Fixed Width Forums: Why?

[Azonaco]

I'm new to the forum ownership arena.......please forgive my ignorance if this is a commonly known question...

but why do the large/popular forums use fixed width as part of their template/forum design?

[Webnower]

I find it annoying to view any website that's fluid width because I have a large resolution monitor.

[Keith Cohen]

I hate fixed width myself. I have widescreen also, but that doesn't mean I have to browse with the browser maximized.

[briansol]

i have a 30" monitor with 2560x1600 res, and i also HATE fixed width design.

I will shrink my browser window to what i want it to be. don't force me to view something 800 wide when i can fit 4x that if i want to.

[Azonaco]

Thanks, that's what I thought, I've seen a couple of forums go to smaller fixed widths...and it looks so cluttered by the time the side bars and thread loads...

[ssslippy]

I tend to run multiple gaming sites with extremly complicated designs that just wouldnt be possible with a fluid width. Ive actually tried to converting one to fluid that I designed and the code was so overly complicated and couldn't do it meeting web 2.0 standards. Sometimes its just not physically possible.

[briansol]

Anything is possible

They key point here is to design your sites with repeating elements in mind.
be it a 1px background color in the middle or right that will fill/tile, or a repeatable pattern that can be chopped off at any given time.

This is a great concept. it's a shame he stopped writing to it 4 years ago :(
http://www.1976design.com/blog/

visit it a couple times, and watch the header change. he runs like 1000 graphics, and depending on feeds for weather, time of day, etc etc the header changes, sheep are grazing or sleeping, and the sun is out or its raining. it's really bad-ass.

minor explanation here:
http://www.1976design.com/blog/colophon/

[Chris-777]

I hate fixed width as well, but I'm designing my new site that way this time around because I find it a LOT easier to design when I know exactly what it's going to look like. Too often on my old site I'd end up making something that looked awesome at 1920x1200, but terrible at 1024x768.

[BamaStangGuy]

Fixed width rocks for adsense. I prefer it anyway. Keeps things in their prospective place and removes a lot of white space.

[Mert Gökçeimam]

I always prefer fix width styles. It is cleaner , easier to read and looks more compact.