Full width or fixed width for content area

[Thunderfall]

These days it looks like more and more sites are using fixed width for the content area, instead of the full width like we have for the forums.

Examples:

Google News

https://news.google.com/u/0/home?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Xenforo Community Forum

XenForo community

Forum software by XenForo

xenforo.com

For the CivFanatics main site, I have changed it to be fixed width:

CivFanatics - The biggest fan site and community for Civilization fans.

The biggest fan site and community for Civilization fans.

www.civfanatics.com

For the forums, do you think we should also make it fixed width as well or you prefer the current full width better?

 

[racha]

I voted for full seeing as variable wasn't an option. /pedant.

Personally, I've never really understood fixed width being a thing after widescreen monitors became commonplace. YMMV.

 

[Thunderfall]

Personally, I've never really understood fixed width being a thing after widescreen monitors became commonplace. YMMV.

I wonder if Google or others did some user experience study and concluded that users don't like to move their head from left to right too much when reading on a screen, so with fixed width at 1024 pixels they hardly need to move their head much...

 

[Noble Zarkon]

Add me into the variable i.e. percentage based camp.

 

[s.bernbaum]

I prefer to have full width. That way I can adjust the width of the content, depending on what I am looking at, by varying the width of the browser window that I am using. I hate the new approach that is being used by programmers, web sites, etc of have it THEIR way instead of mine, as it once was.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

These days it looks like more and more sites are using fixed width for the content area, instead of the full width like we have for the forums.

Examples:

Google News

https://news.google.com/u/0/home?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Xenforo Community Forum

XenForo community

Forum software by XenForo

xenforo.com

For the CivFanatics main site, I have changed it to be fixed width:

CivFanatics - The biggest fan site and community for Civilization fans.

The biggest fan site and community for Civilization fans.

www.civfanatics.com

For the forums, do you think we should also make it fixed width as well or you prefer the current full width better?

Whatever lets me adjust things to my comfort level. I've checked the links, and find that unless I do "CTRL + +" to make everything larger, the font is too small to read.

It's the same here - magnification or I can't read it.

So as long as there aren't any horizontal scroll bars to contend with (getting rid of them means that by the time everything fits, the text is microscopically small for me and I cannot read anything), I'm okay with it.

(sorry, this is one thing for which I lack the precise vocabulary to explain my preferences)

I voted for full seeing as variable wasn't an option. /pedant.

Personally, I've never really understood fixed width being a thing after widescreen monitors became commonplace. YMMV.

It's best to remember that people use a variety of monitors, for reasons of personal preference, space considerations, or budget.

 

[racha]

It's best to remember that people use a variety of monitors, for reasons of personal preference, space considerations, or budget.

Variable width compensates for that by squishing / stretching according to the monitor size. Mobile devices are a whole 'nother thing, but XF has that covered separately.

 

[Michkov]

Fixed width for me, or rather maximum width. The way the Shades of Grey" theme works is ideal for me in that regard. Although, I'd want a lighter theme that has the same fixed width, like Modern CFC. Ideally that would be a user preference, with the theme applied over it.