Variable Screen Width themes

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I have just been referred to Concrete5. It looks fantastic. I have made a reasonable looking trial site very quickly and am desperate to get my real site up and running as soon as possible.
I have a question though about themes. I see that there are a lot of free themes that can be downloaded, all looking pretty good. However, most of them say in the description that they are fixed width themes. With these there is a large gap at the side of each page. This gets to be a massive gap when a wide screen is used.
So my questions on this subject are:-
-Is there a reason why there are so many fixed width themes?
-Are there any disadvantages to a variable one (terminology may be wrong here. I mean one that expands to the size of your screen)?
-Is it easy to change a fixed one to a variable one?
-Are any of the free themes with variable widths and how can you filter?
Much obliged for any help.

MikeS
 
Shotster replied on at Permalink Reply
Shotster
Welcome to the C5 community.

> Is there a reason why there are so
> many fixed width themes?

I guess it's only because few (if any) folks are making fluid layouts for C5. That doesn't mean it can't be done. C5 imposes no restrictions in that regard. In fact, if you notice, most of the dashboard pages are fluid.

> Are there any disadvantages to a variable one

There are pros and cons to each approach. If you do a web search, you'll find much has been written on the topic.

> Is it easy to change a fixed one to a variable one?

The difficulty of the task depends on how the theme is designed and your level of experience with HTML and CSS.

> Are any of the free themes with variable widths
> and how can you filter?

Don't really know about that one. Perhaps someone else will jump in.

Regards,

-Steve
pvernaglia replied on at Permalink Reply
pvernaglia
Look at some of the themes that say they are "Responsive" There are some free ones in the marketplace