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Etiquette for using someone else's code


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I want to get back into creating simple websites etc., but it has been a long time. I have checked a few of the tutorials that have been stickied for some layouts etc. and like some of the designs. If I use that code, what is the proper etiquette for giving credit? Do I do a little write up on that page or mention it in the code?

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I want to get back into creating simple websites etc., but it has been a long time. I have checked a few of the tutorials that have been stickied for some layouts etc. and like some of the designs. If I use that code, what is the proper etiquette for giving credit? Do I do a little write up on that page or mention it in the code?

Unless it is specified somewhere on the page, you should contact the owner and ask for permission. And even then, you shouldn't copy out-right, be inspired but don't steal. If you want a free ready-made site design, look at free website templates.

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You are better off using opensource CSS templates to work with. They almost always have a license that allows you to alter to your own liking. This would be a better method then going to a random website's and copy/pasting their sourcecode.

Also, don't forget that there are also a plethora of other sites you can use to help you out:

http://css-tricks.com

http://css3.info

http://w3schools.com/

http://alistapart.com/topics/code/css/

http://csszengarden.com/

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Like Martin said, you will, in most circumstances, have to contact the owner for permission. Web code, despite you being able to read it, is still covered by copyright, and copying code thats under Copyright would put you on the wrong side of the law. However, you can copy if the author of the code gives you permission, or its under an Open-Source Licence.

If it is under an open-source licence, you are legally obliged to adhere to the restrictions of the licence. If, for example, the code is licensed under the "Creative Commons Attribution Licence", you can use the code as you wish, but you must state in your code who wrote the code originally.

If in doubt though, contact the original author.

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Actually, most of the layout code in the sticky topics is presented in tutorial form. I think that in most cases there is implied consent that allows you to use such code freely (kind of like MSDN or StackOverflow; you certainly don't need permission to use code they post in the MSDN library). This is because the implementation falls under the realm of common web knowledge; that implementation is not copyrighted, but the explanation of it is. Furthermore, most of those web layout tutorials explicity say that you can use them however you want. Specific libraries are different, but if the code is presented as a "How To" article, it's probably safe to use.

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I wasn't planning on boosting someone else's code, I was mainly referring to the examples that tutorials give. I'm not planning on trying to get too fancy anyway, I just want to make a nice clean design and go from there.

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Ah right. Well like boogerjones said, Tutorial code is generally considered to be free-to-use (unless otherwise specified) since the code is usually very common anyway. Layouts and stuff are usually licenced though, so look around the site for licencing information. If no licencing information is given, then assume free-to-use :)

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