7 Websites No Website Developer Should Be Without

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Are you a website developer? Or maybe striving to be? Then have we got a nice assemblage of invaluable sites for you to check out. These seven are the ones we believe that you need to be aware of to help keep you in the developer’s proverbial loop. So once more, we ask that you give a gander to the list below…you don’t have to…it’s not like a requirement. You could stumble if you want to, but you might miss something spectacular. Oh, yeah, there’s some razzle, little dash of dazzle. Just saying. Could be worth a few minutes…

1. A List Apart

A List Apart Image

A Band Apart, powerhouse innovative production company with a massive following. A List Apart, powerhouse innovative web developers blog with a massive following. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. I don’t really think one inspired the other, but it could be the case. Not that A List Apart needs any other reason to be the revered site it is, have you checked it out? It’s only the “The Blog” for web developers discussing content, code, culture, design and more. Seriously it is an amazingly useful site for those in the biz.

2. Blog.SpoonGraphics

Blog Spoon Graphics Image

Blog.SpoonGraphics is a vast collection of decent resources for web designers, tremendous tutorials, fabulous freebies, and even topical up to date news. Hours of useful data to get lost in are waiting for you. This site comes highly recommended from the entire Arbenting team. Both of us. What can I say, we’re fans.

3. Design Float

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Design Float is the Digg of the design community. Need we say more? Well, we probably don’t need to, but since brevity is not really a strong suit among the staff, we’ll say just a bit more. This is a great place to get all of the best of the best from design blogs all over the world wide web. This has become a daily must read around here, and it will probably be for you too, once you check it out. Go on, don’t be shy. It’s just a painless click of the mouse away.

4. I Love Typography

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What good is a designer who knows nothing about typography? Not to step on any toes, but honestly, not too much. So many lament over the numerous magnificent designs that have been devastatingly ruined by the incorporation, or afterthought, of a lackluster font type. It can detract and often distract from the originality and beauty of the creation. To learn more about this underrated artform or just to sort and sift through the splendor for some inspiration visit I Love Typography. And see why you will soon be feeling that same way.

5. W3 Schools

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W3 Schools is a comprehensive and intensive online learning institution, that is quite literally, the best place to get started if you want to learn about coding websites or any other kind of online content. So many great resources and classes designed to allow the user to progress and advance at their own speed and comfort. Even more advanced coders still have lessons that can be learned or reaffirmed from the basics and beyond at this wonderful and welcome addition to the online community.

Edit: It was pointed out by a few of our readers that W3 Schools actually teaches some invalid markup and overall bad usage. The lesson here is one we probably all already know, don’t use only one source as a learning tool. We’re all learning together here so we thank zombieloffe & bobachu for pointing this out to us.

6. Web Designer’s Wall

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Web Designer’s Wall is seriously, one of the best, and most visually stunning, blogs on web design in the whole of the blogosphere. With ever informative, cutting edge contributions to the world of web design, this site offers post after post of pure gold. While writing this post we tried to recall a time when we came across a blog entry that wasn’t helpful to us in some way, and we kept coming up empty. And subscribers? Well, lets just say that they get their fair share of fantastic free stuff from time to time. Oh, yeah.

7. Web Developer’s Handbook

Web Developer's Handbook Image

If you think this is a good list, then we are grateful, and humbly direct you now to the behemoth that this list wishes it could be. But what would be the point of that. I mean, it already exists. It’s here. In fact, many of the websites on this list can also be found at the Web Developer’s Handbook. A huge directory of almost every website a web developer would ever need for any purpose or predicament. Seriously, dude, it’s HUGE! Web Developer’s Handbook. Tell your friends.

So, we showed you ours…what’s your’s look like?

Reader Recommendations:
Madison pointed out to us that DesignBump.com was left off of the list.
The Web Builder Zone was recommended by Schalk Neethlings
Gotapi was recommended by Sean
Resources for Web Designers was recommended by Iliya Iliev
Unmatchlist was recommended by Pedro
Design Meltdown was recommended by JoeShmoe
LogicWeb, Noupe & Webware all recommended by More
Smashing Magazine was recommended by Junsu

Thank you so much to all of our wonderful readers & subscribers for the additional recommendations.

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49 Comments »

Fox said:

Some of them are really necessary.

# 29 July 2008 at 10:00 pm

Veera said:

2 and 7 is new to me. I am religiously following other websites.

Veeras last blog post..Improving the home page with JQuery effects

# 29 July 2008 at 11:06 pm

Arbenting (author) said:

@Veera - Blog.SpoonGraphics is one of our favorite blogs, it has consistently quality content.

# 30 July 2008 at 2:15 am

Ash said:

Great List.

Cheers

Ashs last blog post..DataContext class in depth : LINQ

# 30 July 2008 at 4:07 am

zombieloffe said:

W3Schools is a dubious member of the otherwise well-crafted assembly of websites. W3Schools is NOT run by or supported by the W3C. It contains syntax errors in its examples, invalid code examples and some generally bad advice (regarding, amongst others, Flash and XHTML usage). I’d think twice before adding it to a list like this.

# 30 July 2008 at 4:21 am

Madison said:

It is funny, I found this site through DesignBump.com. I thought that was a must stop for developers and designers but alas it twas not on the list. Don’t worry though, I up voted you anyway.

# 30 July 2008 at 5:32 am

Andrew said:

Great list of daily visitors and thanks so much for including Design Float!

Andrews last blog post..41 Lightbox Scripts Compared

# 30 July 2008 at 7:36 am

bobachu said:

W3 schools… we could have done without that. They’re notorious for tutorials with improper markup, new users read it and think it’s golden, and it spreads like a virus.

# 30 July 2008 at 7:44 am

Ryan said:

Great collection. Thanks for sharing them.

# 30 July 2008 at 8:01 am

Tom Bones said:

Some of these I have bookmarked, the others I have been to numerous times. Top quality sites, even for a amateur designer like moi. There are a few more design sites of that caliber that I would include but still, these guys are top leaders in their field. Thanks!

# 30 July 2008 at 10:30 am

tylerr said:

uh whatever. lame. anyway, there is a difference between web developers and web designers so this is pretty useless to half or half

# 30 July 2008 at 10:43 am

max said:

this list is garbage.

one website: Google

good for both web designers and developers (which you have confused here) and bored employees

# 30 July 2008 at 10:47 am

Grumpy said:

Tough to understand why some of these sites would be relevant for a website *developer* — not all website developers are designers.

# 30 July 2008 at 11:09 am

Arbenting (author) said:

Apologizes to those who were disappointed that design sites were included. I do both design and development so it all kind of bleeds together for me. We’ll do our best to keep them separate in the future.

@Madison - You are completely right, design bump should be on the list and I’m kicking myself for leaving it off now. I’ll make sure to add a link to the article.

@zombieloffe & bobachu - I wasn’t aware that w3 schools taught invalid markup, I knew that I had come across a few things on the site that were outdated but I figured they were few and far between. I’ll make a note in the original article noting this.

I’m happy everyone else enjoyed the list. Thanks to everyone for the feedback, we’re pretty new to the whole blogging thing so we’re learning as we go along.

# 30 July 2008 at 12:48 pm

Chris Spooner said:

Many thanks for the inclusion, it’s really humbling to hear your kind comments!

The Web Developers Handbook is one site I hadn’t seen before but will be bookmarked for future reference!

Chris Spooners last blog post..58 Wonderfully Cute Illustrated Monster Characters

# 30 July 2008 at 1:32 pm

Schalk Neethling said:

Nice list! Wonder if you have ever stopped by the Web Builder Zone, css.dzone.com, on DZone?

Schalk Neethlings last blog post..A List Apart - People Who Make Websites Survey 2008

# 30 July 2008 at 2:20 pm

bigyaz said:

Actually there are a lot of us who do both design and development. (Please don’t dredge up the old arguments about whether this is a good thing…)

So this was a useful list to me.

Yes, w3schools has some inaccuracies, but that’s a tradeoff for its comprehensive content. Show me a site that offers that much information and is always completely up-to-date.

# 30 July 2008 at 2:52 pm

Sean said:

you missed http://www.gotapi.com the sites you listed are more for designers, not developers. Gotapi is pretty much indispensable.

Seans last blog post..Karta Pushing the Daisy

# 30 July 2008 at 3:53 pm

Arbenting (author) said:

@Schalk Neethling & Sean - Thank you both for the recommendations, they are both new to me.

@bigyaz - I’ve been using development exclusively to describe what I do because it seems all encompassing, but I’m rethinking that strategy now. I’m glad you found the list useful.

# 30 July 2008 at 4:13 pm

Sophie said:

Some nice resources. But W3Schools? Lame, and in no way associated with W3C, despite what many novices seem to believe.

# 30 July 2008 at 4:47 pm

dai said:

love the w3schools!

dais last blog post..NASA celebrates its 50th anniversary on July 29, 2008

# 30 July 2008 at 4:50 pm

Arbenting (author) said:

@Chris Spooner - Thanks so much for the reply, as I said above, your blog is one of my favorites. I’m excited to see you here!

# 30 July 2008 at 4:55 pm

Gunnar Andreassen said:

I actually knew of some of these from before (like I love typography)- great list!

# 30 July 2008 at 5:04 pm

mike said:

Great stuff. will check out web designer wall. Thanks

# 30 July 2008 at 6:43 pm

Pedro said:

May try http://www.unmatchlist.com

Have compiled +2500 essential designer / builder URLs and new addictions each week.

Thanks

# 30 July 2008 at 6:58 pm

Iliya Iliev said:

Resources for web designers - http://www.webdesignresources.hit.bg/en/

# 31 July 2008 at 3:03 am

paresh said:

great list, thanks for sharing.

pareshs last blog post..World’s leading vehicles ‘hearts’ are manufactured in Solapur……

# 31 July 2008 at 9:10 am

Rich said:

You may want to take a look at: http://www.singlewrench.com - Tool for developers of large files

# 31 July 2008 at 9:25 am

Arbenting (author) said:

@Gunnar & Paresh - I’m happy the list was helpful to you guys!

@Mike - web designer wall is most definitely worth checking out, you won’t be disappointed!

@Pedra, paresh & Rich - Thanks so much for the recommendations, I’ve added them to the list!

# 31 July 2008 at 12:41 pm

Dwayne Charrington said:

I couldn’t have put it better myself. The Web Developer’s Handbook is a must have resource for all web developer’s. I highly suggest that people use this resource.

Thanks for the useful list.

# 31 July 2008 at 7:19 pm

JoeShmoe said:

I use most of these sites, and could list several more. But if I had to narrow it down to one, thats missing, it would be ‘Design Meltdown’. Seriously, I can imagine life without it.

# 1 August 2008 at 12:38 am

adelaide design said:

Certainly a recommended read

# 1 August 2008 at 4:25 am

Schalk Neethling said:

The link to the web builder zone is not functioning correctly in the reader recommendations section.

Schalk Neethlings last blog post..CakePHP 1.2 - Multiple Validation Sets

# 1 August 2008 at 6:25 am

More said:

Cool list, here are some more sites

http://www.logicweb.com (web 2.0 style host)
http://www.noupe.com/
http://news.cnet.com/webware/

# 1 August 2008 at 7:33 am

Nicole said:

What about Sitepoint?

# 1 August 2008 at 9:44 am

Junsu said:

You totally forgot Smashing Magazine.
smashingmagazine.com

# 1 August 2008 at 11:10 am

Arbenting (author) said:

@ Schalk Neethling, thanks for pointing that out. It has been sorted.

@ Nicole, thanks for the recommendation, but unfortunately, we are among the NoSpec crowd here (after a bit o’ reading) and as they are affiliated with 99 Designs, we cannot give them our backing. Sorry. Though, again, thanks so much for the rec.

@ Junsu, actually, we did not forget them, it may be the case that one of us here at Arbenting have applied to be a guest blogger for Smashing Magazine, and we didn’t want to seem like we were catering or sucking up to them. They are a great resource (hence our wanting to be associated with them) but we again didn’t want to seem pandering in any way. So we totally thank you for bringing them up, so it doesn’t feel that way at all now.

@Dwayne, JoeShmoe, adelaide design, and More, thanks for the feedback!

Much love y’all

# 1 August 2008 at 1:07 pm

Graphic Identity said:

I’ve learnt alot from those websites since the day I landed to this internet world Yes! Without them… I would completely lost!

Graphic Identitys last blog post..15 Photoshop Tutorials to Understand Various Lighting Techniques

# 8 August 2008 at 7:46 pm

Raul said:

nice compilation

# 9 August 2008 at 4:51 am

Angie Bowen said:

@Graphic Identity & Raul - I’m glad you enjoyed the list and got something out of it. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

# 9 August 2008 at 3:53 pm

Рубен said:

Вот поэтому и иногда не хочется идти вперёд!

# 2 October 2008 at 7:03 pm

jive said:

I prefer to just use a couple of sites and let digg and dzone find anything else for me. I use Yahoo Pipes also to filter out garbage or certain stories with certain keywords.

# 11 November 2008 at 1:50 pm