18 Tools I use as a Designer & Blogger
I’m always sharing what tools are useful to me via Twitter, but just incase you don’t use it – I wanted to share here! I always get asked what productivity tools and apps I use on a regular basis and I pretty much open all of these everyday. There are a few apps that are similar in type because some may be all in one tools or I’m just starting to use one more than the other. Check these out, they are ones I would recommend to a designer/blogger/creative type. If there is something missing from the list that you think should be on here, please share in the comments!
Communication Tools
Connect and share with the people in your company or organization. It’s like twitter but for companies. Anyone in a company can start their Yammer network and begin inviting colleagues. The privacy of each network is ensured by limiting access to those with a valid company email address.
Free calls, video calls and instant messaging over the internet.
TweetDeck is an Adobe Air desktop application for twitter.
RSS Reader for the mac. Nice UI.
Organization Tools
Task management for the mac.
Dropbox syncs your files online and across computers. Up to 2GB for free.
Great way to keep track of forms in a database.
Organize all your bookmarks in one place and never lose your local bookmarks.
Web based billing via PayPal or Google Checkout. Free and simple!
Keep track of emails, feedback, requests & helpdesk system. This is one amazing tool and I will be writing a review on it within the coming months.
Design/Dev Tools
CSS Editor with live preview built in.
Code/text editor, simple!
Just getting into using Coda: CSS, text editor, file transfer and integrates nicely with Transmit.
Best FTP client ever. (In my opinion of course!)
Take screengrabs quickly and easily with just one window. I like that it’s a stand alone app & it runs quickly.
Web development within Firefox.
Eyedropper Firefox extension.
Screenshots right from your desktop. Easily share, tag and upload!
Grab the Feed
Great list, Adelle. I’ve used many of these, but I’ll look into those that are new to me, especially ZenDesk. Looking forward to your review of that one.
Just got Things for both the Mac and iPhone. Have yet to get into it but can see the potential for organizing tasks. Do you have any recommendations on how to best utilize Things?
Cheers from Indonesia.
Thank you Adelle. (wonders if I’ll ever visit delicious again to revise) Nice blur on the screenshots btw.
Thanks so much!
Interesting list (with great screenshots). I would probably include one or two other names that I see colleagues and friends use.
For ex: I would recommend including Present.ly (by Intridea). Present.ly is a microblogging tool for the enterprise, behind the firewall, customizable based on customer needs and corporate security settings. And I really like the groups feature in Present.ly. I can create groups for each client project or company department/team – with private and public settings.
Nice list, a couple in there that I haven’t used before and will be checking out. The switch to Tweetdeck from Twitterific was definitely a good choice
thanks for the list. I didn’t know wufoo. looks good.
Just curious; Why both Paparazzi and Scrnshots? Don’t they do the same thing?
I like the site previews you have up as well, very classy. Thanks for this list by the way, it is always interesting to see how other people work and the tools they use. I haven’t even heard of some of these products, lol.
I look forward to your future reviews of some of these apps.
Thank you! Great list. Already using some of them. “Things” was new to me. I was always looking for something like that.
i’m having almost the same set, but how can you live without skitch? ;)
and i prefer mento.info towards delicious because i like screenshots and pics along with my bookmarks.
Your post worked for me. I read it the whole through! thanks.!!
Thanks for sharing Adelle.
Can’t believe you don’t use Microsoft Publisher ;)
Hi Adelle,
I good assortment of applications there – thanks.
Personally regarding screen grabs, I find this Firefox plugin makes it an absolute cinch to get screen grabs – either of what’s currently on view or the whole page, or an area selected by the user – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146 – also, you can copy to your clip board or save as a file. It’s one of my ‘can’t live without’ plug-ins.
All the best,
Coris.
Awesome tools, Adelle – going to take me a while to get through some of these. I noticed something funny. You’re screenshot of tweetdeck captured me! I’m in the top left of the friends column – good timing!
Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only web developer left using a PC? Definitely a few helpful tools here that are cross-platform, too. I’m excited about using Tweet Deck and look forward tom implementing Curd Bee sometime soon.
Great round up… will add to my bookmark.
Here is another…. http://TwitR.me Cross Social Network Messaging Bus.
Great List Adelle! I currently use Skype, Yammer,Firebug, and Paparazzi on a daily basis at work… Basecamp has also been very helpful for working with my development team.
Hey! I’m actually in that screenshot of tweetdeck. Great article!
Great round up Adelle. I almost use all the apps you use, but LittleSnapper replaced Paparazzi this year, and I can’t live without Evernote.
Great list. Definitely have to check some of those out.
btw I thought I had a huge unread rss list…
I’ll have to check out Zen Desk and Curd Bee….free does not sound bad at all :)
most of them are already a part of my daily life… ;)
started using ‘things’ recently, its awesome!
gotta try paparazi, crudbee and transmit..
thanks for the interesting post.. :)
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Nice list. Much appreciated.
Great list, I’ll be trying a few of these out for sure. Have you tried Skitch for screenshots? Great tool. lets you make notes on the shot, also stand alone, but has a web sharing service as well.
Very informative. I like alot of your extensions that you have listed.
Thanks.
Cool list, keep it updated, this is a great way to share best practice and learn from each other (I use Wakoopa to keep my friends in the loop on what I use) – thanks Adelle :-)
Reads like my applications folder. I would add one more. VMWare for those pesky IE users… you know who you are.. I love CSSEdit. Things is my brains. Had not tried dropbox yet so I will give it a go.
vs. Zendesk, we HIGHLY recommend that should take a look at Web Help Desk and their Free Edition. Here is a cut and paste from their site. I think you will find that it rivals Zendesk and even surpasses it in some respects. Let me know your thoughts…we’ve been extremely happy with it thus far (and it will install on Mac server!!! :)
—
Help Has Arrived. The free help desk software by Web Help Desk is feature rich, intuitive, and creates instant productivity.
The free edition contains:
- No Trial Period or Expiration Date
- Software Completely Free From Ads
- Unrestricted Lite Edition Functionality
- Free Software Upgrades for One Year
Free help desk software features include:
- Self Service and Ticket Submission Portal
- E-Mail to Ticket Conversion
- Knowledge Base – Internal and External
- 2-Way E-Mail Communications
- SLA E-Mail Alerts and Reminders
- LDAP and AD Integration
- Run Help Desk Performance Reports
If you wanna make screenshots of webpages, just use Firefox with the Screengrab! extension.
With a linux distribution such as Ubuntu, you just need to press the [print] button, to make a screenshot.
Always nice to “peep” professionals ;) Looking forward to the Zendesk vs. WebHelpDeskpost. These two look promising as my new ap. Thanks for sharing
Awesome list. Although I think Expandrive trumps Transmit.
http://www.expandrive.com/expandrive
thanks, these are good tips.
Awesome post and thanks for the finds. I did notice though that unfortunately I have to be on a mac to use :P
Do you have any coupon codes for Things?
I would add CrazyEgg. Also 5pm (www.5pmweb.com) for organizing projects and tasks – it’s web-based so it works from anywhere.
Thanks for the list. I use Textmate & Transmit. Isn’t Coda basically the two of those tied together? Wonder what utility you get from T & T that Coda doesn’t provide. Also, I second the recommendations of Skitch. That’s by far the best screenshot/resizer/uploader/copy-link-to-clipboard all-in-one I’ve ever found.
In addition to all the cool tools your mention here, I use 1Password all the time. It’s an amazingly simple way to keep unique passwords for every login but I only need to remember one password. http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password
I am using almost all of Fire Fox addons You use, I also use very often MeasureIT Firefox addon to measure pixels and then position in CSS is much easier :)
Nice share! :)
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Great post Adelle! I also found everyone’s comments useful as well. With so many options out there it’s pretty hard keeping up.
I never knew such applications existed… thank a lot…
Very cool, It goes to my bookmarks! Thanks.
Great resources, all of them. You’re the second person to recommend tweetdeck to me today, so I installed it. AWESOME!
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really nice!
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nice post, thanks for the finds
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Nice list. I’m just getting started using Coda – excellent development tool!
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Wow. Very nice compilation of resources. As a Mac-based designer, I will definitely be checking them all out.
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Wow! Very well put together. Visually appealing and right to the point with tips and tools. I am liking your site overall. Man, I am curious to see what pizazz I can generate with the techniques you are sharing. Thanks for all of the info.
~Aaron
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Nice list, I use most of the apps listed!
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Thanks for really useful list ;) i’m sure most of designers use biggest part of all those tools.
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Excellent post!!!!
Really nice!!
Firebug is a great firefox extension, but has any one seen the new safari beta… they have something very similar in place which works great too.