A LITTLE WARNING: Today is the first day of that time of the month, and when I’m in pain, I unleash a lot of things that currently frustrate me. It’s also late night and I’m sweating like crazy because of the late summer humidity in a supposedly cold and dark past midnight. Yes, I am in pain.
If my memory serves correctly, I purchased this domain in April 2014. I know I heavily relied on “ready-made” customizable themes powered by a core framework because they were easy and quick to build. In web development standards, this is not “cheating.” This is for the sake of convenience and stress-free ease, especially for those who are under deadlines. Because if using a framework-powered premade theme or any type of framework is considered “cheating,” then frameworks wouldn’t be invented by the pros and experts in the first place anyway. All that talk about “cheating” by using a tool are those coming from old fogies, traditionalists, and self-centered snobs who think that web development is “exclusive” to the real deal nerds. Well, guess what, anybody can be a nerd.
You cannot create a piece of art without specific tools such as paint, markers, paper, canvas, brushes, or even the proper graphics program, be it traditional art or digital art. You cannot craft jewelry, or sew a piece of clothing, without the proper fabrics, supplies, and tools like needles, pins, for a sewing machine. You cannot bake a chocolate cake without chocolate, flour, baking soda, and of course, tools like an electronic mixer, a mixing bowl, a baking sheet, and of course, an oven. It’s the same with building sites altogether, be it for yourself or for someone else. There is no “cheating” in developing websites or web applications, which is why languages such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, Ruby, and so on are open source.
Next, I would like to emphasize that you can’t create or build anything without first learning how. You learn from all sorts of places, from a master builder teaching others what he/she knows to finding inspirations of others’ pieces of work. But keep in mind one thing. Current experts share their knowledge to those who are interested, not to become just like them, but for them to discover new things that can enhance the craft even further, just like how it’s always been throughout the centuries. Like with art, for example. Some people can’t handle a pen or a paintbrush, but they can handle something else that can also achieve the same finished product. Thus, digital art from computers was established. And also, the evolution of a pen from using a quill to a dip fountain pen to gel pens today. It’s the same with building sites: you could build a site using just plain HTML and CSS to yourself— or you could use a ready-made framework that you can use its pre-built powers to build your base and then enhance it with your own magical touches and still have the same result— only faster and more efficient. Which one would you choose?
The reason why I’m writing this here instead of in my creatives journal is because I know that there are more people who read this blog than my creativity journey blog. I’m currently writing an entry that’s somewhat related to this one, but I’m still looking for my sources1 for me to complete them. I just find it annoying where there are some people complaining and ranting about stuff and sourcing them from other sites and such without exactly even understanding what they mean, and that article’s purpose is to debunk their complaints and, well, you know, shut up. What is it about? You’ll just have to wait and see.
As artists and builders, we all have the right to create anything we want for any purpose, but more importantly, we can be proud and happy that we have created something that can solely be ours. If we’re so worried about getting ripped off by others, for example, then don’t share them in public in the first place. There will be plagiarizers and copycats, but we should all take it as a form of flattery, not as an insult.2 I learned from my former web development teachers that it is normal for a would-be web developer to learn from other people’s source codes, as long as they are used for learning and understanding and be able to apply them to their own projects with their own personal flair. Most web development experts learn and discover their own tips and tricks that way anyway. Learning from published books and from following the teachers building their examples isn’t enough. You have to discover your own “signature” on your own, and then apply them to the basics. Use all the necessary tools available out there, and make your own trials and see which ones work for you.
Using frameworks of any kind work very well for me, from building WordPress (child) themes to building static websites. In my Ruby on Rails course program, there is one thing to note on: Ruby is the programming language. Rails is the framework that would make Ruby coding a whole lot easier and faster, and of course, giving the ability to make a Ruby program into a web application. When there are tools available, use them when you can. There’s always going to be better tools that will eventually come out. Take advantage of them. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, telling you you’re “cheating”3 or that you’re “not a real web designer/developer” and all that crap. Time is precious, which is why there’s so little of them. We have deadlines to follow. Doing things “manually” won’t get things done on time when you are given a deadline.
Somewhat unrelated, but my membership subscription to Themify is almost nearing its expiration date4 and I don’t think I would be able to afford it anymore. Thanks to my success in building my brother’s wedding site, I now plan on using the same framework5 and then create a brand-new theme for this blog, my collective, and even my writing site. I already started developing my child theme for my portfolio, as I plan on using WordPress again.
Alright. Bedtime. 
On the sidenote...
- old college textbooks… you’ll find out. [↩]
- as long as they credit their original sources… then again, not everyone is familiar about copyright issues, so instead of bitching and ranting about them, it’s best we just educate them. [↩]
- again, there’s no “cheating” in building or creating something original, unless if you’re building/creating something for a class and you want to get an A on it… [↩]
- in November [↩]
- Divi Framework from Elegant Themes – I’m a lifetime member, so everything from ET is free for me now. [↩]
September 9, 2016 @ 11:56 am
I use pre-made tools like that for work, since the whole point is to get it done asap and there’s no personal attachment. I build everything on my domain from “scratch” using only the bare basic tools (notepad) because I enjoy the process. Though I also use some tools for personal stuff, mainly art archive sites, such a Deviant Art and Word Press. Overall, both techniques have a place in my life and which one I consider to be “better” depends on the situation. I generally keep my domain DIY and use the “automatic” stuff for the purpose of displaying art and a comments section.
I think the stigma developed because in the past, back when “page builder” was an insult (as opposed to designer) those pages actually were ugly and poorly made (and often full of huge ads). Content management scripts have evolved over time. Back then it was all very generic with few unique graphics and lacked good customization, but now-days you can add a surprising level of distinctiveness to a theme if you just take the time and pour in the creativity to fully customize it. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed, whatever route you take, you need to put in the time and creativity.
It’s only a matter of time before the stigma is lost, at least I hope that it’s lost rather than shifting sides. After all, someone had to make the tools from scratch for them to exist, so there’s always a usefulness to leaning to code. You can make your own tools and modify existing open source tools to keep them relevant.
September 10, 2016 @ 1:01 am
I do stuff manually also as well. For me though, even though there is a new tool out that would make the building process a lot easier, a tool is simply a tool until you actually learn how to use it. And for me, I won’t be able to understand how to use a particular tool if I don’t know the original concepts behind the tool. For example, before I started using frameworks, I learned and built websites from scratch using HTML/CSS. It’s the same process with Ruby on Rails, where I first learned Ruby (the programming language) before I start to jump into Ruby frameworks like Sinatra and eventually, Rails. It would be like baking a chocolate cake, where you use the basic ingredients and follow the steps from the first to the next before you start getting into cake mixes and create the same thing. etc. etc.
Even though there are page builders or software similar to Adobe Dreamweaver, not everyone can make a grasp on actually building a website that is functional, cleaning, and eye-pleasing all at once. You can’t use a brand-new tool until you learn and understand the basics of building something out of scratch. It’s like with art and digital art. You won’t be able to create digital art using Photoshop (for example) without first learning the drawing/painting process using traditional methods. They may not be the same medium, but the idea and goal is the same.
I have to really give credits to CSS3 for giving us a boost on designing a site that looks good without the over usage of images and “sliced” images (oh those were the days!), and of course, minimized the basic effects like rollovers and using custom fonts and everything else (in which Javascript was used to do rollovers and we can’t even use custom fonts back then too). I think now the only images that I use are the logo (sometimes) and the background image (optional). The rest of the images would be in blog entries (when applicable). That’s it!
It just irks me when one person calls another person a “fake” or a “cheater” web developer or whatever simply because that other person uses tools and he uses them properly. It’s all just a matter of preference. :)
Adri recently posted Because I am an artist and a builder on her blog!
September 13, 2016 @ 11:50 am
Those people drive me nuts. It also seems as if they look down on those of us who have been around and know what it’s like to have no wordpress – which all of these ranting people use…isn’t that “cheating”? haha. We also all learn in different ways. Some people are visual and some people are more of a hands on learning – ie: taking a code (or whatever) apart to see what each item does. I see nothing wrong with doing your site how you want – if you want to use premade things, go for it. I know it makes things easier when you have a lot going on in life but you want a change to your blog. Sometimes it feels good to be able to change thing quickly, give yourself a bit of a creative break.
Christa recently posted Why I Blog on her blog!
September 14, 2016 @ 7:03 pm
My first-ever blog (from some 10+ yrs ago) was manually coded because I didn’t understand basic blog templating (namely with Blogger, the first (?) and only (?) blogging engine that existed back then. I think that was around 1999-2000 LOL). My second blog was powered by Blogger after understanding it, followed by Greymatter (good ol’ Perl/CGI) and then Movable Type. I dabbled with b2 (predecessor of WordPress) before, but I was brand-new to PHP and their templating system was confusing. It wasn’t until I finally “succumbed” to WordPress (it was version 1.5 or something when I first used it) and struggled with re-designing the default template LOL.
Thanks for stopping by Christa, really appreciate it. :)
Adri recently posted Because I am an artist and a builder on her blog!
September 21, 2016 @ 10:26 pm
I know I’m rather late on this post, but better late than never, right?
Like Christa, I hate those types of peoples who think they’re the only ones who can code something and the rest of us have stolen code from them. It makes me wonder how they learned how to code in the first place? Did they forget that they probably have learned how to code the same way as the rest of us? From others?! Honestly, it’s just that circle that makes me nuts and not only that I find it laughable.
In the past, I used to blog manually through notepad then upload it to Greymatter or whatever I was blogging with at the time. I love learning and honestly if someone has a certain thing that is cool, I’m going to learn it. A LOT of my friends who were once upon a time bloggers, have all told me they would look at someone’s source code and learn that way. Honestly, that is the way I had learned, except I would be bitched at and called a thief. Oh freaking well, if I’m a thief than we’re all thieves, right?
Jamie recently posted Why I Blog, and why we argue on her blog!
September 23, 2016 @ 6:31 pm
Wow, it is empowering to know someone I can relate to in terms of topics like this. This post just made me visit your creatives journal. :D
September 23, 2016 @ 7:44 pm
Hello and welcome Kate, and thank you. I’m semi-inactive with just blogging in general but I try to keep up. Keep in touch when you can. :)
Adri recently posted Like seriously, grow up and get a life! on her blog!