{"id":11518,"date":"2010-02-25T20:01:05","date_gmt":"2010-02-25T14:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=11518"},"modified":"2026-10-21T15:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:36:47","slug":"website-design-tips-save-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Website Design Tips to Save Time (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Building a good site takes a lot of hours, but much of that time goes on repeated tasks. These <strong>website design tips to save time<\/strong> started as five tips from a 2010 guest post and have been updated for how designers and developers work in 2026: start from templates and components, work locally, reuse your code and let tools do the boring parts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> The biggest time savers are starting from a good template or design system, building a local development environment (Local or XAMPP), keeping a personal snippet library, using reusable headers, footers and components, and relying on browser DevTools, code editor extensions and automated checks instead of doing everything by hand.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6adb5e05aecd3\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6adb5e05aecd3\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#1_Start_from_templates_and_a_design_system\" >1. Start from templates and a design system<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#2_Set_up_a_local_web_server\" >2. Set up a local web server<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#3_Keep_a_library_of_your_favourite_code\" >3. Keep a library of your favourite code<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#4_Use_reusable_headers_footers_and_components\" >4. Use reusable headers, footers and components<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#5_Use_browser_developer_tools\" >5. Use browser developer tools<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#6_Let_your_code_editor_do_more_work\" >6. Let your code editor do more work<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#7_Automate_checks_and_repetitive_tasks\" >7. Automate checks and repetitive tasks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#8_Ask_other_designers_what_they_use\" >8. Ask other designers what they use<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#FAQ_website_design_tips_to_save_time\" >FAQ: website design tips to save time<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#What_is_the_fastest_way_to_design_a_website\" >What is the fastest way to design a website?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#Do_I_need_a_local_server_for_web_design\" >Do I need a local server for web design?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#Which_tools_save_web_designers_the_most_time\" >Which tools save web designers the most time?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/website-design-tips-save-time\/#Is_using_a_website_template_bad\" >Is using a website template bad?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Start_from_templates_and_a_design_system\"><\/span>1. Start from templates and a design system<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Templates are still the most common time saver. A good starting theme or layout gives you navigation, typography and responsive grids so you can focus on content and branding. The catch from the original post still applies: reusing one template for every client is easy to spot. Keep several starting points, and build your own small design system (colours, fonts, spacing, buttons) that you adapt for each project. Frameworks such as <a href=\"https:\/\/getbootstrap.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Bootstrap<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/tailwindcss.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Tailwind CSS<\/strong><\/a> speed this up a lot.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Set_up_a_local_web_server\"><\/span>2. Set up a local web server<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11599\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/Apache.png\" alt=\"Apache local web server, one of the website design tips to save time\" width=\"400\" height=\"64\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/Apache.png 400w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/Apache-150x24.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/Apache-300x48.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>PHP, databases and WordPress can&#8217;t be tested by simply opening a file in your browser. Instead of uploading every change to a remote server, run a local server on your own computer:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.apachefriends.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>XAMPP<\/strong><\/a>: a free bundle of Apache, MariaDB, PHP and Perl for Windows, Linux and macOS.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/localwp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Local<\/strong><\/a>: a free desktop app that sets up WordPress sites locally in a few clicks, with SSL and PHP version switching.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Test locally, then push the finished work to staging or live hosting.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Keep_a_library_of_your_favourite_code\"><\/span>3. Keep a library of your favourite code<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Every designer has chunks of code they use on almost every site: a navigation menu, a card layout, a contact form, a CSS reset. Store them in one place you can search, such as a private GitHub repository, GitHub Gists or your editor&#8217;s snippet feature. Share the library with your team so everyone builds faster and more consistently.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Use_reusable_headers_footers_and_components\"><\/span>4. Use reusable headers, footers and components<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Split shared parts of the site into separate files so one edit updates every page. In 2010 that meant PHP include files or Dreamweaver templates. Today the same idea shows up as WordPress template parts and block patterns, reusable components in React or Vue, and partials in static site generators. Edit once, publish everywhere.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Use_browser_developer_tools\"><\/span>5. Use browser developer tools<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/Web-Developer.png\" alt=\"Web Developer browser extension menu\" width=\"342\" height=\"203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/Web-Developer.png 342w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/Web-Developer-300x178.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The built-in <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.chrome.com\/docs\/devtools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Chrome DevTools<\/strong><\/a> (and the equivalent tools in Firefox, Edge and Safari) let you edit CSS live, test mobile layouts, debug JavaScript and check page speed with Lighthouse. The <a href=\"https:\/\/chrispederick.com\/work\/web-developer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Web Developer extension<\/strong><\/a> recommended in the original post is still around for Chrome, Firefox and Opera and adds handy one-click tools for disabling CSS, outlining elements and viewing image details.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Let_your_code_editor_do_more_work\"><\/span>6. Let your code editor do more work<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A modern editor like <a href=\"https:\/\/code.visualstudio.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Visual Studio Code<\/strong><\/a> with extensions for auto-formatting, Emmet abbreviations, live preview and linting removes a lot of manual typing and catches mistakes early. AI coding assistants can also draft boilerplate, but always review what they produce.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Automate_checks_and_repetitive_tasks\"><\/span>7. Automate checks and repetitive tasks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Run accessibility, broken link and speed checks with tools rather than by eye, compress images automatically, and use version control with Git so you can roll back mistakes in seconds instead of rebuilding pages.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_Ask_other_designers_what_they_use\"><\/span>8. Ask other designers what they use<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>As the original post put it, talking to experienced designers about their workflow is one of the fastest ways to discover tools you didn&#8217;t know about. Our list of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/10\/15-popular-web-designing-tips-tools\/\">web design tools and tips for beginners<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/11\/firefox-addons-for-web-designers\/\">best Firefox add-ons for web designers<\/a> are good places to start, and make sure every site covers the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/09\/essential-web-design-elements\/\">essential web design elements<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ_website_design_tips_to_save_time\"><\/span>FAQ: website design tips to save time<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_fastest_way_to_design_a_website\"><\/span>What is the fastest way to design a website?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Start from a quality template or theme, customise it with your own design system, and reuse components rather than building every page from scratch.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_I_need_a_local_server_for_web_design\"><\/span>Do I need a local server for web design?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>For plain HTML and CSS, no. For PHP, databases or WordPress, a local server like XAMPP or Local saves time because you can test changes without uploading them.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Which_tools_save_web_designers_the_most_time\"><\/span>Which tools save web designers the most time?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Browser DevTools, a good code editor with extensions, a snippet library, version control and automated testing tools save the most time day to day.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_using_a_website_template_bad\"><\/span>Is using a website template bad?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Templates are fine as a starting point. Just customise colours, fonts and layout so the site doesn&#8217;t look identical to others built on the same template.<\/p>\n<p><em>Originally written by guest author Eric Gesinski, who worked for TulsaMarketingOnline.com. Updated for 2026 by QuickOnlineTips.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building a good site takes a lot of hours, but much of that time goes on repeated tasks. These website&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-11518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips","tag-guest-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11518"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67699,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11518\/revisions\/67699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}