Screen resolution question

Not sure if this is the right place to post this question because it is not specific to html or css and it's more of an opinion question than a technical one so feel free to move it if there is a better place.

Over the past few months, I have been tracking stats on our website - http://www.ucancap.org - and find that less than 10% of our viewers use a screen resolution lower than 1024x768. My question is this: Is there a generally accepted rule for what screen resolution a website should be designed for?

The current site is really not pretty in certain resolutions and/or screen sizes (I was going for a completely fluid layout and failed miserably). The revamped site will be solid divs and tables with a more modern look, but I'd like to create it for 1024x768 and higher resolutions.

I've only created a couple of websites, so I don't have the experience that many of you bring to this forum. I would appreciate a more professional opinion.

re: Screen resolution question

Here is an article that discusses this question. In my opinion I would design it for the masses. This way more visitors would have a better experience. You can not please them all.

--Kevin

re: Screen resolution question

Great article, thanks!

re: Screen resolution question

The thing to remember is that many people will not view your site full screen. My wife has a huge screen and rarely has her browser set to that. I measured it once when she was out of her office and it was somewhere around 800x600. I frequently surf with a small than full screen browser, too. Especially when I'm trying to take notes of what I'm reading.

Sometimes it's just not possible to make a page look good in a smaller size. I still make sure my sites look good at 640x480 because I know that when I shrink my browser, that's about where it lands.

re: Screen resolution question

So, what I'm taking from this is that I should go ahead and design the screen for a higher resolution, but make sure that the "mission critical" content is limited to the top left 640 x 480 or at least 800 x 600?

I'm glad I asked. That puts a whole new spin on my redesign. I guess I'd better start by identifying which content is "mission critical."

Since the website has two target audiences - those who use our services and those who help us provide those services - this is going to be a really tough design I think. My original sketches for the redesign had a menu on each side of the screen; one for each target audience.

Well, back to the research stage. Thanks for your help! If you have any more helpful ideas, I'd love to hear them.