Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Pop-up and resized windows

For the ultimate in control-freak, fixed-width page design, you can specify not only the size of your web page, but also the size of the browser window itself.

One way to get the browser window “just so” is to open a new browser window automatically (known as a pop-up window) set to specific pixel dimensions. The drawback to this technique is that pop-up windows have become associated with annoying, force-fed advertising banners. Many users have learned to close a pop-up window before the content even has time to load. The seriously annoyed folks may have taken the time to install a pop-up window blocker on their browser. Others may simply have JavaScript turned off for security or whatever reasons. The lesson here is not to put critical content in a pop-up window, and if you do, label the link accordingly to let people know what to expect.

Another, more drastic, approach is to run a JavaScript that resizes the user’s current browser window to accommodate your design. In my opinion, this is just bad manners—like visiting a stranger’s house and rearranging their furniture without asking. But I will qualify this statement by saying that no technique is entirely off limits. Sometimes an otherwise bad practice may be the appropriate solution. In this case, automatically resizing the browser window might be a good backup technique to make sure a web-based kiosk window is always sized appropriately.