Too much horizontal scrolling!

[Walter R.]

I am using Windows XP SP2 (I.E. 6)

Many websites show up in my browser in a format that requires horizontal
scrolling because only part of the page is displayed on the screen when it
comes up.

How can I avoid this nuisance? Is it my browser, is it the website?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

There is no standard measurement for a web page. And the way a page
displays on your monitor - which may be different from the way it
displays on my monitor - is subject to many variables. I suggest a mouse
with side-to-side scrolling.

 

[Walter R.]

Addendum: I have this problem even with MS websites, such as
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/community/default.mspx

My screen cuts off just beyond the word "blogs" on the right side.

 

[Vanguard]

in message

...

Addendum: I have this problem even with MS websites, such as
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/community/default.mspx

My screen cuts off just beyond the word "blogs" on the right side.

Because the width of the content is wider than the size of your
browser's window. Just where would the content wrap to? Would you
want the rightmost columnar text to wrap around and step into the
leftmost columnar text? The page designer figured on a minimum video
resolution to display their page. For a long time, 800x600 was the
standard page size so you needed to have that resolution or higher for
your desktop. Then it was 1024x768 for the default page size. Now it
is creeping up to past 1152x864 or higher. The author that has his
nice big 21", or bigger, monitor thinks everyone else must also have a
big monitor and forgets some of us don't like squinting at high
resolution screens on smaller monitor. Blame it on the web page
designer for poor design for users not wanted to use the highest
resolution that their monitor or video card can support just so they
can squint at smaller characters. More (on the screen) doesn't always
equate to better. The page author showed a 12-inch ruler and you're
trying to see it in a 10-inch window. You need to make his 12-inch
ruler look smaller by upping the video resolution.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Addendum: I have this problem even with MS websites, such as
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/community/default.mspx

My screen cuts off just beyond the word "blogs" on the right side.

It looks like the stupid page designer hard coded the page for a window 1024
pixels wide. The only way you can avoid the bottom scroll bar is to have a
window (and therefore a monitor display) that is at least 1024 pixels wide.

 

[Claude Schneegans]

It looks like the stupid page designer hard coded the page for a
window 1024 pixels wide.
According to stats (see http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/stat_trends.htm )
about 79% of users have a 1024 wide or more screen and about 17% are
still using 800.

According to my own experience, at least 90% of people still having a n 800
are using the default installation value set by the manufacturer and
don't even know they
could set the resolution to 1024 or even higher in their configuration
panel.

That leaves less than 2% of users really limited to 800 px.
So who is the most stupid: the designer or the user?

 

[Leythos]

So who is the most stupid: the designer or the user?

websites have a target audience, that means that some sites would be
designed around 800x600 and others at 1024x768 as their standard format.

Not everyone that visits a site is part of the target audience.

While most people use 1024x768, many people over 40 use less than that,
which makes up a large part of the internet user base.