Webmaker.org is the hub of all things Thimble, but some people want to use the tool for pages that live elsewhere on the web. Kyla Drushka, a researcher at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (and the sister of one of the Webmaker team!), had just such a need:
“I’m looking for job now and I thought it would be a good idea to have a more professional website. The one I have is embarrassingly boring: black text on white background and blue links that turn purple when you click them. I wanted something slightly better looking, but not flashy. And I wanted it to live on the Scripps website.”
Thimble is a simple free tool to create and share your own web pages. It allows you to write and edit HTML and CSS right in your browser, then instantly preview your work. You can host and share your finished projects on webmaker.org, or you can copy the code and take it elsewhere, as Kyla did.
“I started looking at the Thimble templates. None were really appropriate for me, but I thought the rotating postcard was cool, so I went from there.”
“I just started changing stuff; it was so simple because you can see exactly what’s going on in the preview window. I changed the image and the text colour and the font. Before long it ended up being a totally different website. When I got to where I liked the look of it, I copied the HTML into my own file; Thimble allowed me to do that, and I feel like I learned a lot in the process.”
It’s experiences like these that make Thimble such a fun tool for teaching the web. After just an hour or two of experimenting, users are often surprised by how much they HTML and CSS they’ve picked up.
“The cool thing is that there’s no commitment: you don’t need to download software, you don’t need to buy anything, you don’t even have to make an account before you can play with it! If you have a vision, or you find some sites you’d like to remix, you can make it happen.”
Thimble starter Makes
Why not give it a try? We have a great selection of starter Thimble Makes. Find one that inspires you and start playing around with the code. There are no rules to what you can do: take it, break it, make it your own! Just remember to share what you create with us – we love seeing what you come up with.
Get Involved:
- Learn more about Thimble.
- Check out the rotating postcard.
- See Kyla’s remixed website.
- View other starter Thimble Makes.
- Share your remix on Twitter with the #webmaker hashtag.