5 (Free) Tools and programs that no Web developer should do without

Here is a bucket list of 5 important tools that (I believe) every web developer should have (in no particular order):

#1: Notepad ++

This is a great (free and open source) code editor with syntax highlighting. the only thing I've found it's lacking is some CSS3 highlighting.

#2: Resize My Photos

600 photos to re-size?!!? Oh no!! Re-size my photos has you covered with bulk image re-sizing! No problems here, it works smoothly and flawlessly.

#3: Firebug for Firefox

Need to debug a CSS problem?  Don't know which element is being affected? Use firebug for all your html and css troubleshooting needs. You probably already have this module, but I thought I'd throw it in there.

#4: Zementa

What's there to say? whether blogging or creating we content Zementa is a free tool that helps keep your content relevant. just watch out for Zementa logos that seem to appear; they can be erased, but can get annoying.

#5: Nitro Reader 3

Need to read or convert a PDF file? Try Nitro Reader 3, it has a cleaner viewer/printer than Adobie and it's UI is a lot like that of Microsoft office 2010.

This all comes from 4 years of web development experience, I use all of these everyday at work and they couldn't be much easier to use! 

Feel free to leave a comment.

Dynamic login/log out link for Drupal 7

Because my logout/login link for Drupal 7 was so popular I've decided to post this piece of code that will include the username of the logged in user

<!-- Again, this php code goes in the page.tpl.php or in a block with php filter -->
<?php //this will display the username if the user is logged in
global $user; if ($user->uid) { 
print $user->name; } 
?>
<?php  //this is the same as the old code, printing a link to login or log out
global $user; if (!$user->uid) { 
print "<a href='http://".$base_path."/user'  class='logged out'>login</a>"; 
} 
else {
print "<a href='http://".$base_path."/user/logout' class='logged in' >logout</a>";
 } 
?>

Hope you enjoy!

Zemanta for blogs

Zemanta is a blog helper that finds relevant pictures from the internet. "But how does this relate to drupal" You might say, well it can also help you create drupal pages!!! with is you can create interesting pages with relevant images and news items!

Image via CrunchBase

PHP, html, and Css

You should have a general understanding of PHP, HTML, and CSS before you create a drupal template or else you could wreck your site ;).

Login/Logout link for Drupal 7

<!--this php code goes in the page.tpl.php or in a block with php filter -->
<?php global $user; if (!$user->uid) {  

print "<a href='http://".$base_path."/user' >login</a>"; }   

else { 

print "<a href='http:// ".$base_path."/user/logout' >logout</a>"; 

} ?>

Sorry, I had the wrong php code here, the above code is correct, I tested it on my site.

-edit- Redid the code to include the sitename, no need to change anything now. :)