At 06:21 PM 9/17/98 -0700, you wrote: >A little peeve. Why do so many web developers design sites that are fixed >width and not centered? For example, this little site: <snipped> >Looking at that site, I don't see any reason why all the white space has to >be on the right hand side. Is there Usability research to back up the >decision? Isn't the lack of white space on the left side causing a >maximization of universal entropy? In my case, with the site I'm currently working on (the one with the flashing JavaScript problem), the client wanted it that way. They hated the look of my mock ups centered on their big monitors. They thought all the white space off to the right looked "nice." Since I usually browse 640x480, the extra white doesn't happen for me, so I didn't have any strong opinions about centering vs left-justifying in the design meetings. (I had opinions about everything else, just not that issue!) So, as a result, the site is being optimized for 640x480, and the tables are left-justified instead of centered. I dunno about the entropy problem, however. But I admit it could be a problem. Maybe the extra white space will develop into some kind of black hole phenomena, and will eventually attract all the missing socks that vanish from the dryer. (Hmmm...that almost makes sense to me. I just spent the last hour at the used CD place, and I think my brain has been permanently damaged. Cranberries, Bruce Springsteen, Bare Naked Ladies, Mel Torme, Abba, and Brian Selzer's swing music all in the same listening session -- no wonder I can't think any more tonight.) --Tamra Heathershaw-Hart WebDiva ------------------------------------------------------------ Hart Consulting http://www.hartcons.com/ Web Design & Engineering Studio Silicon Valley, California 650-967-6162 1-800-749-8032 (fax) ------------------------------------------------------------ ____________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Web Consultants Association : Register on our web site Now Web Consultants Web Site : http://just4u.com/webconsultants If you lose the instructions All subscription/unsubscribing can be done directly from our website for all our lists. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
