Hello, everyone. I was wondering what CSS software, if any, does everyone use? I've simply been using WordPad, but I'd like something that allows me to validate code, find the hexadecimal color value without opening Photoshop, etc.

It seems there is a plethora of free and commercial choices, so I thought I'd ask for some personal recommendations.

Thanks.

I do most of my editing in HTML Kit.

When it's time to validate I go to http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/. I actually have a quick link to it through the Web Developer Toolbar extension for Firefox. I highly recommend the toolbar extension as will many others here.

I use a variety of different color pickers. One is another extension for Firefox called Colorzilla.

I'm sure some people will drop in behind me with more suggestions.

I recommend TopStyle Pro, it has everything you're looking for in it and more

Originally Posted by vangogh

I do most of my editing in HTML Kit.

When it's time to validate I go to http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/. I actually have a quick link to it through the Web Developer Toolbar extension for Firefox. I highly recommend the toolbar extension as will many others here.

I use a variety of different color pickers. One is another extension for Firefox called Colorzilla.

I'm sure some people will drop in behind me with more suggestions.

I Do Too.

I used to use JustCSS but I like HTML KIt's UI and the fact I can freecode on the fly and te fact it syntax highlights so many languages.

this is good for most-all coding, but specifically for css then go for topstyle or then the free lite version

Originally Posted by LadynRed

I recommend TopStyle Pro, it has everything you're looking for in it and more

I've read good things about TopStyle Pro online. (There just seems to be so many options, I wanted to see what else people used.) But I might download the trial version and give it a whirl.

notepad...

if your spending money, dreamweaver is a useful tool, the visual editor on it though is only good for beginners.

I tend to use dreamweaver in code veiw myself, I find it has some handy features such as deamweaver templates, but scite is ok for a really basic editor.

Originally Posted by Joshy D

notepad...

if your spending money, dreamweaver is a useful tool, the visual editor on it though is only good for beginners.

I have Dreamweaver, actually. But like you said, it's not much good when you seriously start getting into CSS.

I actually downloaded the trial version of TopStyle today, and I was very impressed. It's laid out well, offers a lot of useful functions, and would certainly save me a lot of time.

Originally Posted by johneva

I tend to use dreamweaver in code veiw myself, I find it has some handy features such as deamweaver templates, but scite is ok for a really basic editor.

You know what's weird? That, being a visual person, the fact that Dreamweaver makes all the CSS different colors drives me nuts! I can't take it!

I find Dreamweaver to be quite useful, for CSS, actually. It has great keyboard shortcuts that speed up the process of writing stylesheets greatly. Of course, you have to know what you're doing, but I honestly haven't found a better tool.

For "web-safe" colors I keep a printed cheet-sheet with all of the shortcut codes. Dreamweaver also has it's own cheet-sheet that pops up as soon as you press the "#" key. It is only web-safe colors, but they're fine in many situations. For more advanced color codes I open Photoshop. What is wrong with using Photoshop? Add a little bit of memory and keep these two programs open at the same time.

By the way, all the "different colors" are necessary. It wouldn't be a professional program without them. The highlighting separates the different parts of your code and lets you know if you've made an error. A misplaced semi colon or missing quotes will throw the highlighting off and alert you.

there's no need limit yourself to websafe colours any more

there's no need limit yourself to websafe colours any more

No, but I like them because I am extremely lazy and they can be typed with only three keystrokes letters..

lol

I actually downloaded the trial version of TopStyle today, and I was very impressed. It's laid out well, offers a lot of useful functions, and would certainly save me a lot of time.

Excellent I love it, and with the 3.5 enhancements it's even better. Having HTML Tidy as part of the program is extremely handy, as is validating your html & css w/o having to go out to Jigsaw to do it.

Originally Posted by LadynRed

Excellent I love it.

Spoken like a true CSS evangelist.

Jenn definitely download some freebies and try each out for a week or so. I donwloaded the free version of TopStyle awhile back before it was mature. For me there wasn't enough there to justify the price, but I've heard it's a good program.

I use HTML Kit in part because I can edit files live on the server, which may not be for everyone. There are plenty of add ons for it (HTML Tidy is probably one), but I'm fine with just the basic version.

I've used Ultra Edit in the past and really liked it, but again I didn't want to shell out the money for it. All I really need in an editor is syntax highlighting and ideally the interaction directly with the server.

There are a lot of good options out there and most people have their own preferences. Most editors will allow a trial download so why not grab a few and try them. Even after you choose one it's still fun to grab a new and try it for a few days.

i do not suggest bluevoda, whilst there visual editor is very good for a beginner, and i mean like first attempt for some fat lazy git, but generally gives you too many bad habbits...for example position: absolute; its a hideous thing and whilst handy in certain cases should never be used as much as they do.

Firebug (a firefox extension) is worth mentioning.