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Poll HN: What kind of websites do you prefer - Fixed or Fluid width?

4 points by neya ↗ HN
In the field of Web Design, one thing that confuses beginners as well as intermediates is the choice of Fixed Width vs Fluid Width.

Fixed width websites like their description have a fixed defined width for the entire site that centers itself on your screen. Whereas a fluid website will occupy your entire screen (or a percentage of it) and will vary according to the screen size it's viewed on.

Example for fixed width website: http://www.theguardian.com/uk

Example of fluid width website: http://www.amazon.com/

Example site utilizing both (technically it's a fluid website): https://www.airbnb.com/

This poll will help designers like us understand your preferences, and hopefully why, so that we can build better HN-friendly web sites, especially considering the fact that we have a lot of "Show HN's" here.

Thank you.

10 comments

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transfire
It's really a shame that the web standards don't make everything more naturally fluid. I for instance use my monitor in portrait orientation so the width is no more than 1080px which makes some fixed width sites go off the edge. On the other hand, my grandmother has to zoom in on everything approx 30-50% to read all that small print, so almost every fixed width page goes off the edge on her making it much harder for her to navigate.
neya
I understand, when I develop websites, I will have this in mind :) It's basically scaling up the font size with screen size. Thanks for your valid point :)
krrishd
If you mean media queries/fixed breakpoints vs fluid/percents/ems, I would actually go with fixed breakpoints simple because usually my target market has a device within one of those breakpoints.

Also, no user keeps re-sizing their browser for fluidity to really matter by itself.

neya
No, actually I didn't mean media queries, but they are valid methods too. No, resizing happens the first time you load a page, so, it will adapt to your screen's size the instance you open it. Whereas a fixed width site wouldn't :)

Thank you for your feedback!

cmaury
Fluid width sites are extremely helpful for accessibility. I have low vision, and so I have to zoom in on most websites. Fluid width allows me to navigate without having to scroll sideways.
neya
Thank you for your feedback!
idupree
Every one of those websites has a horizontal scroll bar in my current browser window, so I can't really recommend them. I voted for "fluid" hoping for websites that are more fluid than those. (My current browser window is 845 CSS pixels wide.)
neya
Thank you for your feedback!
teni
Fluid Sites just work across screens. So shouldn't this be a no-brainer?
neya
Depends, they are also comparatively complex to develop. HEnce this poll. Thank you for your feedback!