Readable screen width, writeable screen width and what makes us comfortable:
We actually did a mini-survey on this and discovered a thing or two. As it turns out, a lot depends on the monitor each reader is using that defines the unconscious "Comfort" zone.
We also discovered that space to write was a bit different that the space to read.
On most 17" and 19" flat screens, it turns out that the most comfortable read/write windows are exactly as UBB has on their home page, right here, except that the ability to extend the write window down as we have it set on our forum, doesn't seem to be turned on here.
This means islands on the left and right of modest size.
That said, we have never been able to figure out how to compress the middle so it doesn't take up so much space left to right as to cause the right hand islands to disappear a bit on the right hand side. Oh well.
What makes us comfortable for reading is the average size of a hard back book page. What makes us comfortable for typing is the average size of an email window.
