Most websites obey an imaginary fold line and make sure that the heart of the site sits above the ‘fold’. This might be set to change as more and more sites are taking advantage of the endless space that a web page offers

One example is the ‘Unlimited’ site for Orange by Poke, where there is no actual end and you are able to continuously scroll down the page.

It’s understandable that there were certain benefits to keeping content above the fold line in the early days of the web. Screen resolutions were generally much smaller and internet download speeds were much slower, meaning that it was even more important to reduce the amount of content on each page. The main reason behind shorter pages was because of the naivety of the users who were less likely to scroll.

But this has all changed, screen resolutions have increased meaning there is more visible space available. Most people now have broadband internet connections meaning that more content can be downloaded. Also users are a bit more search-savvy, aided by the popularity of mice with scroll wheels.

There is a definite choice to be made as to whether you continue to stick to the fold line or follow the evolution of web users. It’s always vital structure information therefore reducing the amount on each page. So are large scrolling websites offering a new way to do this? It definitely lifts the barrier of the fold line but by removing the end of a page there will be much more emphasis needed on the structure of the individual pages.

I think there are pros and cons for each – endless pages for blogs and newsfeeds could work well. For most sites it may just create a endless ream of information that begins to lose its structure.