One of the most important things about a website is the size, obviously I don't want it too big or too small, I have been told from numerous sources that 700px wide is what it should be. The thing is, how do I get it to automatically expand to fit a persons resolution, do I have a background the size of 1260 and then the actual content 700 wide, is there code i can insert to make it automatically adjust. I have messed around with some ideas (Im using dreamweaver) but if I start on a wrong foundation I am afraid I will have to redo everything. Any help is much appreciated.

700px.... lol... this isn't 1998.

Only about 7% of internet users use an 800x600 resolution. You are better off upgrading it to a 1024x768 resolution (closer to 50% of users). The 1260 background graphic could go wider as well, more like in the 1600's.

Only about 7% of internet users use an 800x600 resolution

According to your stats ? Just be careful of such generalizations

You can use min and max-width to accommodate a wider range of resolutions. Unfortunately IE6 doesn't support that method w/o javascript -but it's do-able.

If I make a fluid design, my minimum is 780px wide. Be careful of going too wide, text gets really hard to read if sentences get reeeeeeaaaaaaallly long on screen.