How many long nights have you spent researching and reading, trying to find a solution to your problem? I get stumped all the time, which is sometimes half the fun. Finding out how things work can lead to a wealth of knowledge. But this is not to say that I don’t get frustrated with what I feel is a very SMALL project, that has now consumed all of my attention, and appetite. Like recently, when I noticed these iFrame scrollbars kept appearing on the custom Facebook tabs we were designing, so annoying! all I wanted to do was find a solution to remove scrollbars from my Facebook fan page! Two days later I found my solution but not after a huge effort. Posting questions, emailing friends that are in the business, the search for an answer goes on and on.
After two days of effort, I can’t say that it didn’t feel great to get the problem solved and move on. Lesson learned, once again, the answers are out there you just need to find them. Often you can find what you need by taking what someone else has done before you. I have grown very fond of reworking what those before me have already created. Consider it a “remix” if you will. Putting your own creative spin on something can even be art form, I believe, whether it is the world wide web or beyond.
Along my journey I have found a number of sites that I love to use as a resource – www.dynamicdrive.com is an excellent one. I’ve learned a great deal from this site and use it on a weekly basis. Another good one is javascript.internet.com, and www.w3schools.com/js offers great tutorials. If you are looking to do some work with jquery, check out www.dynamicwp.net. You would be surprised at how much you can learn by browsing through one of these sites. If you find yourself stumped and looking for answers, and even for inspiration, use the tool that you are building for – use the web to see what others are doing and you may just save yourself from having to recreate the wheel.