“Above the fold” refers to the section of a webpage immediately visible without scrolling. It’s a carryover from the days of newspapers, where the biggest story would go on the front page, above the fold in the paper.

Back when newspapers ruled the earth (yes, I’m unconsciously trying to make print media sound prehistoric), The Fold was a physical crease in the paper. Nowadays it’s a bit more complicated. You have different screen sizes and resolutions, toolbars that take-up room in the browser, and some people resize their browser window differently… There are a lot of factors. (more…)

This is yet another web-related topic that gets people arguing. Not quite as bad as “Mac vs. PC,” it really gets some people going. Which is better, a fixed-width layout, or a fluid one that resizes to fit the browser window. Unlike some people, I say that it depends on the project, and that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution (though I do lean slightly toward fixed-width layouts). Besides, if we all agreed on standards for everything, we wouldn’t have anything to argue about..

Both sides of the argument have their pluses and minuses, and generally I would say “go with what best suits the instance.” If you want a certain look, which will require vertical tile images, and other images of specific width, you may need to go with a fixed-width layout. If you want as much control as you can get over the look of your design, or if you need your content area to be a specific size, go with a fixed layout. (more…)