Change width from 1140 to 960?

[dev]

I'm using the Optimal theme but this would apply to most any Genesis child theme.

Optimal's default width is 1140 px.

Client wants a 960 px width.

This code does it:
.wrap {
max-width: 960px;
}

Question: is this likely to break something in a genesis child theme? I've put the CSS in and so far all seems fine:

http://ruffdogbooks.com/wp/

What is the story with widths? Is 1140 and 96 sacred or something? Can you have any width you want?

http://ruffdogbooks.com/wp/

[David Chu]

Hi Dev,
If all is fine, that's great! This used to be a big deal to change, as widths of things were all pixel dimensions, requiring loads of places be changed. In newer themes this problem is solved by percentages, so other items will "look" at your 960 or 1140 and resize accordingly.

960 used to be the more-or-less standard because desktops at a certain resolution were the main way of viewing the web.

For a better answer than I can give, check this out:
http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/life-beyond-960px-designing-for-large-screens--webdesign-7348

I'm betting your client is old-school. 🙂 I sometimes get clients that are fighting tooth-and-nail against change. At least no one is asking for Flash anymore. 🙂

Dave

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Dave Chu · Custom WordPress Developer – likes collaborating with Designers

[dev]

Thanks so much for this link. It explained a lot. Looks like we can have sites of any reasonable width.

I've been using the Cobolt Dynamik theme which seems to default to 960 for some reason... but it lets you change to any width you want... and I was wondering if there was some secret sauce to what widths were better or best.

Thanks again.

Dev

[David Chu]

You're welcome!

There's nothing actually wrong with 960 - the original intent of that, apart from the general size, was to have easy multiples with which to make columns. 1140 also divides very smoothly - into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. 🙂

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Dave Chu · Custom WordPress Developer – likes collaborating with Designers

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