Create New Xsitepro Templates by Studying Existing Web Sites

Study A Websites Structure, Layout and Source Code with This Free Tool

One of the challenges involved in creating Xsitepro Templates is coming up with new exciting xsitepro template designs. One of the best ways to get the creative juices running is to do some surfing, once you find an interesting web site you can study it further with a free tool called Httrack.

Just because you own Xsitepro doesn’t mean you can get away without ever learning any html. Html is the basic coding of any website and although you can read up on how to use html, there’s nothing like seeing html used in real life.

The wysiwyg editor of Xsitepro works very well, however there are times when you will need to know some html to get things right…so you better learn html coding! Below is a post I did in the Xsitepro Forum hoping to help some of my fellow xsitepro users with a free tool that will help them study html coding in existing websites.

OK…man, you guys/gals have come up with some really good stuff.

Anybody ever use HTTrack Website Copier?

Before you start thinking this is illegal, remember just about anything you put online is accessible to anybody….I don’t like it anymore than the other guy, but and that’s a big but, it depends on how you use this material.

Bottom line, if you download someone else’s stuff and use it on your website or sell it then you are a thief…plain and simple, your a thief just like any other parasite.

However, as a webmaster HTTrack can do many things for you.

First let me tell you what it does. Basically it downloads the entire website to your desktop, complete with folders files ect.

This is from the HTTrack website:

It allows you to download a World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer. HTTrack arranges the original site’s relative link-structure. Simply open a page of the “mirrored” website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads. HTTrack is fully configurable, and has an integrated help system.

There are a number of ways you can use this tool. For instance if you are working with a person who has a website up and there has been an argument between the domain owner and the webmaster, and the domain owner hired you to redo his site….You can download almost everything on the server.

I almost hesitate sharing this tool because I know there will be some that will use it in an unscrupulous way. Please don’t think you can download someones site and steal their content, images and site structure…..that would make you a real jerk!

Once I had a client that was a doctor and they wanted to put 100’s of pdf’s directly on their site that came from another doctor. The other doctor gave their permission and I was able to use HTTrack to grab the needed files.

Basically, I use the tool to grab a website and plug it into dreamweaver and study how the site was put together. I’ve learned a lot of tricks and I’ve been able to duplicate affects that I would have never figured out on my own. So….in essence for me, it is a great learning and teaching tool.

You can configure the program to only download certain sections of a website. I would highly recommend only downloading what you need. Remember if you snag someone’s site that is huge, you’ll be taking bandwidth from them.

The tool has been around for a while, many people use it. Just remember to use it wisely and if you think you are going to use anything you download….please, please get permission first.

To get your free copy of HTTrack….just go to http://www.httrack.com

For some of you guys who are new to building websites, it’s a great way to learn html. You’ll be able to learn certain effects and transfer those effects to your Xsitepro websites. When you see a site with something really cool and it doesn’t show up on “view source code”, you can give httrack a try. By the way, this tool isn’t foolproof and will not grab everything, but you will get more than is available with “view source code”…..plus you can see how a site is structured.

Most will pass this by, but perfection involves understanding. Even though you use Xsitepro, at some point you need to start learning html…unless you are building only one site in your lifetime.

I’m constantly amazed at the number of people who bitch and complain the xsitepro won’t do this or that…when in the long run, some basic understanding of html and css would prove invaluable in the development of your sites.

Oh well….I better stop before I say something that gets me in trouble

Best Wishes to All!