Beginning Blogging Series: Resize The Right Way

Andrew Martin Creative Director

If you are a blogger, or publish web content via a content management system, you likely use images alongside your content in order to create an enhanced reader experience. Blogging platforms such as Wordpress and CMSs such as Joomla make it easy to add images to your content without a lot of technical experience. Generally, these systems allow the blogger/author to resize the displayed images to the user's liking.

However, many blog / CMS platforms do not physically resize the images; they simply alter how large or small the browser displays the images. This can result in a needlessly large file being loaded, only to display in a relatively small area. The result is wasted disk space, and more importantly, poor image quality and significantly longer page load times.

Does the 800 Wide Limit Still Apply?

Andrew Martin Creative Director

For many years, 800 pixels wide was considered the 'safe' setting when creating a web layout. After all, a large percentage of the population were running 800x600 resolutions, and there is almost nothing more annoying than horizontal scrolling when browsing the web.

In recent years, I have always found it hard to imagine someone running 800x600, unless they were visually impaired or simply didn't know how to change the default (on some OS versions) resolution, and wondered how many people were actually still using resolutions less than 1024 pixels wide. After a quick browse around Google Analytics, the truthful answer to that question is now very few.

The Quality of Quality Content

Kyle Faber Account Director

With every new website we work on, and every new client we receive content from, the more I come to realize how little we emphasize the importance of quality content.

A seemingly nonessential part of the website design process, the development of content is usually a chore taken on by the client. This is becuase the client usually believes that they are masters of grammar and can easily compose content that will be beautifully orchestrated by their grand conductor of a website. And while this may be true in some cases, we tend to see the opposite. Or in other cases, the client chooses that they do not want to spend the relatively minimal amount of money, in most instances, it will cost to have someone with experience develop the copy for them.

Now, this is all said in no offense of course, and if the client wants to unknowingly butcher one of the most important aspects of the project, who am I to say otherwise? Well, I think I will be the one to say otherwise, and if given the chance, what I can say [and will say], will be a very well stated point.