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View Full Version : How To Make sites display on larger monitors ?



Harold Mansfield
02-13-2009, 10:40 PM
I am by no means good at code. Just recently, I purchased another monitor and discovered that my sites don't display across the entire area of a large monitor, actually a lot of sites don't, but some do.
How do I make mine display across the entire screen, while still displaying properly for smaller monitors ?

vangogh
02-14-2009, 02:55 AM
There's not really a quick an easy answer to the problem. You're looking to create a fluid or liquid design. You'll want to use relative measurements (em, %) instead of absolute measurements (px).

There's more to it though. Having your side be completely fluid has its own set of problems. For example people can only read text comfortably if it doesn't stretch too long. If your content area is completely fluid then your text could extend beyond the point where it's easy to read. If you confine the text to a certain width then you need to figure out what to do with all the space that can grow around it.

The basic idea is not to use absolute measurements, at least in parts of the design, so that the page can reach from end to end on any monitor. It will put other design issues in front of you though.

billbenson
02-14-2009, 09:53 AM
How big of a monitor did you get eborg? I want to get a 25 inch monitor, but don't have somewhere to look at them locally. There aren't really any computer stores local to me. Best Buy and Walmart are the only things within 1 hour of me.

Anybody have any recommendations?

Harold Mansfield
02-14-2009, 12:18 PM
I only got a 19 inch widescreen. Basically replacing one that blew out a few weeks back. Funny thing is, this one seems a hell of a lot bigger than the other one, and I never had the problem of sites not covering the entire screen.
As I look around, I see that my sites look the same as most others, even sites like CNN don't cover the whole screen for me. I guess that is why they have the magnify option (now I get it).

I was 2 seconds from a 22", but honestly, this one is plenty since I have a second one on order so I can run the 2 monitor thing. (It was the last one at Circuit City and I liked it so much I went online and got a second, for more of course)

Looking at some tutorials on the subject, it seems that most of the advice is to design normally, which I will probably take, since I am not knowledgeable enough to cover all the variables that come up with making the adjustments.

I am just amazed at how small everything looks, like I said, the other monitor didn't seem to be this big, and I have all the settings basically the same.

Bill I wish you were here, Circuit City is just giving crap away and then taking 30% off !, but I do recommend Amazon for some good deals, I have become increasing fond of them lately and the prices are a little lower than many other electronics retailers. Check out the "Acer" models, they make a decent product for a good price.

billbenson
02-14-2009, 01:03 PM
Ya, my current non widescreen is a 19" acer. I'm on the mailing list for Tiger Direct, CompUsa (who was purchased by Tiger), and Geeks.com. All of them have some pretty good offers. Do you have Fry's out there or are they just in CA?

The offers I've seen from the above mentioned mailings have been good prices, but for brands I've never heard of. Geeks.com is worth being put on their mailing list. Great place for HD and other parts.

Harold Mansfield
02-14-2009, 02:38 PM
Ya, my current non widescreen is a 19" acer. I'm on the mailing list for Tiger Direct, CompUsa (who was purchased by Tiger), and Geeks.com. All of them have some pretty good offers. Do you have Fry's out there or are they just in CA?

The offers I've seen from the above mentioned mailings have been good prices, but for brands I've never heard of. Geeks.com is worth being put on their mailing list. Great place for HD and other parts.

Yeah, Fry's is usually my first and only stop, but I figured I'd see what Circuit City had since they are throwing in the towel.
By the way I doubled checked the old monitor, and it was 17", not 19" , so I did gain an extra 2" (if I could put that in a pill I'd be rich:))
We have a lot of pawn shops here too and I did get a really nice 20" NEC yesterday, but had to take it back because the lamp was not working properly.
Fry's actually does online ordering. I never tried it since it's so close to my house, but for those that don't have one, I highly recommend them. (Search "Fry's Electronics")