I am writing to inform you that I'm making a blog post.
More seriously, I am writing to save you time. Your time is valuable to me. Like gold; it mysteriously appreciates.
Based on a conversation we had earlier today, I thought I'd take the time to share with you what I have found to be a useful setup when making websites by hand.
FileZilla
When I first started, I did everything through our hosting service's WebFTP (for the nosy, yes we share a web hosting service). That was fine until I started working with PHP and many files. I had to step up my game. Also, don't be a fool like I was and just let it save your log on credentials. Save time, be happy, live longer.
Useful things I like about FileZilla
- synchronized browsing
- set files to open in notepad++ - go to Edit > Settings > File editing > Filetype associations paste something close to this (your setup might need minor changes--I have faith you can make it work):
php "C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe"
html "C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe"
txt "C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe"
css "C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe"
Things I wish it could do
- useful file compare - you can compare by size or time, both of which will be slightly different between your local copy and server copy.
- Automatic upload of Changed files - When you open a file through FileZilla and save your changes in Notepad++, FileZilla is smart enough to say "Hey dude your file changed, do you want to upload the new version?" This is cool, until you are making a lot of minor changes to a file to see the differences. You'll have to hit save, alt-tab to FileZilla, click okay, alt-tab again to your browser, hit F5.
Notepad++
I know you already know the wonders of Notepad++, but for our eavesdroppers I'm going to include it in this letter.
One thing I do like about Notepad++ is it's ability to change the Language (of the code not to Russian). I've started the bad practice of using PHP files as style sheets, and it's nice to be able to tell Notepad++ I want to see it as a CSS instead of what it is.
Websites
http://htmledit.squarefree.com/ - I like to use this if I'm trying to make a site look right. I'll copy and paste the css inside some <style> tags, and paste the code at the bottom. Once I get what I want out of it, paste it back into Notepad++.
http://jsfiddle.net/ - Just discovered this one the other day. It's a lot like the first one, but lets you do more. You'll see.
http://www.w3schools.com/ - Almost every Google search result of "html + something I want to use" begins w3schools.com. I follow that link because they are most likely the have what I am looking for.
Browsers
They don't display the same (despite the plethora of standards available). I blame Lamecrosoft, but it doesn't matter. It is something that has to be dealt with even though we know who to point fingers at.
Curvy Corners - You may have noticed in my webdesign I'm a big fan of border-radius. Who's not? Really? Because if you're not you're wrong. This script allows border-radius to work on browsers that don't support CSS3.
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://yoursite.com/where/you/stash/scripts/curvycorners.js"></script>JQuery - While I'm on the scripts and making browsers work subject, let me include this one. I'm not smart enough yet to know all about it, but I know it's a good thing.
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.4/jquery.min.js"></script>F12 - While you are viewing your masterpiece through Chrome or IE (can't speak for others), hit this button to make magic happen. It will show you a number of things. So far I've found it most useful for tweaking margin and padding settings, but I am sure it can do more.
That just about covers what I've learned about setting up to make websites the hard way. Hopefully it gives you a little bit of a jump start, you will surpass me, and write me a letter that kindly explains how I'm doing it wrong. It will be great. We'll share the things we learn and be better for it. Might even help out some of these lazy eavesdroppers.
Thanks,
Other Half of 2 Dudes 1 Blog