There are a lot of tools and software that can be used when building/designing websites with WordPress. Here I am going to list the main ones and explain what they do and why I use them?

SSH Terminal Software

My SSH Terminal software of choice is either Ubuntu for Windows or PuTTy. Firstly, I’ll explain what an SSH Terminal is for. This software is used for me to be able to connect to my webserver which is where I host my websites that I have built or that I am building. Both of these tools are command-line tools and both let me do what I want. PuTTy is great because I can store a list of all my servers with the credentials all saved and launch easily. However, it just doesn’t give that same authentic Linux feeling that Ubuntu for Windows does.

Notepad

Every web designer needs a piece of notepad software. Some might use paper ones, but I prefer digital and my choice of notepad/text-editor is Sublime Text. It is slick, contains a built-in dark theme (which I use on any program if it has it, it is kinder on the eyes.), supports tabbed pages meaning it is easy to keep your notes separate and it automatically reloads all your notes from last time even if you haven’t saved them specifically to a file. Trust me, that is a feature that is 1 million per cent needed in a notepad.

IDE

IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment and is key for anyone who has to use any code when designing their websites. My IDE software of choice is Visual Studio Code. Once again, one of the reasons I love Visual Studio Code is it has a built-in dark theme. Another is it supports with a huge library of extensions pretty much every code language I can think of. It is a great all-rounder and with its built-in integrations with Git, I simply can’t fault it.

WordPress Theme

My WordPress theme of choice for the majority of my websites is Divi by Elegant Themes. The reason for this is that because this theme is so versatile, the design possibilities are endless. But also, it’s integrated Divi Builder which is constantly improving makes designing websites an absolute pleasure. It allows you to build faster and easier without compromising on design, features or elegance. It actually aids those with its large list of modules available with the builder. And if those aren’t enough, due to its large user base, there are many plugins available which add to the theme’s functionality to make it even better.

Other Software

Whilst these are main pieces of software, there are plenty of other pieces of software that I use to design and build my websites. To name a few:

• Google Chrome
• FileZilla (FTP/SFTP Client)
• BuiltWith Chrome Extension (Used to check what technologies other websites are using)
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Pexels.com
• Github

The list goes on. Some I use often, some I only use on occasion. But they are all extremely valuable when developing and building websites.