How a Simple HTML Form Turned Into a Full Project

I wasn’t planning to code today.

I opened my browser, visited Udemy, and told myself I’d just watch one video from Colt Steele’s Web Developer Bootcamp. After that I can do something else if I want. That one decision took me down a totally different path then I though it would…

I started watching a couple of videos from where I left off last time. I was going back through the HTML section and learning more about tables and forms so I figured I would just watch one video.

I happened to land on the lesson about hijacking search engines with a simple HTML form. The idea was cool — using a form to search Reddit or Google by manipulating query parameters — so I decided to try it.

What I thought would be a five-minute follow-along turned into a four-hour mini project.

Building the Demo

At first, it was just an <input> and a <form> that posted to Reddit. Then I thought:

“What if I added Google and YouTube too?”

So I did. Then I styled it. Then I added a header. Then I wrote up how it all worked. And before I knew it, I wasn’t just writing a test page — I was building a project I wanted to share.

You can try it out here:

👉 Live Demo
📂 Source Code on GitHub

What I Learned

• How to use HTML form action and query strings to submit data to existing sites
• That Reddit uses q=, Google uses q=, and YouTube uses search_query=
• How simple layout and styling can polish even the smallest project
• That motivation sometimes follows action — not the other way around

Final Thoughts

This wasn’t meant to be a blog post, or even a full project. It just kind of happened.
I think there’s something valuable in that. If you’re stuck or not feeling it, try doing just one small thing. Watch one video. Write one line. Build one form.

You never know where it’ll go.

Thanks for reading — I’ll be doing more of these small project write-ups as I move through the course.