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Exactly this. You can either having pages that scroll horizontally or content that reflows. There is really no other option available when dealing with a layout

Exactly this. You can either having pages that scroll horizontally or content that reflows. There is really no other option available when dealing with a layout that can be arbitrarily resized (edited to add: there are a couple other options such as scaling down all individual UI elements, or simply removing some elements but those aren't really viable solutions in most contexts). Since we have collectively decided that horizontal scrolling is unacceptable in almost all web contexts, that leaves reflowing content when the window gets smaller. I understand the complaint and I sometimes have a similar frustrations. But, what other options are there that don't introduce horizontal scrolling?

thinkloop 6y ago
Not all reflowing is created equal. Say you knew for certainty your users were only on desktop. In that case you may still want responsive design but it will likely be a different responsiveness than what we get with the cliff dive to "the mobile site". Reflowing can be done gently and granularly at the exact maximum points needed with minimum changes - rather than the stark nuking to a completely different site at 700px.
- ncallaway 6y ago
  Sure, but even if 100% of your users will be on a desktop site, you still need to deal with a browser window that has resized down to 300px. At _some_ point, you will have to have a significant transition if you have an website that is mostly optimized for a desktop, full window experience. I agree that many sites overdo the transition, but there are some things that really do warrant a phase-change at some point.
  - Scarblac 6y ago
    > Sure, but even if 100% of your users will be on a desktop site, you still need to deal with a browser window that has resized down to 300px. In that case I would prefer the scroll bar over implementing a whole separate layout just for the 0.1% who resized their window to 300px for a moment.
datagram 6y ago
> But, what other options are there that don't introduce horizontal scrolling? - Wrapping the menu to a second line - Moving menu items that don't fit to an overflow menu Both of these would preserve spatial memory for all of the earlier menu items.

thinkloop 6y ago

Not all reflowing is created equal. Say you knew for certainty your users were only on desktop. In that case you may still want responsive design but it will likely be a different responsiveness than what we get with the cliff dive to "the mobile site". Reflowing can be done gently and granularly at the exact maximum points needed with minimum changes - rather than the stark nuking to a completely different site at 700px.

ncallaway 6y ago
Sure, but even if 100% of your users will be on a desktop site, you still need to deal with a browser window that has resized down to 300px. At _some_ point, you will have to have a significant transition if you have an website that is mostly optimized for a desktop, full window experience. I agree that many sites overdo the transition, but there are some things that really do warrant a phase-change at some point.
- Scarblac 6y ago
  > Sure, but even if 100% of your users will be on a desktop site, you still need to deal with a browser window that has resized down to 300px. In that case I would prefer the scroll bar over implementing a whole separate layout just for the 0.1% who resized their window to 300px for a moment.

datagram 6y ago

> But, what other options are there that don't introduce horizontal scrolling? - Wrapping the menu to a second line - Moving menu items that don't fit to an overflow menu Both of these would preserve spatial memory for all of the earlier menu items.