Fixed Layouts Vs. Fluid Layouts- What Is The Best For You?

The layout of your website defines the positions and place of all the elements on the web page. It constructs a structure in the page. Layout is very important in defining the overall look and feel of the website so that it is appealing for the visitors.

There are two classic layout option in the world of website designing- Fixed and Fluid.

Fixed Design Layouts
Fixed design layouts have a specific width and do not scale to fit the browser window. Websites that make use of it can be aligned to the left, centre or even aligned to the right as and when required.

Benefits of Fixed layouts:
With fixed design layouts you have control over the line length, flow and placement of the elements on the web page. The designer has a fixed space to work with and the line lengths of the text and the placement of images can be designated easily.

Drawbacks of Fixed layouts:
Fixed design layouts tend to leave lots of empty space on either side of the design when viewed on high screen resolutions. This dwarfs the size of the web page and gives an impression that it is floating on the screen.

Fluid Layout
Fluid design layouts use percentages instead of pixels to define their width and they fill the entire browser window. They are also called fixed or dynamic designs.

Benefits of Fluid layouts:
One of the major benefits of fluid design layouts is their accessibility features. They cater to more number of users. This is because, whatever may be the screen resolution or device of the user, fixed design layouts adapt better. It makes use of the entire browser window by spreading out. This maximizes the area for the content to e displayed and more information can be seen at one go. Therefore, there is no empty space on the window screen.
This is a better bet as compared to fixed layouts that leave a great deal of empty space.

Drawbacks of Fluid layouts:
Unlike fixed design layouts, fluid design layouts don’t let you have control on the placement, line length and flow of page items. At high screen resolutions, when users scan back and forth repeatedly, the line length can crop up some legibility problems. Moreover, when you don’t have controls on how and where the item is placed on the website, you fail to lead visitors to areas you want them to focus on.

Hybrid Designs
Designers also create a hybrid of the two by using both the fixed and fluid elements in the layout of the website. The most common application of it is a three-column layout where the left and right columns maintain a fixed width while the central column scales to fill the space in the middle. This central column inflates and deflates as and when the browser is resized or whenever the screen resolution changes.

The hybrid approach works best in most cases. The major part of the design is made fixed but the background elements are made fluid so that it fills up the browser window. It adds up the advantage of both the layouts and works well for the users. The alignment of text and images are not altered at the same time there are no empty spaces too.

By: Maneet Puri

Website Design Articles - http://articles.jdapublishing.com/

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Author's Profile: Maneet Puri

Maneet Puri leads LeXolution IT Services, a top notch web development company in India that provides an extensive range of web design services to its corporate clients. Maneet has over 10 years of experience in the industry and he shares the knowledge at his blog www.lexolution.in/blog

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