We truly care about how well our site appears to you. With this in mind, we have created easy to follow guidelines which will allow you to optimize your browsing experience at Designing Online and throughout the entire Web.
Optimize Your Screen Resolution
Screen Resolution is very important. It is like a magnification level on your screen. If your screen resolution is set low, you may find yourself having to scroll sideways to see many pages. If you experience this problem quite often, you'll be happy to know that not only can your screen settings be easily changed, but we will walk you through the process step by step.
Step 1 - Determine Your Current Screen Resolution
If your Javascript is turned on, your screen resolution is indicated above, otherwise you must first find out what your current settings are. You really don't need to understand what Screen Resolution is. You only need to know that most web sites are designed to be viewed with a screen resolution of no less than 800 x 600. If your screen resolution is set at 640 x 480, you will find yourself scrolling to the right on many sites.
At the top right hand corner of your screen, you will see this - Clicking the first button will reduce the current window to an icon at the bottom of your screen, clicking the middle button will reduce the size of the current window and clicking the last button will close the window.
Reduce this screen by clicking the middle button and either minimize or close all other programs so that your Windows background is visible.
Right Click your mouse against the screen background and click Properties.
Click Settings.
The information provided will show your Color Palette settings, Desktop or Screen Area settings.
Within the Desktop or Screen Settings, it will indicate your screen resolution, such as "800 by 600 pixels".
If your resolution is already at "800 by 600 pixels" or higher, you can already view most web pages. You may stop now. Otherwise, proceed to Step 2.
Step 2 - Before You Make The Change
Depending upon the abilities of your Video Card, increasing your screen resolution might decrease the number of colors your monitor can display.
Take note of your current Color Palette settings.
In the Desktop or Screen Area, slide the indicator arrow towards More.
If the Color Palette setting does not change or as long as it does not go below 256 colors, you can proceed, but everything on your computer will look much better using 16, 24 or 32 bit color settings in lieu of 256 colors.
Step 3 - Changing Your Screen Resolution
With your new Desktop or Screen Area setting set at "800 by 600 pixels" or greater, click on Apply.
If you don't see the Apply button, press your Tab key "4" times and then press Enter or Return
A warning or instruction menu will appear. Choose OK or any option that does not require a restart of your computer. This message varies.
Windows will attempt to make the changes. If it detects a problem, it will restore your original settings within 15 seconds, so don't panic if the screen goes haywire.
When the screen changes, accept the changes and you're all set. Not only will your browsing experience improve, but all Windows applications will look better and you won't have to do nearly as much scrolling.
Breathing Life Into Your Browser
Useful Hints
Always use the latest browsers. If you are still using Internet Explorer 3 or Netscape 3, you are missing out on many features built into most Web sites. This web site, for example, is best viewed with Internet Explorer 4 or greater. Version 5 or greater is recommended. Netscape version 4.? has proven to be full of bugs. Upgrade to version 6 ASAP.
In your browsers Options area, make sure JavaScript is on or enabled. Going on the Internet without JavaScript is like going to the store without money. It's no fun. The sentence below is an evaluation of your JavaScript.
Increase your browser window size. Always browse with your browser window maximized. In addition, you can eliminate some of the task bars near the top of your browsing window which will reduce scrolling.
Clicking the first button will reduce the current window to an icon at the bottom of your screen, clicking the middle button will reduce the size of the current window and clicking the last button will close the window.
