Web Designers Resource topic

[Marked 197]

As some of you know, I am currently employed as a website designer. Little does my employer know (until he reads this post probably) that I am much more of a programmer and my design skillz are majorly average. But, I've been learning and need a place to keep track of my stuff, so if you're into making websites then you may find this topic useful. You probably need to know a little bit first though to apply some of it.

 

Also I'll be coming back to this topic, this is just what I've got at the moment.

 

IE sucks, help me get it working

Yes you're right, IE does suck. However it is important to note that just because IE is the most popular browser at the moment, that does not mean you should design your sites in IE. You should always use a browser that is standards compliant, then hack IE to make it work. IE 9 however is standards compliant so this stuff applies to all browsers before IE9. A lot of web designers also consider IE6 not worth developing for considering its diminished popularity vs the time it takes to make things work in it.

• IE Tester
  
  This allows you to test your website in all the versions of IE, pretty useful

  
  

• CSS3 Pie
  
  Makes IE render CSS3 properties, for example rounded borders, box shadow, text shadow etc.

  
  

• HTML5Shim
  
  This little javascript will make HTML5 elements work in IE. You know,
  ,

  ,

  
  

• Curing CSS3 Headaches - Tutorial
  
  Tutorial for getting CSS3 working in older browsers

  
  

 

 

 

Aesthetics

Makin' it look good

• Kuler
  
  Helps you choose a color palette, work a look

  
  

• Google Webfonts
  
  Fonts that you can use for your websites, super easy to install and an awesome resource

  
  

• Font Squirrel
  
  Tons of free fonts that can be used in commercial projects

  
  

 

IDE

I don't know what that stands for.. but its the programs you type your code in. Bit of a lack of selection here..

• NetBeans
  
  This is what I've been using recently, better for larger projects that involve PHP but you can do simple things in it too

  
  

• Dreamweaver
  
  Has all the features you don't want but its a pretty cool IDE and has some things over netbeans

  
  

 

Tutorials

Well, since finding the Envato network I really haven't found a reason to go elsewhere for my tutorials

• PSD Tuts
  
  Learn photoshop stuff

  
  

• Webdesign Tuts
  
  Tutorials for webdesign

  
  

 

Tools

[*]Smush it

An amazing web app that reduces the filesize of images without reducing the quality

[ShinyToyGuns 29]

Thanks Marked...IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment, and another good tool is Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus-plus.org/)...but that's if you wanna type out your code.

 

Also, here are some good sites (tutorials/markup validators)

 

W3Schools

 

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)

 

W3C Markup Validation Service

 

W3C CSS Validation Service

 

Edited September 10, 2011 by ShinyToyGuns

[rgangsta 43]

Web designing is nothing without images, right? ;)

• Photoshop CS5
  The best image manipulation software.
   
  
• FreeWebsiteTemplates
  Really cool web design templates.
   
  
• Website Templates Online
  Offers free and premium templates.
  

[Chief 30]

As for aesthetics, I also found these webfonts:

 

http://webfonts.fonts.com/en-US

 

I dont know if theres more or less, but there are variances.

[ForeverZer0 44]

Xara Web Designer is another nice IDE used for website design. Visual Studio is always a good IDE for html as well, but obviously excels most at ASP pages. Edited September 17, 2011 by ForeverZer0

[Chief 30]

Ooh, also, IDE: Aptana Studio:

http://www.aptana.com/