why do different forum have different format?

I'm new and this may have been asked before, but I am finding that when I pull up some forums they take up more space horizontally on the monitor and I'm forced to move the slide/scroll bar at the bottom of the page right and left to read. I find this annoying because I am lazy when it comes to reading forums, brushing my hair (I will sometimes), washing cars (I never do), etc...
I've already zoomed my page to 75%.
Is there any way out of it?
John

I believe that it is caused when somebody writes a post offline (with MS Word for example), and then cut/paste it into the reply box.
An off line word processor will use the full screen for text, and the text brings with it its own LF/CR's (LineFeeds/CarriageReturns). This causes the post to be extra wide, and since the software needs to adjust the width, it does so for the entire thread.

Yes, it is rather annoying to me as well.

(We used to have the same problem if somebody embedded an extra large picture. We now have built in limits on picture sizes, so that if they are too large, only a thumbnail size will actually show on the screen. Works well. If we could only train people to restrict their screen width on text-only input, we'd all be happier.)

I'm guilty of accidentally extending pages laterally. I often write long winded pieces where I describe some new invention or idea. I was in the habit of using a long dash line to separate ideas.
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Our stalwart steward, Ken Peavey explained what was going wrong and I now limit those lines to what you see above. The preview feature is helpful in avoiding various screw ups. Thank you Ken.

Interesting. I don't have this problem with permies pages when I'm reading them live online, but when I save them to read offline (I don't have internet in my residence), a lot of them save with that irritating long-line problem. Also, they lose the nice formatting and color of the site.

It used to happen a lot with outsize photos so we changed things so that photos are automatically shrunk to a more suitable size.

We still get problems with long links though if they are pasted 'as is' rather than pasting them into the box that pops up when the URL button is hit and then giving them an appropriate, and short, name.

Thank you all!
I guess I'm just burdened with another task
And Burra I just love your signature line of enlightenment.
John

I must be guilty of this as well, because I almost always type out my comments in Word and then copy and paste into this space (though not this time, ha!). I both like to take some time to formulate my thoughts and edit, and also to have a copy of what I write saved on my hard drive, so I'm not sure that I'll be changing my ways anytime soon. Is there a way that I can help by formatting differently, either in Word, or once I've copied and pasted to here? I certainly don't want to make it harder for anyone to read my (obviously very important and interesting) posts...

Tranfer it from MS Word to Notepad (get rid of the formatting) then transfer it to the website.

I wonder if writing on the mobile site makes any differences. It is hard to write on the full site when on a mobile device because you can't see the while screen at once. The fancy tricks like the URL button are missing on the mobile site so I usually cut and paste links.

Is there a way that I can help by formatting differently

You might try reducing the width of your Word's window to match the usable space here.

The problem with transferring to Notepad is that you may end up with lines that are an entire paragraph long. If the formatting is stripped, then there are no line feeds at the end of each line - you would need to physically add them before pasting here. It would only 'break' when you get to a point where you enter two LF/CRs - [ENTER][ENTER] -like a paragraph break.