On my new project I have just taken the decision to fix the page width. Each controller must decide whether to use the ‘narrow’ or ‘wide’ layouts - these are identical apart from the width given to the “main_content” div: 750px and 1200px respectively.

Why those values? Well, my target market is not likely to be using the latest and greatest computers. Most systems ship with a default resolution of 1024×768 nowadays, but because of my target I have chosen to use a narrow view (which is most of the application) of 750px - meaning it will look good at 800×600. As for the wide view, that is specifically designed for 1024×768 or higher. The layout includes a left-justified menu panel that is 180px wide - so at 1024 you can use the horizontal scrollbar to look at the entirety of the page sans menu. And if you are lucky enough to have a widescreen laptop or a higher resolution display, you can see the lot in one go.

Of course, if you’ve got a 1600 screen then these fixed widths are going to be annoying. But, as I say, my target market is unlikely to have these - so I’ll deal with that once the complaints start rolling in.