# "Best" Content Width Going Into 2019? **URL:** \ **Category:** RapidWeaver Classic\ **Created:** [December 5, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891 "2018-12-05T00:44:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wphall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e68b1a/32.png) [@wphall](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/wphall)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/1 "2018-12-05T00:44:36Z")
Hello- I’ve had to ignore my web site for a while and its awesome to get back into it. But, this led me to question the content width of my web site @ 1070. Is this still a good width for the body content? Did some quick research and found the following: ![35%20PM](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/realmacsoftware1/original/2X/c/c8b26979f8bb31c0f25438439391a92ec2a0f61b.png) Any opinions on the best body content width? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Basswow](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/basswow/32/12589_2.png) [@Basswow](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Basswow)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 2:39am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/2 "2018-12-05T02:39:01Z")
I would say 1000+ is always a good bet…but what I worry about much more nowadays is all the Smart(or not so)Phones and tablets. I would figure that more people use handhelds than desktops generally…? My 13.3-inch MacBook Pro has this: (2560 x 1600) ---
**Author:** ![willwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bc8723/32.png) [@willwood](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/willwood)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 8:45am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/3 "2018-12-05T08:45:42Z")
I approach this somewhat differently. I aim towards a maximum of 80 characters (including spaces and punctuation) per line. It’s an old-school rule from the print industry, but in somewhat of a rarity, it is a rule that is equally translatable across into responsive web design too. Rules are there to be broken. But if I find the characters per-line measurement regularly exceeding 80, I’ll either adjust the theme settings to ‘squash’ the main content container narrower or interject the page design with a theme sidebar, columns or some floating content (like an image, pull quote or embedded video). A width of 1070px might still be okay to use. But it depends what your characters per-line measurement is. That measurement itself is influenced by factors like font size, font weight, font family, letter spacing and CSS box model etc. ---
**Author:** ![PaulRussam](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/paulrussam/32/198_2.png) [@PaulRussam](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/PaulRussam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:44am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/4 "2018-12-05T09:44:20Z")
I normally go for 1400px with a all my content within a container (BWD BluePrint) that has a 5% padding left/right for widths below 1400. With regard to what Will said about fonts; I use Joe Workman’s FontPro to change the font size at 4 breakpoints where I aim for the 70/80 chars per line. All other content (images, graphics etc) is sized by %, I very very rarely use px unless its something tiny. ---
**Author:** ![wphall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e68b1a/32.png) [@wphall](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/wphall)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/5 "2018-12-05T17:13:37Z")
Hey Everyone- Thank you for your insights. The prospective clients that visit my sight are buyers within very large companies. Last I looked, most visitors during traditional work hours are visiting on a non mobile device with desktop taking up about 69% of viewers. But when I work on my site, I’m aggressively ensuring its very responsive and nice on mobile devices. The main reason I ask is that at a width of 1070, it looks/feels very narrow on a larger display and I find mindself scrolling up and down which might be reduced with a slightly larger content width. Guess I should dig down and look at the 80/20 rule of viewer display resolution and take it from there. Still wanted to get insights into what others are doing and so far, I’m glad I asked. Thanks! - Bill PS- As a 10+yr RW user, its great to see Will still active on this forum. Thanks for everyone’s time! ---
**Author:** ![anugyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9a140/32.png) [@anugyan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/anugyan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/6 "2018-12-05T21:12:28Z")
Hi Paul, I find this interesting as it is one aspect of presentation that for some reason I find challenging and sort of let it go. Do you use columns to break up text blocks? How do you keep it to 70-80. The posts above range up I00 chars and are bearable to read. I know its not a fixed thing. Whats the psychology behind it? ---
**Author:** ![PaulRussam](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/paulrussam/32/198_2.png) [@PaulRussam](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/PaulRussam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/7 "2018-12-05T21:18:15Z")
To keep it in the 70/80 range I simply change the font size to suit the width(s). FontPro makes it easy but it’s still a case of trial and error until the particular font you’re using hits the sweet spot. It’s not an absolute rule but aiming for 70ish is easy enough, I can’t remember where I heard about it but I know it’s just one of many good typography principles to follow. ---
**Author:** ![PaulRussam](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/paulrussam/32/198_2.png) [@PaulRussam](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/PaulRussam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/8 "2018-12-05T21:23:49Z")
A quick G search came up with this [http://webtypography.net/2.1.2](http://webtypography.net/2.1.2) Piece on larger type [http://mikeyanderson.com/optimal\_characters\_per\_line](http://mikeyanderson.com/optimal_characters_per_line) ---
**Author:** ![anugyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9a140/32.png) [@anugyan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/anugyan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/9 "2018-12-05T21:33:41Z")
Could you post a link to one of your sites so I can see it visually? ---
**Author:** ![PaulRussam](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/paulrussam/32/198_2.png) [@PaulRussam](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/PaulRussam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/10 "2018-12-05T21:42:55Z")
I haven’t counted (as I said it’s a guide, not a rule) but this one should be 80’ish at various widths [https://www.hometurf.dma-ni.com](https://www.hometurf.dma-ni.com) Obviously it’s going to be more/less per line as you change browser width but as I said above I use a FontPro to change the font size as 4 breakpoints to try and sorta maintain the ratio. ---
**Author:** ![anugyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9a140/32.png) [@anugyan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/anugyan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 6:20am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/11 "2018-12-06T06:20:59Z")
Okay, thanx for the link- I will take a look. What Iam aiming at is more to get a visual feel - thats how I understand the idea of it. Im not really a ‘rule’ type! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/system/32/25301_2.png) [@system](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-content-width-going-into-2019/23891/12 "2019-01-05T16:20:59Z")
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