Cloning the "Abstract Help Center" Website Using HTML and CSS: My Journey

As a web developer, there’s no better way to improve your skills than through hands-on projects. One of my recent endeavors involved cloning a website of ABSTRACT HELP CENTER using HTML and CSS. This project, while straightforward, was a great exercise in layout design, responsiveness, and attention to user experience. I’ll walk you through the entire process and share the lessons I learned along the way.

The "Abstract Help Center" website I chose to clone was minimalistic in design, with clear, simple sections, making it a perfect candidate for a beginner-friendly, yet valuable, project.

Step 1: Breaking Down the Structure

The first step in my process was analyzing the structure of the original website. The abstract help center I was cloning had the following essential components:

Header: Contained a logo,the company name (ABSTRAT HELP CENTER) a submit button and a sign in button.
Main Section: Featured a large search bar
Footer: Contained links to other important sources like company,community, resources, and contact information.
Breaking the website down into its core components helped me visualize how I would approach each section in my clone, ensuring a smooth workflow.

Step 2: HTML Structure – Building the Skeleton
HTML served as the backbone of my project. I began by structuring the page with the key elements I identified earlier. My approach was to create a clean and semantic structure, using HTML5 tags to divide the content logically.

Here’s a quick look at how I structured my HTML:

<`!DOCTYPE html`>
<`html lang="en"`>
<`head`>
<`meta charset="UTF-8"`>
<`meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"`>
<`title>Help Center</title`>
<`link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css"`>
<`/head`>
<`body`>
<`header`>
<`div class="navbar"`>
<`div class="logo"``>
<`img src="./images/logo abstrac.png" alt="logo"`>
<`span>Abstract | Help Center</span`>
<`/div`>
<`nav`>
<`button class="request-btn">Submit a request</button`>
<`button class="sign-in-btn">Sign in</button`>
<`/nav`>
<`/div`>
<`/header`>

<main>
<div class="help-section">
<h1>How can we help?</h1>
<div class="search-box">
<input type="text" placeholder="Search">
<span>&rarr;</span>
</div>
</div>
</main>
<div class="contain">
<div class="box">
<img src="images/icon-versions.png" alt="Abstract Icon" class="icon">
<div>
<h3>Using Abstract</h3>
<p>Abstract lets you manage, version, and document your designs in one place.</p>
<a href="#">Learn More →</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="box">
<img src="images/icon-organizations.png" alt="Account Icon" class="icon">
<div>
<h3>Manage your account</h3>
<p>Configure your account settings, such as your email, profile details, and password.</p>
<a href="#">Learn More →</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="box">
<img src="images/icon-account.png" alt="Team Icon" class="icon">
<div>
<h3>Manage organizations, teams, and projects</h3>
<p>Use Abstract organizations, teams, and projects to organize your people and your work.</p>
<a href="#">Learn More →</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="box">
<img src="images/icon-billing.png" alt="Billing Icon" class="icon">
<div>
<h3>Manage billing</h3>
<p>Change subscriptions and payment details.</p>
<a href="#">Learn More →</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="box">
<img src="images/icon-authenticate.png" alt="Authenticate" class="icon">
<div>
<h3>Authenticate to Abstract</h3>
<p>Set up the configure SSO,SCIM and Just-in-Time provisioning.</p>
<a href="#">Learn More →</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="box">
<img src="images/icon-comment.png" alt="comment" class="icon">
<div>
<h3>Abstract Support</h3>
<p>Get in touch with human.</p>
<a href="#">Learn More →</a>
</div>
</div>
<footer>
<div class="container">
<div class="Abstract">
<h4>Abstract</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="#">Start trial</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Pricing</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Download</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="Resources">
<h4>Resources</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="#">Block</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Help Center</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Release Note</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Status</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="community">
<h4>Community</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="#">Facebook</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Twitter</a></li>
<li><a href="#">LinkedIn</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Dribble</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Podcast</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="community">
<h4>Company</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="#">About us</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Careers</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Legal</a></li>
<h4>Contact us</h4>
<a href="#">[e-mail]</a>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="copywright">
<p>@copywright 2022 <br>Abstract Studio Design,Inc. <br>All rights</p>
</div>

</div>

<`/footer`>
<`/body`>
<`/html`>

I utilized semantic tags like <`header`>, <`nav`>, <`main`>, <`aside`>, <`article`>, and <`footer`> to keep the structure clean and easy to understand. I also made sure that each section served a distinct purpose, making the content both functional and well-organized.

Step 3: Styling with CSS – Bringing It to Life
Once I had the HTML skeleton in place, it was time to make the website visually appealing. I focused on using CSS to style each section of the site while maintaining a clean and modern design.

1. General Styling
I started with basic styles to set up the font, background colors, and padding. For a professional and clean look, I used a simple font family and neutral background color.

* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
box-sizing: border-box;
}

body {
font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif;
background-color: #f4f4f4;
color: #333;
}
2. Header Design
For the header, I gave it a striking black background to make it stand out. The buttons links were aligned horizontally, with bold text to enhance readability.
}
.navbar {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: center;
background-color: black;
padding: 40px 70px;
color: white;
}

3. Main Content and Layout
I used flexbox to create a responsive layout. The main content consist of a search bar with a wonderful and simple background color which took about half of the main section

the other part of the main section has a white background and consists of informations on how to navigate throught the site

4. Footer Styling
I kept the footer simple, giving it a black background with white text. The links were styled similarly to the navigation bar for consistency and simplicity.

footer{
background-color: black;
}
.Abstract ul li{
list-style: none;
}
.Abstract li a{
color: white;

}

.container h4{
color: white;
font-size: larger;
display: flex;
padding: 40px;
padding-left: 20px;
padding-right: 30px;
}
.Resources li a{
list-style: none;
color: white;
}
.community li a{
list-style: none;
color: white;
}
.Company li a{
list-style: none;
color: white;
}
.Company a{
color: white;
}
.copyright p{
color: white;
}

5. Making It Responsive
The most important part of this project was ensuring that the website was responsive. I added media queries to make the layout adapt seamlessly to smaller screen sizes. When the screen width is below 768px, the sidebar and main content stack vertically.

@media (max-width: 768px) {
main {
flex-direction: column;
}

.sidebar {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}

Step 4: Testing and Debugging
Once the HTML and CSS were in place, I tested the website across different devices and browsers. I encountered a few minor issues, particularly with the alignment of the sidebar and main content on small screens. However, I was able to fix these using some tweaks to the padding and flex properties. I also made sure the website looked good on both desktop and mobile by resizing the browser window and inspecting the layout in developer tools.

Step 5: The Result – A Clean, Functional A bstract Help Center
After all the coding and testing, I was thrilled with the result. The cloned "Abstract Help Center" website looked professional, was fully responsive, and provided a clean user experience. I managed to replicate the core elements, such as the navbar, search bar, and footer, while ensuring responsiveness across different devices.

Final Thoughts
Cloning the "Abstract Help Center" website was a challenging yet rewarding experience. It helped me sharpen my HTML and CSS skills, particularly in terms of layout design, responsiveness, and overall page structure. By analyzing the original design and breaking it down into manageable components, I was able to create a similar yet unique help center site.

If you're a beginner or intermediate developer looking to improve your skills, I highly recommend taking on cloning projects like this one. They don't only help you practice core web development concepts but also expose you to real-world design patterns that you’ll encounter in many projects. Plus, there's something incredibly satisfying about seeing your code transform into a fully functional website.