Update:
I've thought about this a bit more, and all I really need is your screen resolution (#3 below). If you'd rather not post it, you can send it to me by PM and I'll list it as anonymous (and I'll keep a private list of who's who to make sure I don't accidentally duplicate people). If you would like to add any of the other info or a s'cap of what's not working for you, that's fine too.
Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I've had some people comment that they're having trouble watching the cams because part of the picture is hidden under the informational panel on the right.


That got me wondering what the average monitor size is for folks who watch the cams.

So if you'd like to take part in this informal survey, I'll let Richard know the results.

1) Are you having any problems viewing/using any parts of our website/forum/cam pages/whatever (if yes, a quick summary of what doesn't work as well as you'd like would be useful)

2) Size of monitor - measured diagonally from corner to corner (just the part you watch, not the frame around it)

3) Screen Resolution - I'll put how to look that up in the next post

4) Which browser(s) do you use?

5) Do you usually have your browser zoomed in or zoomed out?

6) If you want to attach a screenshot to give us an idea how you arrange things for watching and commenting on the cams - that would be great!

Thanks!

Screen Resolution summary
JudyB - home - 1920x1080
JudyB - work - 1280x1024
Birdsie - 1024 X 768
anonymous1 - 1280 x 1024
anonymous2 - 1024 x 768
anon3 - 1680x1050

How to find your screen resolution - PC

(I have Windows XP - Vista or Windows 7 might be different, but I'm guessing they're similar enough that this will work_

Right-mouse-click on a blank area of the screen (if you can find one )

Choose "Properties" from the box that pops up.

That will bring up the Display Properties box - click the Settings tab on the right


That will tell you what your screen resolution is. Moving the slider to the right will increase your screen resolution - which means that things will appear smaller (but sharper) and you'll be able to fit more stuff on your screen at once. Moving it to the left will decrease your screen resolution, making things bigger but slightly fuzzier. If you change your screen resolution, be sure to choose one that matches the shape of your screen (my screen is quite a bit wider than it is tall, like the picture in my s'cap; if I chose a more square-looking resolution, things would appear stretched).

For extra credit, you can also check the dots per inch displayed - click the Advanced button and you may see something like this


Some people find they can see things better by increasing their screen resolution and changing their DPI from the standard 96 to 120. I'm not recommending that folks do that - just letting you know it's an option that works for some folks.

And I'll start - and will admit I just bought a new, larger monitor. It's something I'd been thinking of doing for a while, but the reason I went ahead and did it this weekend was primarily the fact that my old monitor was not large enough for me to keep a cam window open to watch Sidney while I was editing the live cams page to add the new two-cam pages for Sidney and Lafarge, and the new four-cam pages that have slightly smaller versions of Sidney, Lafarge, the old Sidney cam, and Delta OWL.

So I'll include info about both.

1) Most things worked with the old monitor, but occasionally items would disappear under the right block (as shown in the opening post).

2) Monitor Size - old was 19 inch relatively square (4x3 format); new is 23 inch wide format (16x9)

3) Screen Resolution - old had a maximum resolution of 1280x1024, and I normally used it at 1152x864; new one is 1920x1080 and I'm using it at full resolution. I used a standard dpi of 96 for both.

4) Browsers - I primarily use Firefox, but also have IE, SeaMonkey and Chrome; all are the most recent versions. I have noticed that Firefox usually puts the right column of announcements and such on top of the info in the middle, while SeaMonkey puts the middle area info on top. I don't use Internet Explorer (IE) that often, but some people also reported here and there that it puts the cam window on top of the right column data.

5) I zoom my browser in one increment when I'm having trouble reading text; I'm not sure what percentage that is. (It's not zoomed on the s'cap below).

6)

I have had trouble with the pop-up photographic color ad at the bottom of my Two-Cameras Sidney view. Notice the camera view is not centered with respect to the ads on either side of it. The HWF ad on the right partially covers some of my camera view, including covering the "x" to get rid of the color ad. When I go to "full screen" the "x" is sometimes all the way at the far right edge of my monitor--usually hidden when I am at "normal" view and HWF ad is in that location. I have the screen at 100% (the most allowed)

In the Message Center, when I compose a PM, the HWF ad on the right side covers up my "friends" list by about 75% making it hard to read, but it remains functional.

I have a 15" LCD monitor with 1024 X 768 resolution, maximum possible, 96 DPI. I use Firefox 3.6.3

View of Sidney Two-Camera with right side of colored ad at bottom cut off by HWF ad



View of my "compose message" window in Message Center with my "friends" list 75% blocked by HWF ad on the right side

MaryF made a suggestion to me--and it sort of worked. She suggested I change my font size.

I went to Tools > Options > Content and then to Fonts

With my problem, my font was set at 16.

I had to change it to 13 to get the full view of the Cam window with no intersection with the HWF ad. Actually, it knocked the HWF off the screen.

Problem is--the font is so small I can't read anything else! :blink:

So, I'd say that is not the complete solution for me yet. I'll keep trying--and can use more help if anyone else is having trouble--thank you JudyB, nightowl and MaryF and Richard for your help!

Birdsie,

I don't know if this will help but it works for me. I open the cam in Firefox, set the font so nothing overlaps it, and then open the forum up in IE and set the font big enough to read it. I expect one could reverse the procedure if you prefer to read the forum in Firefox. Just a suggestion if all else fails.

I'm not much help on this issue. I've never seen those colored ads other than on the screen shots which have been posted. Also, no ads overlapping on the sides.

I use IE for the cams, and FF for the forums. I adjust the size of the cam pages to different percents depending on how many cams I want to have up at any given time. I usually have them tiled beside the forum, rather than over or under it.

Monitor 20", Resolution 1280X1024 IE8, FF 3.6.3 and Vista.

Thank you gemini and Velma Flann--and Mary F--

I had no idea people were tinkering with their browsers and font sizes so much--I will have
to give it all a try--thank you so much!