Just wondering if lesser width/fixed widht gives members a better @home feel? Feeling like its a small place where you know and meet people. This is my observation from my experience at AF and wtricks

Well, I think that the reason that some websites width seems "lesser" is because they are fixed width. There are still hordes of people that use a smaller screen resolution, like 800x600, so to them, this forum fills up the screen. I agree that it does look nice, having white space on either side of a web page. If you want your users to all experience the same feel as you experience here, you'll have to use a fluid width design, which is considerably harder to design for across browsers.

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That's the main reason most do it, yes. It's always better to have everyone able to view your forum comfortably

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Hmmm...I suppose it could have an effect on the community feel of a forum, but I kind of doubt it.

When done correctly, a fluid design can look good...but the fact of the matter is that you can do many more things with a fixed design than you can with a fluid design...which is why a lot of people go fixed, us included. The header you see here at AF simply could not be done on a fluid design. We tried it, but it looked terrible on a 1200+ resolution.

Most fixed designs are designed for 800 resolutions...which is ironic, because most people use a resolution greater than 800...but you've got to keep the minority in mind, because a wide design looks worse on a 800 resolution than a narrow design on a 1024 resolution.

800x600 resolutions are becoming more rare every day, so there will become a time when 1024 fixed widths will become the norm.

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I never thought about this .. I desing my sites mostly on fixed width since I have some ideas about how to make the layout and it would look bad on a fluid design. But as long as the design is good, I think people are comfy

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I definitely like having some room to spare. I prefer forums to either be about 800px wide (maybe slightly wider) or 90-95% of the screen. To have an entire monitor covered in content is a bit overwhelming, a background can make the users feel more comfortable.

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Good thing I saw this post. I am wanting to make the width of my forum template fixed for www.unleashedgaming.org
How do I go about doing this?

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my forum http://www.fitnessforums.org is fluid, but also not 100% wide