Top 5 Tools for Website Development & Web Design
With the advent of responsive design, HTML5 and CSS3, web graphic design and web development in general has grown rapidly the last 5 years. With new markups and backends for developers to utilize, designs are getting more and more intricate and allow for greater user interaction and connectivity. Social network advances have also proven to grow with strides and the integration of social aspects on websites has driven even faster growth for user sharing and communities.
With that said there has been an advent of great tools for designers and website developers alike to utilize to enhance workflow and increase the ease of designing a functional website. The following list of tools and resources for web developers should be saved and employed by designers everywhere. So without further adieu:
1. Dreamweaver – Perhaps a staple in the web development world, and while this is more of a standalone software, we feel that Dreamweaver has every right to be up here as it is utilized by the biggest web design firms worldwide for both its functionality and awesome core set of features which allow for extensive web design of any level.
2. Photoshop – So yeah no web design list of tools would ever be complete without the ubiquitous Photoshop thrown in the mix. Again this is more of a full service software than a tool but all the same it serves as a long-standing staple in the web development and design industry.
3. Firebug – A great, free, open-source in browser tool that originally started on the Firefox browser and more recently has been copied for chrome by “Web Developer Tools”. Both of which provide the same insightful information for web developers to view code on the fly and download resources for web development.
4. Notepad++ - I don’t know how I used to code in notepad or WordPad way back ages yonder. With the advent of Notepad++ you no longer have to search endlessly through your markup for missing semicolons and brackets. Color coded markup adjusted text editing done flawlessly. A must have tool for any coder and/or web developer.
5. Panic Coda – The Mac version of Dreamweaver with some added incentives for teamwork by allowing designers to collaborate efforts and reduce the need for further software to handle FTP, CSS and control groups for teamwork. Coda makes it a breeze by providing one window workflow and will sync file transfers, editing, SVN, CSS and even “Books” which embeds searchable web books to help you with those tricky programmer spots.
Notable Mentions:
Fireworks, Illustrator, Flash, CSSEdit, IETester, GIMP, PSPad
Overall the tools are only going to be guide, the design and development come from within the person
Designing Your Website
There are different ways to creating a website for your business or any type of reasons for that matter. Web development has come a long way, and at this point, almost anyone can create a web site of their own. However, not everybody can be successful into creating a web site that a lot of people would want to visit.
One thing is for sure, you will need to have certain sets of skills to be able to make your web site a success.
One skill that you might want to acquire is the ability to make use of JavaScript to your advantage. It is a language that you can use to get things happening in your web site like no other. Of course, you will need to choose a framework that will suit your goals for your web site so better make sure you understand which one is the best depending on your needs.
Photoshop is another thing. Being able to fully utilize this tool to your advantage can benefit your web site in tons of ways. This will give special effects to the designs of your web pages, and can easily help you attract more visitors to come back for business.
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