X-Cart forums

[webtron]

Cart Stretch Stretching Expanding

Hi,

I've noticed that many stores here contract and expand depending on the page you're looking at.

What things cause this?
How is that prevented?
What files are modified so that is always centered, nonexpanding, and looks good on 780px wide?

Some examples of overstrechted pages:

Not too expanded: http://jeannieleigh.com/store/home.php

More expanded:
http://jeannieleigh.com/store/product.php?productid=16490&cat=0&page=1

Not too expanded: http://www.enchantedenvelope.com.au/xcart/home.php?cat=268

More expanded:
http://www.enchantedenvelope.com.au/xcart/product.php?productid=16271&cat=268&page=1

[balinor]

Width of the site is controlled by Rectangle_top.tpl. You can either set it to a fixed width (like 800px) or fluid (100%). It is a personal preference really. We used to design for the lowest common denominator, which was 800x600, but that number has now become 1024x768.

The pros of a fluid layout is it will expand/contract with whatever resolution the customer is using. The con is that it can often look bad at higher resolutions, as large blank areas appear.

The pro of a fixed width layout is it stays the same no matter what resolution the user is at. The con is it can leave a lot of blank space on either side, and if set to a dimension over 800, can cause anyone still using 800x600 to have to scroll.

You also have to be careful not to have extra wide images, as they can often push things outside of 'framework'.

[webtron]

Thanks Balinor...I've read many of your posts here.

In this same place I can set it to center?

How do I determine the max width of the images so that it doesn't expand the cart framework?

[balinor]

Well, if you set your overall width to 800px and your left hand menu is 150px, you shouldn't go over 300px or so to allow for the product description and spacing. I wouldn't go bigger than that anyway just from a file size perspective. And yes, you can also center the layout in rectangle_top.tpl.