position of a web page when viewed in a browser

[Mattybrown]

I have a 17 inch monitor. When I open IE browser, I notice that websites are postioned in various locations on the screen:

1. To the left, with a large space on the right
2. Centrally positioned with spaces either side
3. Stretching across the whole screen

Could you tell me the designers reasoning behind these three postions - and which is best?

Thank you.

 

[zkiller]

1. several sites are designed to be compatible with low resolutions in order to avoid any vertical scrolling.

2. same reasoning, just a different style. it's a matter of personal preference whether the designers chooses this method or aligns the site to the left side of the screen.

3. personally, i find this method to be hardest to pull off being that it often causes clutter or vertical scroll at lower resolutions. again, it's a matter of personal preference. personally, i don't like this method.

 

[ian]

I always like option 3.

 

[zkiller]

well, it's easy to pull off in a forum environment.

 

[Artoonie]

I don't like 1 or 2, because if you have a huge monitor, they still have a fixed width, and there's a lot of wasted space. (80% or something is fine)
3 is to get the most content with the least scroll/wasted space

edit: woops, didnt realize the bump there

 

[grayrabbit]

One bit of advice,, DROP IE.. lol,, but seriously,, just build your site form a template. the are already coded perfectly

 

[kiko_friendly]

All three are good, but the third option is most professional - it looks great in all browsers, just make your banner 780px or less in width, and have a code where it's centered, left aligned, or right aligned the banner, and a table width of 100% - visitors probably wont notice that it will complement all resolutions, but they will notice if it doesn't. Email me at [email protected] for information on that if you like.