Prevent Html Source Code Stealing

Recently I did some web design work for a person. I continued to show him progress by giving him a link to his new site on my development server. Nearing the end of completion, he

Solution 1:

The other answers here are just a set of hacks that can be undone.

The client side, HTML, CSS, and JS is made up of all open source technologies. While you could spend a lot of time trying to obfuscate your client side code, your best bet is just to practice better business logic.

The options open up widely on protections for server side code but your question seems to focus on client side code.

For well established trustworthy clients I am much more flexible but new clients I am super careful with. I demand progressive payments. For each deliverable there is a payment involved. That way if the relationship is ever severed both parties have what they want.

When you make yourself an easy mark for scammers you only attract scammers.

Solution 2:

IMHO a good way would be presentations e.g. with TeamViewer or a similar software when you cannot go to your customer.

You could also provide screenshots or a basic remote access with vnc or so, where you customer can see but not touch the site.

Solution 3:

What you could do, is use HTML Image Maps with screenshots to create a basic, interactive version of the final product.

Solution 4:

Use a website that have an escrow service, or an escrow-like service, where the employer pays all the money upfront to the website, and it will only be released to the coder after achieving a predefined goal.

Many freelancing websites provides this service.

Solution 5:

It's possible to encrypt your source code with javascript. Try this website: http://www.iwebtool.com/html_encrypter I never used this tool myself and I don't know if everything works well, but I think it's worth giving a shot. You can always upload the normal source code after being paid. Also, make sure that you have the right contact information of your client in the future. I also highly recommend using a contract in the future so that your client is legally bonded to pay you. Another possible option is giving your client nothing but a screenshot of the site, but of course your site will become static.