Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Left-aligned or centered?

When you set your content to a specific width, you need to consider where it should appear in the browser window. By default, it will be aligned on the left margin, with the extra space in the browser window on the right. Some designers opt to center the page, splitting the extra space over the left and right margins. Centering the page may make it feel as though the page better fills the browser window. Figure 3-3 provides examples of each approach. Neither of these approaches is necessarily better than the other; it’s just a design decision you’ll need to make.

Figure 3-3. Positioning fixed-width content on the page

Warning

Be aware that there are a few issues regarding centering content in the browser window in modern browsers. This is discussed in Chapter 21.