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HTML How to Make a Website CSS: Cascading Style Sheets Style the Basic Elements

Cristiano Porto
Cristiano Porto
5,850 Points

max-width??

So i have a question... Is there a specific reason the code is set for 940px? Is that a general thumb rule when building mobile websites? or is it simply a random number that the instructor picked out? Should I always use the max-width property on all my body elements?

css/main.css
a {
  text-decoration: none;
}

#wrapper {
  max-width: 940px;
  margin: 0 auto;
}
index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Nick Pettit | Designer</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/normalize.css">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/main.css">
  </head>
  <body>
    <header>
      <a href="index.html" id="logo">
        <h1>Nick Pettit</h1>
        <h2>Designer</h2>
      </a>
      <nav>
        <ul>
          <li><a href="index.html" class="selected">Portfolio</a></li>
          <li><a href="about.html">About</a></li>
          <li><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></li>
        </ul>
      </nav>
    </header>
    <div id="wrapper">
      <section>
        <ul>
          <li>
            <a href="img/numbers-01.jpg">
              <img src="img/numbers-01.jpg" alt="">
              <p>Experimentation with color and texture.</p>
            </a>
          </li>
          <li>
            <a href="img/numbers-02.jpg">
              <img src="img/numbers-02.jpg" alt="">
              <p>Playing with blending modes in Photoshop.</p>
            </a>
          </li>
          <li>
            <a href="img/numbers-06.jpg">
              <img src="img/numbers-06.jpg" alt="">
              <p>Trying to create an 80's style of glows.</p>
            </a>
          </li>
          <li>
            <a href="img/numbers-09.jpg">
              <img src="img/numbers-09.jpg" alt="">
              <p>Drips created using Photoshop brushes.</p>
            </a>
          </li>
          <li>
            <a href="img/numbers-12.jpg">
              <img src="img/numbers-12.jpg" alt="">
              <p>Creating shapes using repetition.</p>
            </a>
          </li>
        </ul>
      </section>
      <footer>
        <a href="http://twitter.com/nickrp"><img src="img/twitter-wrap.png" alt="Twitter Logo"></a>
        <a href="http://facebook.com/nickpettit"><img src="img/facebook-wrap.png" alt="Facebook Logo"></a>
        <p>&copy; 2014 Nick Pettit.</p>
      </footer>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>

1 Answer

Ryan S
Ryan S
27,276 Points

Hey Cristiano,

No there is nothing special about 940px. It all depends on your project and how you want it to look and respond. If you are dealing with mobile design and responsiveness you may find more often than not that you'll be using percentages instead of pixels to set your container widths. But even that isn't strict. Some things may require precise sizing. There is a lot of freedom in the way you choose to design a website.