Resource List

Here are some resources to get you started. This is not a complete or thorough list by any means. No recommendations or endorsements are implied by listing a link here; this is just an effort to help you on your learning path.

Tools

Browsers

Browsers are the apps that we use to view websites. Some websites now have specialized apps for their content, but this list is for the more general browsers that can be used to view any website on the World Wide Web. Browsers are free.

While there are many other browsers, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge use the same technology platform, so web developers should have at least one of these for testing.

Editors

Websites can be built in any text editor. That said, some editors are more friendly for web development than others. Here are a couple I've used. These are free. You can find others that provide similar or specialized functionality and may be one-time purchase or subscription based.

FTP clients

FTP [File Transfer Protocol] is the typical method used to transfer files between your local computer and the hosting provider's server.

Testing

A couple of steps toward improving cross-browser functionality, your visitors' experience, and your search ranking are: making sure your code is valid HTML and checking for broken links.


Design

Color

When selecting colors, remember that colors do not look the same across all screens and all devices. Try not to get too fussy about the exact color; rather, select a color that seems to work with other content on the website.

Fonts

Don't spend a lot of time on this … it's about the content, remember!

If you don't embed a font with a website (see Google Fonts below), the browser will use either a font that matches the name you select or a font that is defined as default for that font classification. Classifications are: serif (e.g., Times New Roman), sans-serif (e.g., Arial or Helvetica), cursive (e.g., Comic Sans MS), fantasy (results vary widely), and monospace (e.g., Courier New).

Images

With the advent of mobile-friendly design, images for websites became a bit more flexible as well as more complicated for the developer. For faster page loads, less bandwidth usage, more flexibility in design options, and improved mobile performance, images should be both sized to fit the design and optimized/compressed to use as little disk space as is practical. Depending on the site, it may also make sense to have different sized images or even different images altogether for different devices.


HTML


CSS


Hosting providers

Look for the following items when evaluating services:

Some popular hosting providers are very difficult to work with. They may have a lot of upcharges or add-ons, making their initial very low entry price inflate as you try to get the features you need for your website. They may also have complex or convoluted procedures for doing basic tasks like transferring a domain registration from them to another registrar.

Note: Microsoft no longer provides Expression Web — a relatively user-friendly web development tool. Expression Web may continue to work on computers where it is currently installed, although some of its features may degrade or fail. If you are an Expression Web user, you may choose to decide on an alternative approach for your next website migration. Migration options include: a new toolset (options here are typically harder to use and require more technical skill), a website builder, a new platform, customized changes of the design for easier content updates, etc. The only tool I have found so far that is somewhat comparable to Expression Web is Adobe Dreamweaver, although it is less user-friendly (it has a steep learning curve), requires more technical skill, and is currently available only by subscription.

Microsoft®, Windows®