SEO Effects

Where do I start with this, well I guess the program I use most is Abode Dreamweaver CS3, I know some developers will disagree with this but after using Dreamweaver for many years I think I am either just very used to it or stuck in my ways, but at the end of the day I do like many features of Dreamweaver.

I hand code everything in Dreamweaver and test/view what I am creating in Firefox and IE and find this to be the quickest way to create pages. So if you are building a static X/HTML webpage then there is no need for anything else, set up your CSS and webpage all in Dreamweaver and test in all the browsers you can get your hands on, I find testing in IE6, IE7, Firefox and Google Chrome suitable for most things.

Firefox web development Addons.

Firefox is both a great web browser and an ideal tool for web developers. There are simply loads of free addons to make your life and day to day work tasks easier. The one I use most when building a webpage is FireBug. This tool gives you, with the click of a mouse, detail about any page you are viewing, it can show you all the DOM elements on the page and their related CSS styles, it lets you manipulate the DOM to test or see where problems are and also has a JavaScript debugger built in. One the the best thing I find with FireBug is the ability the view AJAX XMLHttpRequest POSTS and Responses so for testing AJAZ applications it is simply great..

Firefox also has an added called “Web Developer” which when installed can be a great tool for testing XHTML and CSS to see if everything validates. This addon also lets you disable JavaScript and CSS easily and is good for resetting sessions and clearing the cache.
You can download FireBug here - http://getfirebug.com/ .
Download Web Developer here - http://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/

Testing Locally

If you are like me and use PHP and MySQL then you will have to set up a local web server to test your work. For the non technical there is a great all-in-one download that will set up a  development environment on your PC in a few easy steps. XAMPP by Apache Friends is a simple download and install to have your own local web server up and running so you can test your MySQL AND php Applications before going live.
Download XAMPP here - http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

SQLyog MySQL GUI client.

When creating databases it really is quicker to have a good GUI client to help you set up all your tables and to test queries before you put them in your page. I use SQLyog from www.webyog.com, its fast, easy to use and great for testing your database queries.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 3:27 pm and is filed under Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.