Web development is the process of developing web pages that can be put on the internet. From HTML to CSS, there are many elements that need to work together in order to build a web page. Here I will present you some tools that can fine tune your web site building experience.

Firebug in Firefox:

Firebug is my favorite FireFox plugin. A web development tool with a perfectly fitting slogan ‘web development evolved’.

Anyone can freely use this firefox plugin in a firefox browser. You will find a small 'firebug' sitting at the bottom corner of your browser. Upon clicking it, it will show you the source code of any web page that you are in. And that’s why it’s an amazing tool that makes web development a breeze. Reach Firebug here.

You will find the coolest thing in it by adding some extensions to it such as PixelPerfect, YSlow, FirePHP etc. Firebug can help you get the most to learn from any website that you are in.

Internet Explorer Development Toolbar:

Internet Explorer Development Toolbar is an IE add-on that works on IE6 and IE7. IE users will have to install it and a small button can be found. Click the button and it will open the tool on the lower portion of your IE window with the web page details in it. Install Internet Explorer Development Toolbar here.

 

However it’s not compatible on IE8. In IE 8, you can make use of the Developer Tools option (Tools > Developer Tools) that comes with the browser.

Some other IE add-ons include DebugBar, Web Development Helper, HTTPwatch etc.

Conclusion:

Getting things on your site look and act the way you want is the most challenging part of web development. However these are certain tools that can help you quickly fix the errors to have better web developing experience.

Web development is fun! Learn by yourself and it’s even funnier!

KompoZer is a free alternative to Adobe Dreamweaver and Microsoft FrontPage. This software was built on Nvu (New-View), a program intended to bring a web authoring in Linux environment. KompoZer is a WYSIWYG editor based on Mozilla’s Gecko engine.

 

KompoZer is a simple web authoring software. If you have ever used even a very basic word processer then you most likely understand how to start working with this tool. All the more it comes with a built-in support for FTP file management. And that means if you know your web hosting info, you can simply ‘type’ your web page on KompoZer WYSIWYG editor and publish it right away. Below is a very basic example web page made through KompoZer.

The Site Manager will allow you to work on different web sites. A tabbed document view will be provided. The tool offers syntax highlighting and this feature makes it a better choice over other free web authoring software such as SeaMonkey’s Composer. There are four view options in KompoZer: Normal, HTML tags, Source, Preview. The Source view helps you to tweak your CSS code if you wish to play with it.

 

The useful features of this software are placed under the “Tools” menu such as a Markup cleaner, validating your HTML code by checking with W3C, managing your CSS, checking your Javascript etc.

Installation:

Installing the software is a breeze. You don’t have to register anything to use the product. Just download the KompoZer as a .zip file and install it. Within minutes you can start working with the tool.

KompoZer’s interface is more or less same as that of Microsoft FrontPage. So if you are used to FrontPage in a Windows set up and liking to have a web authoring program in Linux environment, then KompoZer is the best deal for you.

Features:

·         Built-in FTP Manager

·         Creating and editing web pages

·         Better formatting features

·         Tabbed document view

·         Syntax highlighting

Conclusion:

KompoZer can be considered as a front runner in free web page editors. This free software can do an admirable job that comes in an easy-to-use interface.

But sometimes it reformats your HTML code inserting unnecessary white spaces and irregular line breaks. However complicated nested table structures may not be handled well with KompoZer. It’s a good tool to work with raw HTML where you can add PHP or Java scripts or some other programs at a later point of time. Also it lacks advanced design and scripting options found in the paid version of DreamWeaver tool.

If you want to play around creating and learning web page development, then this is the perfect tool for you.