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The goal of the 37signals fold is to grab attention and try to lock in interest. They are fully embracing the concept and importance of the fold. People aren't

by ssharp 15y ago

The goal of the 37signals fold is to grab attention and try to lock in interest. They are fully embracing the concept and importance of the fold. People aren't arguing that ALL of you content needs to be above the fold. The argument is that the fold gets the most attention from your audience. When you're optimizing, you should optimize the things that will have the biggest impact first. Many times that is the content above the fold. And let's not forget that a general web page is going to attract different audience. This article seems to be saying that since you went below the fold on their article, that you will go below the fold on everything. That's false. I went below the fold on this article because I went to the page specifically to read the article.

deleted 15y ago
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wmeredith 15y ago
>People aren't arguing that ALL of you content needs to be above the fold. I've been working with corporate and non-profit clients of all sizes, from mom-and-pop's to fortune 500, for the better part of 5 years now. (I'm the online Marketing Manager at a Web Development Agency-I code, too) Across that whole gamut of clients I still hear people arguing for literally everything above the fold. It's a conversation I have at least once per quarter. (I've even had it with start up founders.) There are three client education conversations I've had at least one of every month in the last 5 years. 1) The difference between a web browser and the internet which usually stems from discussing graceful degradation in web design and functionality. 2) Why the fold is not as big of a deal as you think it is. 3) The difference between SEM and SEO. It's not the most fun thing in the world, but it's the reality of building websites for people with money.
imjk 15y ago
I agree, the 37 Signals page doesn't disprove the value of the top fold. The argument for content above the fold was never entirely about people not reading below it (even for newspapers). It's about above the first impression you give to a user and enticing her to stay engaged. There's definitely benefit to getting certain information across in that first impression when they land on your page.
- dspillett 15y ago
  Exactly. Above "the fold" should be what is needed to draw the user into looking further down. A squashed up mess of many details and buttons/links, which is what often follows from following the "everything above the fold" rule, is not going to do that. Unlike a newspaper that needs to attract you as you glance towards a rack containing it and other similar publications, a website already has your attention to an extent and as you've probably just followed a link (rather than the site having opened in a pop-up/under window) you chosen to be there and have at least a vague idea about what to expect - the first half-screen does not need to compete with other half-screens to grab the user's attention, it just needs to not put them off (in the case mentioned in powertower's post, by mentioning cost too early).

by ssharp 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

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wmeredith 15y ago

>People aren't arguing that ALL of you content needs to be above the fold. I've been working with corporate and non-profit clients of all sizes, from mom-and-pop's to fortune 500, for the better part of 5 years now. (I'm the online Marketing Manager at a Web Development Agency-I code, too) Across that whole gamut of clients I still hear people arguing for literally everything above the fold. It's a conversation I have at least once per quarter. (I've even had it with start up founders.) There are three client education conversations I've had at least one of every month in the last 5 years. 1) The difference between a web browser and the internet which usually stems from discussing graceful degradation in web design and functionality. 2) Why the fold is not as big of a deal as you think it is. 3) The difference between SEM and SEO. It's not the most fun thing in the world, but it's the reality of building websites for people with money.

imjk 15y ago

I agree, the 37 Signals page doesn't disprove the value of the top fold. The argument for content above the fold was never entirely about people not reading below it (even for newspapers). It's about above the first impression you give to a user and enticing her to stay engaged. There's definitely benefit to getting certain information across in that first impression when they land on your page.

dspillett 15y ago
Exactly. Above "the fold" should be what is needed to draw the user into looking further down. A squashed up mess of many details and buttons/links, which is what often follows from following the "everything above the fold" rule, is not going to do that. Unlike a newspaper that needs to attract you as you glance towards a rack containing it and other similar publications, a website already has your attention to an extent and as you've probably just followed a link (rather than the site having opened in a pop-up/under window) you chosen to be there and have at least a vague idea about what to expect - the first half-screen does not need to compete with other half-screens to grab the user's attention, it just needs to not put them off (in the case mentioned in powertower's post, by mentioning cost too early).