8 replies to this topic

[boxtel]

Just seeking your opinion on this thing I have been scrambling with.

In the past I used to determine the clients screen resolution by sending out a js.
That would give me the screen resolution and I would put it into a session variable so that that client would receive the pages designed for that resolution.
Designed means, bigger/smaller fonts, bigger/smaller images, more/less colums in the product listings, etc.

The big drawback was that because it neede to be done in js, it would take at least 1 immediate redirect back to the site. Now I am only on a 800Mhz 256MB machine so any additional processing on my server part is a big issue.
It works great however with the additional advantage that you can see if the client has js enabled or not.

Still, for performance reasons I decided to make this resolution thing option/manual. That means that now everybody who enters my site does so at a 800 by 600 resolution and I have added an option to change that to 1024 by 768.
Both in the navigation bar and the footer. These settings are still stored in session variables and influence not only the loaded CSS files but also the processing of column widths, image sizes, column counts, etc.

This will save me the mandatory redirect but ofcourse will make the initial page smaller for customers who have 1024 by 768 or even higher.

Any thoughts on this from you ?

*edit* - the contribution may be downloaded here

Edited by Johnson, 18 June 2005 - 02:14 AM.

[badboo]

@ amanda

Nice Shop! You put a lot of work into that! Maybe I get as good one day too  
Now you asked for thoughts here you get them:

Personally I am not turning away from a website if it's just a bit smaller then the usual 1024 x 786 filling ones. My screen resolution is 1280 x 1024 which makes 800 x 600 quite small but it's still absolutely bearable and I wouldn't have problem ordering from that site.

Of course it's nice to have the choice of switching the screen resolution but I wouldn't use that feature as I am not that picky about that. I wouldn't even see the feature unless I read to the bottom of each page!!!

OK I think in your case I would simply setup the shop with a fixed size for 1024 x 768 as propably not a lot of people still browse with either 800 x 600 screen resolution or others with a 1024 x 768 resolution but with the Favorites tab open (in IE) or something similar like that. Me as a client or customer would quickly close the Favorites tab to see your page in full and be done with it.

If you think this is too much work for your clients then of course a solution needs to be found to adjust page width, image and font sizes automatically. I am not familiar with this but if the effort of programming is not a question do it   !

I don't know how extensively your Javascripts are bothering your system memory but as I was experimenting with JS image effects on my page my system performance went down like a shot bird. Even the simplest effects caused my system performance to max out and made surfing unbearable. I checked my performance while I was on your site and did not experience anything really out of the normal but "something" was happening and I am not 100% sure if this came from your Javascript effects or anything else? You are propably more experienced with that.

The Flash solution underneath the Currency box I think is the better way to go!

I am just thinking of the load time of your site - which took me (DSL) about 7 seconds until the whole page was there. I don't want to know how long it takes for 56K users. Supposedly they are still out there...

I guess that's it for now! Good luck with your site! Casi

[Simplyeasier]

boxtel, on Mar 18 2005, 08:56 PM, said:

Just seeking your opinion on this thing I have been scrambling with.

In the past I used to determine the clients screen resolution by sending out a js.
That would give me the screen resolution and I would put it into a session variable so that that client would receive the pages designed for that resolution.
Designed means, bigger/smaller fonts, bigger/smaller images, more/less colums in the product listings, etc.

The big drawback was that because it neede to be done in js, it would take at least 1 immediate redirect back to the site. Now I am only on a 800Mhz 256MB machine so any additional processing on my server part is a big issue.
It works great however with the additional advantage that you can see if the client has js enabled or not.

Still, for performance reasons I decided to make this resolution thing option/manual. That means that now everybody who enters my site does so at a 800 by 600 resolution and I have added an option to change that to 1024 by 768.
Both in the navigation bar and the footer. These settings are still stored in session variables and influence not only the loaded CSS files but also the processing of column widths, image sizes, column counts, etc.

This will save me the mandatory redirect but ofcourse will make the initial page smaller for customers who have 1024 by 768 or even higher.

Any thoughts on this from you ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hey amanda - how about making that processing a contrib - great stuff

I think keep it as you have now - small res will not turn people away - scrolling left and right will.

Also if you have less server work now - win win all round

I would love to be able to do the same but for connection speed rather than resolution   ( small/ few or No images for dial up etc etc )

Charles

[boxtel]

Simplyeasier, on Mar 19 2005, 07:57 PM, said:

hey amanda - how about making that processing a contrib - great stuff

I think keep it as you have now - small res will not turn people away - scrolling left and right will.

Also if you have less server work now - win win all round

I would love to be able to do the same but for connection speed rather than resolution  ( small/ few or No images for dial up etc etc )

Charles

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks, ok, it is a contribution now.

[Thomas_Burke]

I'm just trying your contribution and I noticed a small typing error:

In the intructions it says:

// turn on automatic(true) or manual(false) screen resolution
$use_auto_resolution = false;

if ($use_auto resolution) {

This last line should be:

if ($use_auto_resolution) {

As a total newcomer to PHP I'm still struggling a bit with it.

[Thomas_Burke]

Thomas_Burke, on Jun 6 2005, 04:12 PM, said:

As a total newcomer to PHP I'm still struggling a bit with it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I notice on your own site at http://www.crystallight.com.tw (nice site by the way) that the resolution is set in a session variable if javascript is on, and isn't if it's off. I tested it with your site with javascript on and off and it works perfectly.

Sadly, I can't get the same to work on my own site - no session variable at all.

Do you have any ideas if you have time?

[GraphicsGuy]

badboo, on Mar 19 2005, 12:42 AM, said:

... I would simply setup the shop with a fixed size for 1024 x 768 as propably not a lot of people still browse with either 800 x 600 screen resolution or others with a 1024 x 768 resolution ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My current stats show:

1. 1024x768.........59.40%        
2. 800x600 ..........23.51%        
3. 1280x1024.........7.06%        
4. 1152x864...........3.12%        
5. 1280x800...........1.28%        
6. 1280x960...........0.94%        
7. 1440x900...........0.80%        
8. 1600x1200.........0.73%        
9. 1400x1050.........0.73%        
10. 1280x768.........0.31%

So I would not reccomend going to entirely 1024x768.  As Charles pointed out, people won't usually leave because it is too small, but they will leave if they have to keep scrolling left and right.

Simplyeasier, on Mar 19 2005, 07:57 AM, said:

I would love to be able to do the same but for connection speed rather than resolution  ( small/ few or No images for dial up etc etc )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would love to have that too.

[wheeloftime]

Nice feature without doubt ! One thing I would keep in mind however is that people can have a screen resolution of 1024x768 but keep their browser window at 800x600.
I do that myself as I don't like to have the browser window obscure my whole screen. This means that despite my 1024x768 screen resolution I have to scroll in your site or either use the 800x600 option or make my browser full screen.
Just a small thing but nevertheless. For that reason I develop my site for 800x600 only until larger screen resolutions as 1024x768 get common.

[boxtel]

wheeloftime, on Jun 7 2005, 08:43 PM, said:

Nice feature without doubt ! One thing I would keep in mind however is that people can have a screen resolution of 1024x768 but keep their browser window at 800x600.
I do that myself as I don't like to have the browser window obscure my whole screen. This means that despite my 1024x768 screen resolution I have to scroll in your site or either use the 800x600 option or make my browser full screen.
Just a small thing but nevertheless. For that reason I develop my site for 800x600 only until larger screen resolutions as 1024x768 get common.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe the BR&R contrib version now covers the browser vs screen size.