What are the best Free tools you use for website design?

I totally agree with you that Weebly produces so stupid code and I can not edit it at all. That is main reason I would never build another website with using Weebly. I want to do it by manual html and css code editing to have complete control over the code I write. I realize the such a code generated by Weebly is very bad for SEO purpose.

 

Just beware, that Dreamweaver if you use the WYSIWYG, any of their example templates, or any of their auto code generation tools -- just walks through a pile and tracks it all over your site.

Which is why if you want to make a decent site using DW, you have to JUST use the code view and ignore EVERYTHING else it does... including the stupid assed preview panel that doesn't actually render like any of the real browsers -- even the one's it's allegedly based on. (Old DW was Opera, new DW is webkit).

Which is why it's an overpriced, bloated, slow, idiotic train wreck you're better off de-installing, burning any manuals/books you have and using the CD's/DVD's for microwave art. There is NOTHING useful you can learn from it, and by the time you're qualified to use it 'properly' it serves no purpose other than to give Adobe a nasty case of Dire Straits.

Go get a flat text editor -- Crimson, Flo's Notepad2, Notepad++, editPlus, TextWrangler, gEdit -- and then test in the actual browsers... you need 'more' than that' you're probably making massive mistakes resulting in broken inaccessible websites.

 

Using Dreamweaver I wrote codes only and I used WYSIWYG function for page viewing only. You think standard text editor is enough for writing code. But standard text editor does not check code syntax and does not validate any errors. And it wont help you to remember all tags and attributes when Dreamweavers code editor can do that. Thats another reason I still use it.

 

PHP is the best

 

web development toolbar can be included in the list..

 

What list? Development tool bar is not any specific tool or program for designing website.

 

i think wordpress is the best

 

WordPress is stupid program for the people who don't like write html, css and Javascript codes that can be written with simple text editor. WordPress is meant mainly for writing the blogs. WordPress has plenty of uncessary gadgets I want. The code created by WordPress is so complicated and not clear at all which is not good for SEO purpose.

 

Well, that's good -- just don't trust that preview panel or expect all browsers to behave like it... Even the one's, as I sad above, that it's allegedly based on. When it was based on Opera it quite often didn't behave like it, and now that it's based on webkit it's even worse... quite often failing not only to be up to date on things like CSS3, but outright screwing up even the simplest of CSS 2.1 behaviors.

NOT that the browsers are any better on that -- Its a laugh they're spending time on CSS3, much less the HTML 5 idiocy, when NONE of them have complete CSS 2.1 or HTML 4 implementations; Firefox being one of the greatest offenders in that category thanks to decade and a half old bugs in Gecko. (see bugzilla 915, a personal pet peeve of mine).

HTML and CSS syntax is so simple you shouldn't need the help -- at least not if you use the tab and enter keys properly... That and such 'checks' often get in my way while I'm writing the code... though a lot of things like color syntax highlighting (which most editors provide) are just annoying for being an illegible acid trip, which is why in most editors I have to turn 'features' like that off -- along with other annoying features like tabbed editing; when you have multiple displays or decent size displays, cramming everything into one window is just stupid.

Another area where I don't trust DW, since I've seen it let errors through -- which is why during browser testing (something that should be done pretty much every time you complete a subsection of the page) I do a ctrl-alt-v in Opera (I'm using the 9.2 keymappings, under 9.5+ it's ctrl-alt-shift-u) to send my page to the REAL W3C validator.

Not that I have a lot of errors these days... but again, taking the time to hit enter when needed, tab when needed, and shift-tab when needed usually means you don't have 'syntax' issues in the first place... I learned that from a nun with a metal yardstick who taught me Pascal two and a half decades ago. *WHAP* INDENT.... *WHAP* DE-INDENT.

Though DW still screws with your code in code view, mostly thanks to it's allegedly useful autocomplete and BS warnings about perfectly valid code... or at least it did 3 years ago, last time I let anyone who uses that {string of expletives omitted} work with me on a project. Was great because we had a scenario where all you had to do was take my valid code, load it into it, hit save, and suddenly the page was broken.

Their in-built 'reference' is IMHO hard to use at best -- and so inaccurate I suspect it's built on W3Schools web-rot instead of the actual specification. (or again, that's where it was at three or four years ago)... Which is funny since there are decade old references that are much more useful.

Like the one I use on those rare occasions I need to use something like KBD or SAMP:
http://htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/

Likewise the CSS reference over at Sitepoint is far, far more useful as well. (Not wild about their HTML one)

... and of course, having them in a browser window separate from the editor makes it easier to view them side-by-side with my code; just like not having a tabbed editor lets me view my original base HTML next to the PHP I'm putting it into next to the CSS being applied to it next to any scripting (yeah, right) being applied.

It's really funny, many of these 'innovations' of the past two decades or so to me are colossal steps backwards in functionality -- color syntax highlighting, auto-complete, tabbed editing, code folding -- they're all pointless rubbish responsible for as much bad code as your average ignorant twit State or community college professor who has no business teaching a blasted thing when it comes to IT.

Though I think we're missing a tool here -- the BEST tool for building a website lies between one's ears. Too bad the majority of developers out there don't seem to use it.

Oh, and I'll second anupamrekha's saying the web developer toolbar, and throw firebug and/or opera dragonfly on the list... though in the case of the toolbar, it would be nice if the more useful functions, like document size, weren't broken in anything higher than Firefox 3.5.2 -- and when it comes to firebug and dragonfly, if you need them on your own code, there's something wrong with it. Firebug/Dragonfly is most useful in my opinion when it comes to cleaning up other people's messes... which really are the only times I use them.

Though if you are going ape with STYLE tags and attributes in the markup, with endless pointless DIV everywhere, non-semantic use of semantic tags, nonsensical use of heading tags, classes thrown at everything for no good reason, without establishing a good naming convention with presentational markup, using CSS in a presentational manner throwing separation of presentation from content out the window, and in general pissing out HTML 3.2 and calling it 4 tranny or 5 lip-service -- well, it's no wonder half the idiotic tools out there even exists.

Which is why another handy tool isn't a tool at all, it's advice: "Pull your head out of 1997's backside", and "HTML 5 is the future? Looks like 1998 to me!"

 

My tools:
-aptana studio
-dream weaver
-firefox
-photoshop
-fire bug.

 

true! Wordpress with a nice premium theme can suffice if you are marketer or end-user and not a web developer who needs to experiment every other day with design and code. Lately I realize all you need is a good wordpress either website, blog, or E-commerce setup most of the times...

 

You can use wordpress,dreamviewer,photoshop,firebug etc.

 

When I first tried something other than a text editor, I used a very early version of frontpage but found too much unnecessary "stuff" in the source that made small tweaks a real headache. Instead of relying on a tool to generate a page, I spent the time understanding html good practices, css and java scripting and stopped looking for a do-it-for-me authoring tool. Pages are cleaner and easier to maintain. It is a little more work but easier to make changes.
I still explore code generating tools periodically but always remain with HTMLKit and NotePad++. Both support plugins and their authors are very interested in support their tools. HMLKit has a free version and a newer paid version. The free version fits my needs but I have considered getting the inexpensive paid version many times. The version 292 free HTMLKit has many great features that can simplify html, scripting and CSS that assist with various web edit and validation tasks saving time. I use NotePad++ for for editing html but use it mostly for xml edit and validation with the xml plugin.

Simplify your javascript by understanding and using one or more java script toolkits. They can remove the browser compatibility concerns and allow you to spend more time on other aspects of your site. I often use jquery especially for ajax calls with the php pages I've done.

Check 'em out.
http://www.htmlkit.com/
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

 

Thank you for sharing. I will try free version of HTMLKit.

 

I use Filezilla for transferring files.
dropbox is good

 

I thought we were talking free tools.

 

Notepad++, WinSCP, Chrome Developer Tools

 

use Gimp instead of PS an give a fuck about Dreamweaver

 

Another one best is Photo Shop its such as nice tool regarding website design.And i agree with you.

 

XAMPP is also good for php mysql server.So you can try dreamweber or photoshop.Good luck