Readable screen width, writable 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.
Just saying.
Larry
I think where you are going here is more design related rather than feature related but it is an
excellent point. YOU as a webmaster have absolute control over the layout of your site and your forum and the display width is no exception. In fact, it should be the first thing you consider and it places very high in your style sheet. Having your content width dynamically adjust to your visitors screen size and resolution leaves a lot of room for bad or un-intended things to happen especially if you are more advanced with your use of CSS and use "float" for example. A crowded or poorly organized web page is uncomfortable to view.
I have noticed that a fixed width is a common design element and one that I have come to favor. Going by observation and looking at my own web stats that show my visitor's screen resolution, defining 1000 pixels for a site's width seems to be almost standard not to mention "safe." Often you can get away with dynamically sized web pages but sometimes it just looks bad... in MY opinion. Taking control of the width and defining how you utilize the space on the screen is the best solution.
How does this tie into the UBB Forum and the side bars? They will dynamically size themselves. You can define and limit the width in the CP but using both side bars in a 1000px space is crowded. I chose to eliminate my side bars and place carefully chosen islands on the bottom. A few of my members even asked if wee really needed that crap. Gotta love thier frankness! EVERY forum/community will have different needs and some will have custom islands beyond what is provided with the UBB software. My users are not needy and in fact, half of the information I chose was for me (the webmaster) and the rest is ultimately of functional use for my community.
Do you really need an island for the calendar AND a link to the calendar in the menu? Do you really need to show a featured member or the top posters? Do you need to show a random photo AND the latest photos? My users know where the gallery is. The use of a shout box escapes me. But to repeat, every forum is different and maybe I am just weird. Some wise decisions and planning could resolve these issues for you. The great thing is that the UBB forum software does give you a lot of flexibility. You just need to learn how to tame it to be most effective for you and your community. Someone reading over my shoulder just said "It's called finding balance stupid!" LOL!!!
