Surrey, Kent, Rhoades - Lincs, Roffey - Surrey, Traies - Devon & Middlesex & many many more to be found on my website .... www.kerrysfamilyhistory.co.uk
Zeb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #16 on: Friday 22 September 06 15:09 BST (UK) »

If you plan your website out well enough you can minimise the amount of "dead space" on the pages.

I've made a lot of sites and written two browser-based internet games which were both table hungry. With a game the looks play a major part of it.

To prevent it all looking lop-sided I tend to make one big table cell which is centred on the page. Everything is then placed inside this cell. There mostly used screen resolution is 1024x768 but there was a time when 800x600 was the most common. If there isn't a great deal of information on the site I'll cater for 800x600. Both internet games catered for 1024x768.

If someone running 800x600 views a 1024x768 formatted page they'll still be able to see everything just that the browser will have a horizontal slide bar at the bottom of the window allowing the contents to be scrolled sideways.

So, I prefer to use fixed table widths. I'm making the site so I keep it looking like I want it no matter what resolution the end user is running.
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kerryb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #17 on: Friday 22 September 06 15:17 BST (UK) »

So, I prefer to use fixed table widths. I'm making the site so I keep it looking like I want it no matter what resolution the end user is running.

Absolutely agree Zeb. 

I did a short OU course on web design which helps me immensely although I don't profess to be an expert but it did teach me to think about the look of the site and that should be important as well accessibility and design aspects. 

We started designing sites by drawing on bits of paper before we even got to the PC. 

Maybe the thing is to think about what the table is for and what you are trying to convey by using it first before you think about widths etc?

Kerry

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Searching for my family - Baldwin - Sussex, Middlesex, Cork, Pilbeam - Sussex, Harmer - Sussex, Terry - Surrey, Kent, Rhoades - Lincs, Roffey - Surrey, Traies - Devon & Middlesex & many many more to be found on my website .... www.kerrysfamilyhistory.co.uk
Burrow Digger
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #18 on: Friday 22 September 06 15:20 BST (UK) »

Don't forget that the browser window can be set to any size - it does not have to be full screen - so whatever resolution you are using on your screen you can have your browser display the pages in a window of the appropriate size, so no empty space!

Regards, Bill 

But people don't know that that they can change the browser size or (like me) they dont like having to change the browser size manually every time they visit your site. Thats what the minimize and maximize buttons are for.  Grin

IF I was to change the browser size (drag the sides) then the next time I open the browser it opens to the whatever size I dragged the browser to and not the full screen. Takes forever to get the browser back to full size again.


BD
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Zeb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #19 on: Friday 22 September 06 15:27 BST (UK) »

Reply to kerryb:

Sort of, I tend to already have a pre-built image in my head of what data I want to place where and how it will all look.

One mistake that many people make when making web sites is that they forget they aren't making the site for themselves, they're making it for the visitors. Why otherwise would it be online? How many times have you visited a website only to wonder what on Earth it is they are providing? They're the ones that fail. Navigation is also a key in keeping visitors. Make your links easily visible and self-explanatory. Some sites use symbols instead with no text. Great if the symbols really do mean something but for futuristic sites its a site killer.

Back to who the owner is making the site for.

Its all about keeping the information clear and presentable in a way that doesn't make the site look as if a child threw it together. I can't stress enough times about keeping things uniform. If you're formatting all your numbers with thousand-limiting commas then use them everywhere. Use the same colored text for specific types of messages. Keep font sizes persistant.

With a little extra forward planning a site can look a whole lot better.

Here's some more stats for you all...





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Derby: WOODCOCK (Donnington)
Devon: HARRIS (Plymouth)
Lancashire: DERRICK
Lincolnshire: CROPPER, WOODCOCK (Boston)
London: BARKER, DUGGIN, HARRIS, HINTON, HULBERT, WHITE
Wales: HARRIS, PRITCHARD (Pembrokeshire)
Warwickshire: DERRICK, WOODCOCK
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Zeb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #20 on: Friday 22 September 06 15:29 BST (UK) »

Oh, and a bit of consideration when choosing colors helps enormously!
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London: BARKER, DUGGIN, HARRIS, HINTON, HULBERT, WHITE
Wales: HARRIS, PRITCHARD (Pembrokeshire)
Warwickshire: DERRICK, WOODCOCK
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Gadget
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #21 on: Friday 22 September 06 15:35 BST (UK) »

Zeb

Think I agree with most of what you've said - coming from the visual/computing side. Just one point - what do you mean by 'dead space'?

 All visuals have to have negative space - is this your 'dead space'. My dear tutors in Exeter used to talk about the space between being as important as the objects in an image.

Oh - and there's an outbreak of ws stats - maybe we should have a thread on this as some kind of monitoring/guidance/info -

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,183743.msg899442.html#msg899442

Gadget
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Zeb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #22 on: Friday 22 September 06 15:47 BST (UK) »

Dead space is the area around the main part of your site.

Here's one site I made for a friend's guesthouse in Exeter (small world!)
http://www.braesize.biz
The dead space is everything around the main section in the middle. I agree with you on the fact that dead space is as important as the content as it helps separate detail and keep everything readable so yes, it must be included but wisely. I've used dead space in the guesthouse website inside the main sections.

As for web stats the content of the site will, to a certain degree, influence the types of people that visit the site. For example, an IT-based site will more than likely attract those "into" computers and those more interested with having the best pieces of kit so will have larger monitors. The guesthouse website attracts those mainly using the web for browsing now and then.

I know what I want to say there and found it hard to explain, hope I've managed it ok.  Embarrassed
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Bill749
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #23 on: Friday 22 September 06 15:59 BST (UK) »

Quote
IF I was to change the browser size (drag the sides) then the next time I open the browser it opens to the whatever size I dragged the browser to and not the full screen. Takes forever to get the browser back to full size again.

This is exactly what I meant when I spoke about "non-standard aspect ratio", but this is not what I was referring to when I said about setting the size of the window.

My browser, by default, opens in 1024x768 - the most common size, but I can the maximise it to fill my screen at 1400x1050.  However, when checking the appearance of my web pages, I can choose to open the browser in 800x600 resolution to suit the page design.

Regards, Bill
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Zeb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #24 on: Friday 22 September 06 16:10 BST (UK) »

If you have a PC and double-click the window title bar (or click the middle button in the very top-right corner) then you'll toggle full screen and windowed.

If you're using Firefox you can download this plugin which is extremely handy for resizing the browser to whatever you want to preview its appearance on different resolutions.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/60/

I use Firefox and Internet Explorer because Firefox is strict when it comes to rendering pages. IE tends to be a little relaxed so minor errors don't really show up and we all know how a minor error can turn into a big error. I've found a few tags used in tables that IE tends to use but Firefox ignores. One such example is "bordercolor" which isn't really a valid tag but one of Microsoft's own custom tags.
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Derby: WOODCOCK (Donnington)
Devon: HARRIS (Plymouth)
Lancashire: DERRICK
Lincolnshire: CROPPER, WOODCOCK (Boston)
London: BARKER, DUGGIN, HARRIS, HINTON, HULBERT, WHITE
Wales: HARRIS, PRITCHARD (Pembrokeshire)
Warwickshire: DERRICK, WOODCOCK
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Gadget
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #25 on: Friday 22 September 06 16:32 BST (UK) »

That's a very useful little download Zeb - thanks for the link.

I tend to use Firefox (occasionally IE) and test out in most of the 'popular' browsers - FF, IE, Opera, Netscape and a mate with an Apple  Smiley

Gadget

PSs -

Your biz guesthouse url doesn't work- not even with .co.uk  Sad

Don't live in the SW any more - left in 2000/1 for the far north  Cheesy
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kerryb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #26 on: Friday 22 September 06 16:49 BST (UK) »

Gadget - web developer is a good one, I've had that for a while.  I particularly like view source html!!!!!

Kerry
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Searching for my family - Baldwin - Sussex, Middlesex, Cork, Pilbeam - Sussex, Harmer - Sussex, Terry - Surrey, Kent, Rhoades - Lincs, Roffey - Surrey, Traies - Devon & Middlesex & many many more to be found on my website .... www.kerrysfamilyhistory.co.uk
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #27 on: Friday 22 September 06 17:02 BST (UK) »

Well all I can say to you Kerry is - why didn't you tell me  Sad Sad Sad

I've got all the Macromedia stuff (and a separate Homesite which I got earlier) and NOF and goodness knows what else.

Is there anything else I should have?

It's getting to be a full time job..............(walks off stage right as it's Friday)

Gadget  Cheesy
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kerryb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #28 on: Friday 22 September 06 17:07 BST (UK) »

Sorry Gadget

I'm not sure I want to share View Source (cackle cackle!!)

Actually the add ons to Firefox are worth checking from time to time as some of them are really good.  I've lost one that I used to have which was Optool which is a way of opening pages in IE quickly, that you have open in FF, for instance if they are not viewing properly.  I've lost the link though!

Kerry
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Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Searching for my family - Baldwin - Sussex, Middlesex, Cork, Pilbeam - Sussex, Harmer - Sussex, Terry - Surrey, Kent, Rhoades - Lincs, Roffey - Surrey, Traies - Devon & Middlesex & many many more to be found on my website .... www.kerrysfamilyhistory.co.uk
Zeb
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Re: Absolute - relative table widths
« Reply #29 on: Friday 22 September 06 18:53 BST (UK) »

Apologies for the link, this one works:

http://www.braeside.biz
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Derby: WOODCOCK (Donnington)
Devon: HARRIS (Plymouth)
Lancashire: DERRICK
Lincolnshire: CROPPER, WOODCOCK (Boston)
London: BARKER, DUGGIN, HARRIS, HINTON, HULBERT, WHITE
Wales: HARRIS, PRITCHARD (Pembrokeshire)
Warwickshire: DERRICK, WOODCOCK
Desperate for my Woodcocks from Birmingham!
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