I’m working on a new web site that currently is configured as a full height (that is, 100% available browser window) application. In terms of layout, it is something like this – http://stevesanderson.github.com/fixed-height-layouts-demo/pane-transitions-tablet.html.
Our web site does nothing with the actual browser window size, like switch browser into full screen mode. It only uses the available space.
Operationally, this is going to be a semi-internal data entry application. Almost all pages are data entry forms or summary pages
Personally, I think makes a very nice looking app. However, some of the other developers are comparing this design with content in scrollable tags to be the same as iFrames. And as such should be avoided.
Is there any background / best practices information about designing a web site this way?
I personally love sites that choose to do this; I think that it’s a great way to use up the available real-estate that you have. My one piece of advice would be to add a
min-widthand amin-heightto your page so that you don’t have to worry about your site breaking if the browser gets too small. This will not only improve the overall user experience, but will also prevent future headaches when trying to get your design to work in obscure dimensions.