Forum Moderators: phranque
I never checked for browser compatibility, or even looked at the code. Wish I'd bookmarked them.
However I do remember they caught my eye and made me take a closer look just because they were unusual and I tend to avoid horizontal scrolling rather than work to achieve it.
I wonder if this would work on a Joe Bloggs not-a-designer user?
them were the days.... ;-)
shame really because Joe Bloggs user would hate that. I did think there was maybe something in it for the pure novelty of a site that didn't do the usual.
Horizonal scrolling is the biggest taboo of web usability. One lonely place where horiz scrolling works is in fancy Flash movies where the controls are really obvious and easy-to-use. I made one that looked like a filmstrip which could be fed left and right. whoopee.
I now visualize a web page generally like the pages of a search result. If it is immediately visible it is page one. If not it is going to be ignored by many people.
As mentioned the mouse scroll wheel has made vertical scrolling somewhat acceptable but (and not every person has a mouse with a wheel) if the person has to move the cursor to a scroll bar then they can just as easily hit a link.
An added advantage to smaller (shorter) pages is that they load faster. This is especially important if heavy graphics use is required.
Yah - the funny thing is that sometimes they can't locate things by scrolling vertically, let alone horizontally.
I think for a site to be successful with horizontal scrolling, it would have to have some really strong pull with a certain demographic group - such as teenagers or something.
I think most people want web pages to all basically function similarly - and they get annoyed when you give them something out of the norm.
People get used to something and they can't handle anything else. Audience is definitely key. Joe Bloggs, sad to say, will always be well behind all things progressive.
There are at least a couple kick-ass horizontals at Zen Garden.
Seriously though, my magazine spreads can be shown in a coherent manner moving easily from one to the next. I find it works well but I'd love some other feedback.
Please find the site at <url rmoved - please see TOS [webmasterworld.com]>
Many thanks.
Dan.
[edited by: tedster at 8:30 pm (utc) on Jan. 6, 2004]
many people do still use WebTV.
But it's still a failed technology.
I don't worry about it either.
A bigger issue for me are Macs, which I really would like to test for but am blind to. I just don't have access to everything that I would like.
I have seen some pretty neat Flash based horizontal scrolling galleries, though, but you don't normally need your mouse ball to move them, you simply place the pointer on one side or the other and they automatically keep scrolling till you remove the pointer.
luck,
robert
BTW you can also use the icons at the bottom of the page to display everything in a single vertically scrolled column.
There's no native 'need' to hate scrolling. The old "change is strange" adage, where people can't handle what they are not familiar with is an unfortunate given with e-commerce, but perhaps higher and more innovative standards on the fringes will gradually work they way to the fore.
Most people barely know how to scroll vertically, and creating a "challenging" design (ie a site that uses horizontal scroll), you are going to find that lots of people just don't see that part of your page.
I have owned a cyber café for 5 years, and I have seen the "down and dirty" reality of User Interface.
People just barely understand how to use IE - don't expect them to adapt to a "non-traditional" user interface - they'll just go away, or cry for help.
I have seen it used with good effect in some cartoon strips, where it seems natural to scroll horizontally, and it's faster than loading a whole lot of pages one after the other (although you could cache for the subsequent pages, but that gets tricky with older browsers).
So, for art, yes. Ecommerce? Not on the sites I run! :)
There's no native 'need' to hate scrolling. The old "change is strange" adage, where people can't handle what they are not familiar with is an unfortunate given with e-commerce, but perhaps higher and more innovative standards on the fringes will gradually work they way to the fore.
thanks,
robert
One of the most entertaining sites (with every new release...)
Cheers, Jens
I have had good feedback on my horizontal site, it is done in html and people seem to be able to use it quite intuitively.
Dont write it off just cos it is not the norm or it's not 'innovative'. Good design should use whatever method is best suited to the content in use.
It seems to add the experience of looking at a panoramic view, rather like turning your head or body to take in an actual panoramic view.
