Make the default skin fluid

[Rasputin]

Make a fluid variant to the default skin

In otherwords stop limiting the posting section of the board (everything inside the striped borders) to this tiny resolution. It feels cluttered and difficult to read at high resolution. While this may have been helpful when most people were still using 12 inch screens, these fixed width skins are now an unnecessary relic of the past. The current posting section is fixed at exactly 870 pixels, which takes up about half of my screen. The culprit is the CSS for the <div> class "side_borders", which is set to "width: 870px". Changing it to "width: 100%" (and maybe centering the top logo) should fix the problem.

 

[L]

you know

i'm so bored that i thought you reposted this

I do not particularly see a problem, though.

 

[Rasputin]

a fluid skin would fix almost all of this

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

You'd be best off just PM'ing LG.

 

[The Witch]

Lol, there seems to be a lot of space.

 

[Big Casino]

hmmm i can see the benefits though its not exactly a mission to make a post or read posts.

 

[L]

I hope I'm not the only one who's considered it either, but alternatively we could install another Fluid version of the default skin.

Some of us do not have the issues that Admant is experiencing.

 

[Dean Winchester]

Either fix it or give Adamant a magnifying glass for Christmas.

 

[blakstang98]

Not many people have high definition resolution, so the change would only be helpful for a small number of people. Changing to increase the inner area will make it difficult for those with a more conventional screen size. Overall, this will make the reading space worse for those with conventional sizes (the much higher percentage), so the change will hurt more than it will help. I also don't see the posting area as being too small, and my eyes aren't all that great. Again, this is just a problem with you, and changing the skin will only create more problems than it will solve.

I'm not sure if the browser makes the post area a different size, if it does, then change that up and see if it helps.

 

[Rasputin]

Because this post has yet to vanish from the front page, I'm just going to respond to it now.

Not many people have high definition resolution, so the change would only be helpful for a small number of people.

Back in 2006, when the current fixed resolution was first decided on, this statement might have been accurate. However, recent internet statistics show that the number of people using resolutions higher than 1024x764 has massively increased during the last few years, while people using smaller resolutions than that have been reduced to almost nil. This means that nearly 3/4 of the users here would get improved reading spaces from a fluid skin, and the people still using 1024x764 would likely not notice any change.

Changing to increase the inner area will make it difficult for those with a more conventional screen size. Overall, this will make the reading space worse for those with conventional sizes (the much higher percentage), so the change will hurt more than it will help.

As I showed above, the vast majority of people are no longer using 1024x746 screen resolution, so I don't think any of your statements about "conventional sizes" are remotely accurate. It's just common sense that a larger viewing space equates with easier reading and a better posting experience in general.

I also don't see the posting area as being too small, and my eyes aren't all that great. Again, this is just a problem with you, and changing the skin will only create more problems than it will solve.

It's clearly not just a problem with me, it's just one that I chose to articulate first. With careful planning and by leaving the original skin intact (as the default), there is absolutely no risks involved in the skin's creation and anyone who doesn't like the alternative skin can simply leave the site exactly the way it is. As for the problems it will solve, well, I showed them quite clearly in the image above.

I'm not sure if the browser makes the post area a different size, if it does, then change that up and see if it helps.

I've already tried it in Firefox and IE, it doesn't make a bit of difference. Fixed with web design has nothing to do with your choice of browser.

Simply put, none of your points make any sense, and this board is going to be receiving so many complaints about the fixed with resolution a year or two down the line that we might as well be ahead of the curve and work on creating a fluid alternative now. It would make life easier for the vast majority of users.

 

[blakstang98]

It all makes perfect sense. I'm using a standard resolution, roughly 20" monitor, and I can read the posts and reply space just fine. I'm referring to monitor space, not video card resolution. I don't have a wide screen is the point I'm getting at, maybe I wasn't clear enough with that. With my standard screen, there is not a lot of wasted space on the sides of the reply space. With my wide screen laptop, it is, but again, doesn't serve a problem for reading.

Declaring this entire oration as being a "lack of a quality posting experience" is a bit far fetched in my opinion. Plain and simple, if you can't read it, increase the video card resolution (or reduce it). And no matter what say, more people are still using standard monitors (a vast majority, as I stated). And if this problem is such a big deal to you, then take it to the owner or administrators. Demanding a change doesn't get you very far, you'll have to make an effort to be a little more polite about it.

 

[Rasputin]

It all makes perfect sense. I'm using a standard resolution, roughly 20" monitor, and I can read the posts and reply space just fine. I'm referring to monitor space, not video card resolution. I don't have a wide screen is the point I'm getting at, maybe I wasn't clear enough with that. With my standard screen, there is not a lot of wasted space on the sides of the reply space. With my wide screen laptop, it is, but again, doesn't serve a problem for reading.

Not everyone wants to use such a tiny resolution for such a huge screen because it makes the desktop get cluttered very quickly, and many applications demand higher resolutions for decent visuals. The issue here isn't that the text is too small- anyone can make that bigger- it's that there's not enough of the text on the screen at once, meaning we have to spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling around in threads simply because a couple paragraphs can stretch the screen down an inordinate amount.

Declaring this entire oration as being a "lack of a quality posting experience" is a bit far fetched in my opinion. Plain and simple, if you can't read it, increase the video card resolution (or reduce it). And no matter what say, more people are still using standard monitors (a vast majority, as I stated).

As I stated earlier, the evidence clearly shows that the definition of "standard monitor" has changed. Those statistics don't lie. Most people are not using 1024x764 anymore, which is what this site was originally designed for.

And if this problem is such a big deal to you, then take it to the owner or administrators. Demanding a change doesn't get you very far, you'll have to make an effort to be a little more polite about it.

I've already tried doing that before, absolutely nothing will happen until people discuss the issue and come to a consensus that the problem does indeed exist and that there is an available and convenient fix for it.