Hi Salaro
Salaro wrote
"POWER TO THE USER"
I have heard it all now.
Certainly DNN itself is an exercise in giving power to the user. Do you update all the content or do you empower others to do it?
Pro fixed skin designer will argue that the skin should be delivered to the end user so it has a particular look and feel on all browsers. He/She designs it so that every component in the skin is carefully arranged to deliver the maximum impact on the end user.
By fixing your site to 640x480 or 800x600 when I see it on my machine, the website is a thumbnail. There is NO IMPACT. Is that what you intended? :)
(The term “Fluid “is a phrase that does not describes the chaos that 100% skin delivers - but then I am not English –I guess it does sound cool to call a chaotic page “Fluid”) 100% skin only give power to the user to mess the page layout up. Alternatively you give power to the user to spend a significant time to resize the window so just to try and guess what the designer/content editor had in mind when the page was made?
I use the term fluid on purpose. With foxridgesoftware.com when I start with IE window sized to 800x600 it looks fine. When I stretch it wider the sections remain in their relative places. It is fluid. Chaotic would be that the sections become displaced, text garbled and/or overwritten, which is not happening. As long as the content is there, I doubt any user really cares about the design. The user isn't spending significant time resizing. They are asking why there's so much white space.
I would have thought that the most of the fortune 1000 sites out there have a good reason to make their skin fixed width. They cannot all be ignorant about design? Not with the design funding that they have.
Governments have massive funding. Do they govern properly? The automotive industry has huge funding. Do they make non-polluting long-lasting cars? Google must have enormous design funding. Try this: go to google. maximize IE 7 window. Set Classic Home, not Personalized. Search for Salaro. Resize window to less than 800 wide.
I see chaotic blending of sponsored links and content: http://www.foxridgesoftware.com/chaos.jpg
That only proves funding is meaningless. You forget the traditional nature of many people. Many designers will be taught by other designers and traditions - right or wrong - will be perpetuated and perpetrated on users. Others will even be ridiculed as 80's thinkers by the designers.
If they did want to give REAL power to the people - I am sure they would have given them choice of look and feel. Another 80s kind of fashion to allow the end user to change colours and so on. It used to be really cool to allow the end user to make the page Yelow just because they like that colour. not that there was any Web in the 80s - but you know what I mean.
You're taking what I said too far. I didn't say ABSOLUTE power to the user. I mean give them more power. If it's harder to make a good design that is fluid, say so. Contribute positively to finding ways to make it easier.
I stop now even though I could go on for a long time. I have created many 100% skins as some clients want it and no matter what I say will not change their mind.
I stop the rant now
You admit your clients want 100%? Well count me in!
Thanks!