What Design Programs Do You Use to Build Your Website?

26 April, 2007 - Amy Armitage, Design, Jabber

Author: Amy Armitage

Todd and I were chatting this morning about design programs and I really haven’t built a site in such a long time. Back in the day (yes pre 2000) I was using Dreamweaver and various free templates and scripts.

What design programs do you use and what do you like about them?

We’re keen to hear from you.

Wilson

php…it blows
fredrau

yep, macromedia is one of the best … but expansive
ThirdChair.com

I mainly stick to Macromedia Studio. Dreamweaver, Fireworks and then Photoshop for any intense graphics. I have also started using Eclipse.
http://www.l-ads.org irfan

I used vi (default linux text editor). And I’m building web application. Not just static html.
Deverill

Over the years everything from a text editor (The Semware Editor) to Dreamweaver.
For fast and dirty I like HTMLKit a lot. Nice shortcuts.
For full blown I currently use Microsoft FrontPage 2003, and like clickfire, it’s mostly for code editing for me too.

Graphics would be Gimp for big edits, irfanview for quick photo crops, resizes, etc.

Filezilla is my FTP client of choice.

w3c.org validators and sometimes for info.

Finally, my best tool is Google… you can find anything out there if you hone your searching skills. I really need it for the CSS stuff too!
http://www.dhreport.com/interactive_health/index.php Mason

My new site is very code and database-intensive. I use:
Text Editor:
Edit Pad Pro from JGsoft (aka just-great-software, Jan Goeverts);

Graphics:
Paint Shop Pro 11 (may switch to the new Photoshop CS3 if it has a capability I decide I need, but Paint Shop is such a great program at the cost (@$80 vs @$700-1000) and I’m used to it — I understand it is comparatively somewhat easier to use. I have a copy of Photoshop v.6 CS2 but have never installed it — too much to learn!);
Inkscape – hard to beat free (again, Illustrator and/or Fireworks may be in my future).

Debugging:
I use a lot of javascript and PHP/mysql. After struggling with various onboard systems, I currently just upload my work for testing. I use phpMyAdmin to test mysql queries. Edit Pad Pro is very useful for simple syntax errors (matching brackets, commas, and, quotes, ending lines) in PHP.

Wish I knew how to use: Macromedia Flash — I despise ponderous Flash entry pages, but it supports some very nice capabilities, e.g. form design.
http://www.lunarpages.com Amy

I’ve personally found The ToddSTAR from Drakestorm Studios to be the best design tool.

No Todd.. I’m not calling you a tool ;)
http://www.MindSmack.com Sam

Microsoft paint and ONLY microsoft paint. No other tools required at all. Just Microsoft paint…

:p
http://www.socallist.com Aaron

I usually use Quanta Plus for editing, Gimp for images, and Firebug for live (wysiwyg) javascript and css testing/debugging. Free, open source software FTW! :)
http://www.webhostingshow.com Mitch

I’ll vote for PaintShopPro – I still use version 7. :) Has yet to let me down!
sbt

Templates? i forgot to mention that css templates on the web are good for learning examples, but not usable for your own pages (*visually* most are clones and space-wasters). other than that, about once a month i realize i am looking at a well-designed (or freaky nichey, etc) page, so i save it to my “good examples” folder.

Um, one more big problem solver.
1) The “if IE (version)” conditional wrappers are great for the link statements in headers.
2) If the css tweak still doesn’t work in IE, just make it readable in IE, otherwise forget it. I gave Ie7 a few tries *as a browser*, but it is a mess. too bad, cuz Opera also isn’t a very good alt to firefox/moz.. :-/
http://chrispederick.com/forums/viewforum.php?id=7 sbt

i don’t make sites, but have made bunches of pages. i tried a few wysiwyg for html and css, but none of them worked or were too baffling (easier to learn the code than the app!)
chris pederick’s webdev xpi for ff, (flock moz etc) is good.

then there’s (the freeware version in my case) http://www.htmlvalidator.com for finding broken tags, etc

crimson editor (v good homebrew text editor) has project sidebar. you can place demos, tests, etc in that hierarchy. http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.crimsoneditor.com+css+|+lisp+crimson+editor+syntax

i haven’t tried firebug, though it’s said to be good.

this looks like a nice app (tho runs on java, ugh):
http://www.aptana.com/download_all.php

of course you can goGGle gropEs for more.. :-)
http://www.rapidrevision.co.uk/ Richard Young

Moved from MS FrontPage and tables to MS Expression web and CSS.

Switching to CSS and industry standards takes time and a change of mindset but the precision and accessilbility are well worth the effort

Tip:

1. adapt a http://www.free-css-templates.com/free-templates.html
2. Essential reading http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/
http://imadev.com joe

coffeecup! and uhh uhhh hrrmmm dreamweaver! 0_o
http://www.lunarpages.com Amy

PaintShopPro ROCKS! I started using that back in the late 90′s.
http://blog.clickfire.com clickfire

I use FrontPage, some wysiwyg but mostly as a code editor. Occasionally I’ll open Dreamweaver. For graphics, I’ve been using Photoshop, but I am starting to miss PaintShopPro. I think it’s time for some changes, just not sure to what.
Sandra Jacobs

I use Dreamweaver and CoffeeCup!
http://www.designreverb.com ReTodd

Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop.

If your a Mac user, Panic Software just released Coda. Kind of an all in one coding program.

For noobs I tend to tell them to learn basic xhtml and css, but you can also use programs like Stylemaster

What Design Programs Do You Use to Build Your Website?

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