feature-request - Make the horizontal scroll bar optional. In other words, option for enabling and disabling responsiveness.
There have been concerns from users with high resolution monitors this, this and this. My answer is from point of view from a low resolution.
Space taken by Q&A is reduced
In one of the previous posts, Ch-ch-ch-changes: Left nav, responsive design, & themes Joe Friend has explained this responsive design is a result of long requests from users having low resolution devices. There is also a statement in the question
This benefits people who have lower resolution devices or like to have multiple windows in view.
But in practice, it is not benefiting. There are some issues.
I use a device with low resolution (1024x768). This is how it looks to me.
The right side bar is squeezed into a single window which makes the content (Q&A) sandwiched between left navigation bar and right side bar. They take very less space. The new responsive design fits everything in a single window. This squeezed As a result, the space taken by the right side bar didn't change but the space occupied by Q&A on the screen has decreased.
In the current design, the main focus is on Q&A. We can scroll with the help of horizontal scroll bar the missed part in the right side bar. The space taken by Q&A is not affected at all. So, that should be continued. At least there should be an option to select it.
The look of the question is also damaged. If the question is edited by a user other than OP, the editor's avatar and OP's avatar shows in vertically rather than side by side.
Only option we have to avoid this is to disable navigation bar. In a previous post entitled Left nav, responsive design, and theming next steps, you wrote,
We are committed to the left nav, but based on your feedback we'll be addressing some key concerns.
If the bar is always disabled, it is as good as not having it at all. If this left nav is only limited to users with high resolution devices, the goal of having a nav bar is not achieved. I hope having horizontal scroll bar will solve this problem.
More problems with right side bar:
bugstatus-completedWhen the left navigation bar is enabled, users are not be able to comment properly. "Add comment" overlaps with the Hot Network questions.
We all are humans (well, most of us), we make mistakes. If we click on any o Hot Network question mistakenly while clicking on "Add comment", it takes us to a different site. We should get back to the comment and write it again. It is a waste of time. Not only it's an issue of time management, it doesn't good.
This effect can be minimized to some extent if the navigation bar is disabled. But there is an overlap of "Add comment" with the Hot question bar. Add comment button touches the site icons in Hot Network Questions. It doesn't look good.
From 1024x768 resolution screen, Browser: Firefox updated version. Also reproduced with Google Chrome updated version OS: Windows 7
status-planned We still have a scroll bar in the profile page in the new responsive design just like the old design.
Some user reported it as a bug but that should not be removed. I request that sort of behavior for the devices with low resolution. Users with higher resolution do not see this scroll bar at all as the current design and responsive design fits within a single window. So, there would not be a problem for them. It will be helpful for us.
Regarding sticky Topbar, it is an excellent choice.
The left navigation bar is almost empty. It would be great if more options are added into it. Home and Questions are the ones many visit. Add more frequently visited options in the left navigation bar.
That's all from me at the moment.