Input Wanted: Splash Page Dimensions

Unfortunately I was a consultant/contractor at a privately held corporation , so the report isn't available.

I will lok through the Nielsen white papers and see if he has any similar research.

Hi Websquad,

When designing a Web site or Web page, you will want to design for the most popular screen resolutions. It does not matter how big of a monitor the user may have. What matters is the screen resolution of the monitor. The recommended screen resolutions are 1024x768 and 1280x1024 respectively. However, keep in mind that browsers can subtract up to 50 pixels from the left and right margins, and up to 200 pixels from the top and bottom margins. As a rule-of-thumb, design for the most popular browser (IE7, Firefox 2, Firefox 3), but use a table-less, fluid layout to ensure that the Web site degrades gracefully to resolutions as low as 800x600. This is the best safeguard, since it is impossible to design a Web site to look the same in every browser, platform and screen resolution. You can test your design at different screen resolutions using the Web Developer Toolbar for Firefox. If you are creating a mockup of the Web site or graphics for the Web site in Fireworks or Adobe Photoshop, be sure that you set the dimensions of the canvass to the screen resolution that the Web site will be. For example, if the screen resolution of the site is going to be 1024x768, then set the image/canvass size to 1024x768 pixels. This will help you design the site more accurately.

Just an FYI - When it comes to resolution, especially for non-profits, your research on your users should drive your minimum resolution, not what's most common.

I've done a lot of work and some applications for schools, school organizations, etc. What we found was that we needed to go down to 800 resolution for the secretaries and lower level administrators at the school districts because they typically had older equipment, and they needed that resolution to best perform with the web applications.

This isn't the case with "main stream" web sites, but non-profits, some government, etc. still need the 800 resolution. it all comes down to researching your user base and monitoring your Google Analytics or other stats.

Yes, Susan's post is correct. It is a best practice to design for your target audience and their needs. But if you do not have a way to ascertain the most used screen resolution of your users then it is best to design for the most common screen resolution. Since Websquad will be advertising the new URL on billboards it will be hard, if not impossible, to determine who will actually be visiting the site and at what screen resolution their monitor will be set at. If you don't have any real specific information about this, than it is best to design at the most common screen resolution of 1024x768 and use a table-less, fluid layout to ensure that the Web site degrades gracefully to resolutions as low as 800x600 to accommodate those that have older CRT monitors.