Notepad
http://www.notepad.org/
This absolutely the most important tool involved in the process. With this, I code the XHTML, CSS, Javascript, and XML. Sure, there are lots of things I could do rather than handcoding. I could use a program like FrontPage or Dreamweaver, or even a blogging tool like Wordpress. But, a major reason I do this is because I like the coding. To be honest, I don't always have the best content, and this also isn't one of those blogs that talks about my feelings all the time. A lot of this is cause I like to play around with code. I don't constantly change my code; a lot of the time it's just copying and pasting stuff I've already done into new places, and adding little code here and there throughout my new page, but I still like it.
Dreamhost
http://www.dreamhost.com/
This may be strange that it's 2nd instead of 1st, but no matter where I hosted my site I'd use Notepad. However, I really like Dreamhost. It's pretty affordable hosting, and I get a toooooon of space. More than I would ever use. Same with bandwidth. Lots of great features, I have nothing bad to say about them at all. By the way, if you sign up using the code WILLANDBEYOND30, you get $30 off when you sign up for a year of hosting. Plus it helps me out too.
FlashFXP
http://www.inicom.net/pages/en.ffxp-home.php
This isn't super vital, there are plenty of FTP tools out there, but I really like this one, it's very sleek and I've become very comfortable with it. I also use this same program to connect to my XBox, so it's convenient. It's not free, and there are free alternatives, but it's what I like.
Powertoys Image Resizer
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
Just a simple add-on for Windows XP that allows simple resizing of pictures. I resize all of my photos to 640x480 for easy web consumption. I have the full resolution pictures available as a link from the picture page. This is also used to create the thumbnails on the picture page.
Allok Video to 3GP Converter
http://www.alloksoft.com/3gpconverter.htm
This is how I present to you the videos in the media section in QuickTime format, which is what I have found to be the best way to spread them. I originally tried Windows Media format, since I edit the videos in Windows Movie Maker, but Windows and Mozilla aren't the best of friends. Windows needs to learn to play nice.
Windows Movie Maker
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx
Definitely not the best tool, but it is one of the simplest, and it comes pre-installed with Windows XP, and it gets the job done, so I use it.
Easy GIF Animator
http://www.download.com/3000-2186_4-10716636.html
I use it for similar reasons to Windows Movie Maker. It's very simple to use, and it does exactly what I want. It's not a free program, but it simplifies the process and works well.
Adobe Photoshop
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/index.html
Definitely not the cheapest program, but if you're a student, odds are your school computers have it. Most of my stuff could be done with simpler programs, but I'm used to it. In terms of Photoshop skills, I'm most proud of my logo. The graphics for the site layout, albeit simple, were designed with Photoshop.
Chatterbox
http://chatter.flooble.com/
Only really have to use it once and it's setup. I like the layout better than a lot of the other "shoutbox" alternatives.
Google Adsense
https://www.google.com/adsense/login/en_US/?destination=%2Fadsense%2Fhome
As of the time of this article, I have made $4.48. Total. I started using this in July 2006. As you can see, this doesn't quite cover the cost of hosting, but I don't think it makes the pages look bad or anything, and I can always hope that someday it will earn a little bit more.
Those are all of the tool/services I use that I can think of. The following are resources I consult. I will again rank them in order of usage/importance. I realize the line between tools/services and resources is pretty vague, but you have to draw it at some point.
W3C Validation Service
http://validator.w3.org/#validate_by_uri+with_options
Having valid means your code is going to work. I realize that a lot of code validation stuff is nitpicky, but in order for browsers to do the best job they can, it's important to have valid code. Plus, W3C telling me I'm valid makes me feel good.
RSS Feed Validator
http://feedvalidator.org/
Very similar reasoning to the above link, but this is less important, because my RSS functioning isn't as vital as the rest of my code functioning.
Color Lab
http://www.visibone.com/colorlab/
This is really only important during site design, but it's very helpful if you're doing stuff by hand.
.htaccess Guide
http://www.javascriptkit.com/howto/htaccess.shtml
Knowing how .htaccess/Apache works helps cut down on a lot of archaic HTML techniques, and streamlines certain processes.
Browsershots
http://browsershots.org/
I don't really want to check my site on all sorts of different browsers manually, I just check Firefox and IE myself. For the rest, I have Browsershots take a snapshot of the page using these other browsers.
XHTML Characters
http://www.html.su/entities.html
In certain cases like within RSS, you can't always use all the characters you want, but you can always use their character code.
Web Design Postcards
http://www.lazycat.org/postcards/
These are just some good tips for web design. I made some changes to the site once I read through these. Helpful.
Brilliant Button Maker
http://www.lucazappa.com/brilliantMaker/buttonImage.php
This comes last, cause it's by no means important, but it helped me make the little Will and Beyond brilliant button you see on your left. If you'd like to put the Will and Beyond button on your site, please by all means do. This site inspired me to put down the other buttons you see in the list as well.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, and I will be happy to update this page. I'm also open to suggestions if you have any favorite tools/services/resources.
Godspeed.
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