1024x768

Application specs

[Alternative Future]

Hi all,

We are in the process of designing a new web application that has some minimum requirements that come along with it.
The application width has been set to run on a 1024 x 768 display. What are your thoughts to the maximum table widths that should be applied, and why?
I have read somewhere we should take the 1024 and delete the size of the browser border and scroll bar and that should be the size. Does anyone else have anything they would to that or trials and errors with the max size of tables they have used previously?

PS - this thread is not about why we are designing in 1024 and we should be designing in 800 or less etc, its just to get a feel on the max table width that should be used and why.

Many thanks,

-George

[BlobFisk]

Hey George,

It's a difficult question as you are not sure whether the user has the browser window maximised or in a window, do they have their Start Bar and/or Office bar on the left or right...

If you can control that the window is maximised and you know that there are no side toolbars, then 1000px should be safe... However, these are 2 very big ifs!

HTH

[Alternative Future]

Hi BlobFisk,

Thanks for the reply.

>>do they have their Start Bar and/or Office bar on the left or right...
Sorry can you go into a little more detail here?

>> If you can control that the window is maximised and you know that there are no side toolbars, then 1000px should be safe... However, these are 2 very big ifs!

We have control over the actual size of the browser; with a launcher screen pulling up the app with the fixed widths and height set in the new browser window.

Thanks for confirming this its appreciated :)

-George

[BlobFisk]

Sorry can you go into a little more detail here?

Apologies, I mean the Windows task bar (normally at the bottom of the page) can be at the top, left or right also. Then there is the old Office bar, which was like an application jumo off point (in the form of a toolbar) that could be docked on the top/right/bottom/left of the screen also.

Don't forget the newer Mac laptops are wider in screenWidth than PCs...

HTH

[Alternative Future]

Hi BlobFisk,

Now I follow I forgot about that one!
Our software requirements stat windows as the OS and all our clients run on this OS.

Thanks again,

-George

[henry0]

I almost never use a fix width for many of the above outlined reasons

will you consider fluid design?

regards

[Old_Timer]

Would you elaborate on fluid design?

[tedster]

Fluid design (also called liquid design) does not use a fixed width for all parts of the design, allowing at least some divs or table cells to exapnd and fill up the available screen real estate. It can get tricky - and for some extreme screen resolutions, nearly unusable - but it's also a nice way to accomodate all kinds of users.

One of the nice things about creating a browser-based application (in contrast to a general web page) is that you have a sort of "captive" audience. They want or need to use your application, and so you can dictate the requirements that allow you to create the optimum interface for your application.

Particularly within a company intranet or some other nicely defined group of users, you are allowed extreme liberties you would never take if you were designing pages for the "world wide" web - and I assume that's the kind of situation that Alternative_Future has.

In his opening post he mentions "a new web application that has some minimum requirements that come along with it." That's extremely reasonable, IMO, and screen resolution can certainly be one of the minumum requirements. Developing an application for any and all possible users is taking on too much restriction.