too much flexibility can even move a city
Breaking the typical format here - as I don’t usually write commentary, but I couldn’t resist.
I’m learning more and more about CSS each day - but I still have some issues/conflicts with it - beyond my frustrations in learning it. I know there is a big push to make flexible layouts, but I have serious issues with the idea that “everything should be flexible”. An example of my issues… I was browsing some of the sites featured on CSS Beauty, their most recent link was to Cornell University.
Just a side note: I might be in the minority here, but still… I have a very large monitor, and very RARELY have my browser maximised. I tend to have several windows, tabs, etc. open all at once, and therefore sometimes scrunch windows down much smaller then they were ever intended to be. Usually it’s because I only want to focus on a particular portion of a page, so I scrunch the window (and if neccessary, scroll it) so I JUST see the portion I need. (leaving more room on the screen for other windows.) In so doing, I have noticed several sites, in their effort to be “flexible,” simply fall to pieces when I do this.
In the case of Cornell University - when I did this - the names of the cities actually moved. LOL!!! While I’m very impressed with their ability to put list items, carefully positioned over a map, when you scrunch the page - the cities move around. Suddenly “Doha” is a place in mexico! Who knew. 
This site is so flexible - I can even move a city. This is a good thing?
October 12th, 2004 at 6:04 pm
Hawaii… I dub thee “New York City.”
October 13th, 2004 at 8:06 am
Some designers, in their efforts to be more flexible in their designs, actually lose sight of the main reason they’re designing their site: their audience.
They don’t realize that some people don’t keep their windows maximized or use a certain resolution or may even have a personal stylesheet overriding their styles. They just create a design that looks good to them on their machine with their personal settings.
I’m not taking away from anyone’s ability to code and design a site, I’m just saying that some designers don’t realize that another person’s setup is different from theirs and that some things just don’t work as intended when things are viewed differently.
October 13th, 2004 at 6:06 pm
Thats excellent.
I wish more maps were like that, then maybe I could move country.
October 25th, 2004 at 11:31 am
Try it in a *real* browser like Mozilla - the cities remain in the right position.
They don’t need to change the design - you need to change your browser!
October 25th, 2004 at 11:41 am
I thought Firefox WAS a real browser.
October 26th, 2004 at 5:06 pm
[removing foot from mouth]
I tend to have several windows, *tabs*, etc. open all at once, and therefore sometimes scrunch windows …
OK I should have seen that you have a tabbed browser :-
Anyhow, I looked at the same site using Mozilla, and when I dragged the window into a smaller size, the dots (cities) remained anchored properly.
So it seems at least Mozilla 1.6 renders the pages properly.
[/removing foot from mouth]