A complete virgin to web design (sort of)

[Southerner]

Hello everyone,

Apologies if this has been posted many times before and for annoying certain members:

I am relatively new to web design. In Dreamweaver what is the recommended screen resolution size for the webpage to be easily viewed on all monitor sizes?

This may sound like a stupid question -If I am designing the webpage on a Mac then I preview this on a PC or the same vice-versa, what should I do to make the page appear same or similar on both Mac and PC? I've designed a webpage using Dreameaver on Windows at work which it looks fairly OK on IE6/7 and Firefox PC but it is all over the place on Safari and Firefox Mac!

Many thanks for any help

 

[nightelf]

It used to be 800x600. I think 1024x768 should be ok now.

 

[jng]

It used to be 800x600. I think 1024x768 should be ok now.

I still design for 800x600.

what should I do to make the page appear same or similar on both Mac and PC?

Code better. Check out some of the stickies in this forum for some great resources. Are you using tables or css? Usually it's the latter that throws people off.

If you post specific examples, people here will be glad to point you in the right direction.

 

[sushi]

I would shoot for 800x600 as it will look on almost any monitor/system that is out there.

 

[ppc_michael]

If I am designing the webpage on a Mac then I preview this on a PC or the same vice-versa, what should I do to make the page appear same or similar on both Mac and PC?

It should look the same on any browser on any platform. I'm not familiar with Dreamweaver (I code by hand), but make sure you're using the latest standards, something like XHTML and CSS.

As for resolution, the long-time rule of thumb has been to design for 800x600. Personally, I would recommend designing with 800x600 in mind, but using more of a fluid width. For example, this MacRumors forum page stretches as you resize to fill the browser, but it still works and a smaller width.

 

[wakka092]

Use percentages. I use the div attribute to seperate the sections (menu, header) and in an external style sheet (CSS) I have the menu positioned absoluteley using percentages and width/height using percentages as well. That way the layout will conform to the viewer's screen regardless of size/resolution. Hope that helps; just don't be afraid to write your own CSS.