Borrowing Ideas from the Web and Incoporating Them Into Your Own Web Design

Here’s a question I hear all the time: “When I see a website I like, how do I take the idea and use it for my own site?”

Well the short answer is, you don’t — at least without permission. Most websites and designs are copyrighted, so you need to be really careful about how you approach this subject. Before you go stealing someone else’s website, you might want to ask permission.

Having said that, it’s a lot easier to borrow content from the web than most people think. For instance, if I like the way a sidebar or a navbar is designed, I’ll borrow the  code and play with it until I find the elements I like, and then I’ll use it to make my own designs more flexible, efficient, user-friendly, or fun to look at. I do not steal other peoples’ designs, and I don’t advocate you do it either.

Here’s how difficult it is — at least for basic HTML and CSS:

1. Get a web browser that allows you to view a document’s source. Most, if not all of them have that feature today.

2. Copy the HTML and related CSS content you like.

3. Paste them into appropriate files in Dreamweaver (or whatever app you use to manipulate web files).

4. Start playing.

It’s really that easy! For more complex features — like those generated by JavaScript — you’ll have to take it to a higher level. But if you just want the basics, the instructions above will give you everything you need.

Paco Ahlgren

www.MyTechTool.com