We finally learned to center a div, then browsers added sidebars

Post by saghm » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 4:48 PM UTC

thiht wrote: post #169

saghm wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It would just be hard to read because of long lines, shorter lines are more comfortable That's a pretty subjective view, and one at odds with literally every other website I can think of

That's actually pretty objective, long lines force you to move your neck and your eyes more which is more straining. I rarely read HN comments on my laptop because of the unreasonable line width, it feels much more comfortable to read on my phone

You're literally describing your own subjective experience. I can move my eyes all the way to each side of my screen with my neck stationary, and I don't feel strained. "Subjective" doesn't mean I'm saying you're wrong about your experience; I'm saying you're wrong about my experience, which you are.

Post by saghm » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 4:52 PM UTC

tredre3 wrote: post #159

Telaneo wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And here I am, comfortable with and prefering lines at or above 200 characters. Given how many other changes have been made in the name of UX that have been gone compleatly against what those letters stand for, I'll press X to doubt on that one. To be fair, I read fairly quickly, so maybe this is true if you only read 100 words per minute or whatever.

Short columns aren't (only) about overall reading speed, it's about comfort. When you're done reading a line your eyes must move back to the start of the next line. With short lines you can still fully see the end of the previous line so it's easy to locate. It's a lot harder to do with long lines.

I don't understand this logic. If I was uncomfortable using the entire width of my monitor, I would have gotten a smaller monitor instead. I find moving my eyes less annoying than moving my fingers to scroll; I often don't even rest my hand on my mouse or keyboard when reading, because I can use my hands for other things at the same time, or even just rest them somewhere else.

My point isn't that everyone will agree with me, but that all of these experiences are subjective. The only actually objective signal that the UI developer has is the width of the screen, so that seems like what should be used. Some amount of margin isn't unreasonable, but asserting that my display is "too large to be comfortable" is dogma, not science.

Re: We finally learned to center a div, then browsers added sidebars

Re: We finally learned to center a div, then browsers added sidebars