- Software
- Design
- Markup Languages
- Client-side Scripting
- Server-side Scripting
- The web and beyond: Programming for artists and designers
Software
For every task a commercial software claims to do there is an open source (free, as in beer) alternative.
FTP
- Cyberduck (mac)
- FireFTP (mac + windows)
- Using Filezilla (windows)
Text Editors
- Smultron (mac)
- TextWrangler (mac)
- Notepad++ (windows)
Development Tools
- Web Developer Toolbar for Firefox (this is a must have)
- FireBug for Firefox (good for debugging)
- ColorZilla for Firefox (eyedropper, color picker, and more)
- Browsershots (test your site in different browsers)
Logistical
Design
Design is easy. Follow these rules and you’ll be great!
- The first rule is, you are not a designer, you are a communicator. That is your job and communication should always precede style.
- Start with the grid, and continuously question everything you add. How do elements of your design help to move the user’s eyes to where they should be?
- Look at other good design. Someone has most likely already solved the problem you are wrestling with.
- Do as many significant variations as possible.
- Take a break from the design. Go swimming, read a book, make some curry, then repeat these last three steps until there can be no question that you have created a work of art.
- Repeat.
Design & Usability
- The Principles of (Web) Design
- Understanding Web Design by Jeffrey Zeldman
- Setting Type on the Web to a Baseline Grid by Wilson Miner
- Five simple steps to designing grid systems by Mark Boulton
- Usability 101: Introduction to Usability and Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design by Jakob Nielsen
- The Best of Eyetrack III: What We Saw When We Looked Through Their Eyes
Other Design Resources
- The Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500′s
- Kuler: Browse and create color themes
- Browser Safe Fonts
Design Galleries
Reading
- Learning Web Design by Jennifer Niederst Robbins (O’Reilly, 2007)
- A List Apart
- The Grid System: The ultimate resource in grid systems.
- Subtraction
- Netdiver
- Script & Style
Markup Languages
A markup language essentially displays your content and manages its appearance. Very easy and useful stuff!
HTML
- Tutorial – Webmonkey
- W3Schools Online Web Tutorials
- HTML 4.01 / XHTML 1.0 Reference
- HTML Symbol Entities
- HTML Color Names
- HTML Cheat Sheet – Cheat Sheets – Added Bytes
- The W3C Markup Validation Service
CSS
- CSS Cheet Sheet
- CSS Cheat Sheet (V2) – Cheat Sheets – Added Bytes
- The W3C CSS Validation Service
- 15 CSS Tricks That Must Be Learned by Drew Douglass
Client-side Scripting
No longer reserved for image rollovers, Javascript has become the de facto method for creating accessible and rich user interfaces
Javascript
AJAX
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) allows Javascript to communicate directly with your server without refreshing the page.
jQuery
jQuery is a Javascript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling, animating, and Ajax interactions.
Server-side scripting
A few weeks of PHP can go a long way for a web designer. A few months and you’ll be developing amazing artworks and websites that take full advantage of the essential feature of the computer—the ability to store, retrieve, and manipulate data.
PHP
- PHP Manual
- W3 PHP Tutorials
- PHP Tutorials
- Webmonkey PHP Resources
- Zend: PHP 101
- PHP Builder
- Weberdev
- Hotscripts
PHP Frameworks
MySQL
- MySQL: The world’s most popular open source database
- Wikipedia entry for Relational Databases
- Webmonkey MySQL Tutorial
- MySQL Commands
PHPMyAdmin
Server-Side Includes (SSIs)
Webmaster resources
The web and beyond: Programming for artists and designers
Rich interfaces, media, and animation
Open Source Graphics
Processing is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions. There are many others…
ActionScript
Flash definitely has come a long way and is still a great tool for creating rich interfaces for the web.
