Ib Jensen wrote:
> By this, you mean that, how should I write it:
> [...]
Some say "elastic" when they mean "fluid layouts", while some say
"elastic" when they mean "em-sized layouts". Confusing.
To cut through; for the basic layout, I mean:
1: Fluid layout: all widths in '%'. (One can also use auto-width in some
cases.)
- adapt well to various viewports, but can become overly wide and narrow.
2: Conditional fluid layout: all widths in '%', + min-width/max-width
for entire layout in 'em' and/or 'px'.
- adapt well to various viewports, and can *not* become overly wide or
narrow.
- if 'em' is used for max-width, I sometimes refer to these as
"conditional elastic" since they behave as fluid and 'em'-sized at the
same time.
3: Fixed layout: all widths in 'px'.
- can't adapt to anything.
4: Em-sized layout: all widths in 'em'.
- can't adapt to anything.
Basic layout variants:
5: Fixed - fluid - fixed: overall width in '%', with fixed-width side
columns and fluid main column.
- adapt well to various viewports, but main column can become overly
wide and narrow.
- also comes in 2-columns fixed-fluid or fluid-fixed, and in other
column-mixes.
6: Conditional fixed - fluid - fixed: overall width in '%', with
fixed-width side columns and fluid main column, + min-width/max-width
for entire layout in 'em' and/or 'px'.
- adapt well to various viewports, and main column can *not* become
overly wide or narrow.
- also comes in 2-columns fixed-fluid or fluid-fixed, and in other
column-mixes.
7: Overly backwards and unnecessary complex "adaptive fixed/em-sized"
layout: width in 'px' or 'em', + max-width in '%' and min-width in 'em'
or 'px'.
- can adapt to various viewports to a certain degree, but 'em' sized
tends to break under font resizing stress unless all font-sizes are left
at default.
Font-size for all the above in "whatever" unit, but preferably in '%'
and/or 'em' for optimal end-user friendliness.
FYI: I most often use a "2" or "6" variation with generous min/max
limits. For my personal site I use "6" and mix in "conditional elastic"
for the main column in an otherwise "fixed-fluid-fixed" layout. A bit of
cross-container absolute positioning tops it up.
I then add in mediaqueries to reconfigure the entire layout for really
small screens, and look to the future for help ;-)
In essence: one can mix in layout variations in one layout "to kingdom
come" and get away with it, as long as one understands the "adapt or
fail" concept ... and test well.
Not possible to make really old/obsolete browser play along with
everything though, so one still has to be pragmatic and make choices for
under which conditions ones creation has to work and under which it may
be allowed to fail - and how much it should be allowed to fail.
However, ones creation should only be allowed to fail for real in those
old/obsolete browsers, as one should be able to at least "hope" that
makers of new browser versions know what they're doing and can make
_their_ creations work.
Think I got the above about right. Hard to compress "a thousand choices"
into a mail.
regards
Georg
--
http://www.gunlaug.no
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