Setting the Width of Your Page
When developing a Web site, you will have to assume some information about your audience's system specifications, such as the following:
Monitor size and resolution
Operating system
Network
Browser type and version
Color depth
For example, if you are designing a site where you know your target audience is high end users who will be accessing the pages on an intranet running Windows 2000, through Internet Explorer 5 and on 17-inch monitors, you can safely design pages to that audience's specifications. If you are not certain, you will have to design for the lowest common denominator, which generally means designing for multiple browser versions and platforms, several operating systems, including both Windows and Mac, and for 14- to 15-inch monitors at varying resolutions and color settings. You should also consider how well a page will print given the width of the design. We recommend that you use a standard page width of 580 pixels or fewer when creating your design. GoLive assists you in setting the width of your page for designing.
To Do: Setting Page Width
Follow these steps to set your page width:
Open a new page in GoLive by choosing File, New, from the menu, or typing Ctrl+N (Windows) or Cmd+N (Mac). A new untitled page will open.
Locate the Window Size menu in the lower-right corner of the page. Pull down the list. The numbers in the list reflect the width of a page in pixels.
Click 580 from the list to design for 14- or 15-inch monitors, and 780 for 17-inch monitors (see Figure 3.11).
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Figure 3.11 To set the width of your Document window, choose 580 for 14- or 15-inch monitors, or 780 for 17-inch monitors.
The Window Size menu also offers Window Settings as an option. This feature enables you to set the default size of your Document window and the position on your monitor that you would like any new page that GoLive creates to be situated.
CAUTION
The Window Size settings are for your own use when designing in GoLive. The users' actual browser windows are not affected by these settings. They still have the ability to resize their windows to whatever size they would like. The Window Size settings are to help you determine how your pages will look at certain widths.
To Do: Setting Default Options
To set your default size and location options, complete the following steps:
Place your page in the position on your monitor screen where you would like all new pages to open.
Set the default page size as described previously.
Select Windows Settings from the Window Size menu in the lower-right corner of the page.
In the dialog box that appears, check the HTML Windows box.
Click the OK button.
To remove your settings and restore the default options for page size and location, follow the same steps, but choose Use Default Settings instead of OK (see Figure 3.12).
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Figure 3.12 To restore the default settings, choose Use Default Settings in the Window Settings dialog box.