CSS templates

[Makaveli2007]

Hello,

I'm mostly interested in the SEO/online marketing side, but think it's important to know how to build a website, etc. so I've learned HTML and CSS and can put together a basic website without any problems.

In one of the books I used to learn CSS from, there are quite a few website templates that look just fine to me, however reading the book it doesn't sound like the author would want anyone to copy them and use them for their own sites (though he suggests playing around with them, etc.).

So what I'm wondering: Are there any books on CSS that contain a CD with templates like that, that I could simply use and edit them for my needs? Or maybe just a CD like that without a book?

P.S.:

I'm not asking for a recommendation or a link (I know that's not allowed here), but am wondering if such things exist and if it's worth looking for stuff like that (maybe they exist, but are super expensive? or maybe they don't exist?). I know there are websites like that out there, but most of them want you to keep the link (which I can understand, but don't want to do)

[4css]

Google is a wonderful search tool if you use the correct terms.

Also, if you try out the templates, I'm sure that if you practice them enough, you would be able to come up with something on your own.

give it a try, you would be surprised at how easy it can be.

And even though you might find any templates online anywhere, make sure you check it over good as sometimes they have errors in them. Validate them and check in the different browsers that you are able to do so in.

[Makaveli2007]

thank you for the reply. I'm just a little bit concerned about taking a template from somebody else without having any real proof that I was free to use it. So to make sure that is the case I would have to check his website regularly to see if he still has that design on it/and offers it for free, etc.. hope you get my point?

Whereas with a book/CD-Rom or something that has free templates ready for use on them (and the book states you're free to use any of them (including any pictures used in them)), I wouldn't have to worry about it. I'd just pick a template and then edit the code so it fits my needs (and wouldn't have to be paranoid over nothing) :-).

Any ideas what one could do to not have that problem? Maybe make sure the author's site is cached at archive org or something?

[SuzyUK]

code is free (images are not).. generally it's accepted that if you gain inspiration from code you would put a wee credit into your css to the person/site from where you gained the inspiration

I get lots of emails asking my permission to use code, to me that's just a nicety for them even to ask and I respect them asking - I will remember them before others!

download whole templates and replace the images with ones of your own.. you're good to go

going by the fact that images may be on archive.org is just a cheats ways of doing the same thing, just because someone knew graphic design and could make graphics doesn't mean to say they knew what a robots.txt was? using common sense and "hat tipping" via the code is my opinion the respectful way

-Suzy

[Makaveli2007]

thanks for the input SuzyUK.

It seems to me that using nothing but html and css my website would look rather..well..boring and that often it's the picture in the header (or other images used to make the website look prettier), etc. that really makes the website look good. I'm not sure what it's called in English but I'm particularly trying to refer to those small images that contain one color that goes gradually from say light blue to darkblue..which is then used in the CSS code to make the background a lot more stylish than simply using one blue.

However, I guess in order to do these things I'd have to learn a bit more about photoshop (and buy a program like this), but I'm really just a college student interested more in the marketing side of the web (SEO, web analytics, etc.), plus I'm not having an easy time in college right now, so I guess I don't really have time to learn anything like that in the short-term.

Is this easier than I think? Are there good sources where I could get such images for free? I had to recycle ideas of my own (lol), but maybe there are CD Roms that can be purchased, which include such image files for web designers?

thanks!

[SuzyUK]

ah yes I see, so it's the image part of it you're interested in.. the overall theme/template - there are tons of free to use Wordpress templates which I think would be hard pressed to copyright their images as they've already been ported to other CMS's

now I'm not that great on graphics myself, though am getting better. You can get a lot of images for free, though chopping out the right part to the right size is the first bit to learn. You can also get free icons in a lot of places which help spruce up todays designs. As for gradients(fading backgrounds), well that's just a matter of learning, or wikipedia has a lot of images which are free to download

most times I think it would be really hard to copyright a gradient though.. use a repeating background image inside a rounded corner box (made in CSS, moz or opera), take a screenshot and you have an image - not as flexible as some but you made it, no?