Windows Notepad + Photoshop/Paintshop + Flas (if needed)
Hi friends!
This is quite interesting. Don't think that I am a proud man. I am saying all these from my four years experience in web designing & development.
Webpage creation is very easy when you are using third party tools such as coffee cup,hotdog,dreamweaver etc. But if you use Notepad then you gain extra bounce. You will have more conception about the structural design of a webpage. Make such a website which is browser independent. Write codes in Notepad & test them in different browsers. Whenever required put graphics in your webpage. It will save your loading time & users will not be returned brom your site.
Slicing a big image in Photoshop or in Paintshop,then making iframes in some places,using flash - it mess up. Making webpage is not suitable - I think.
If you want to test PHP enabled site in your local machine then I recommend you to download easy PHP & install it in your PC.
Try to test the site before launching on net by three most important browsers.
Internet Explorer,Opera,Firefox.
But if to put graphics or banner or logo & if you need to create them yourself then Photoshop is the best help. Who doesn't know that Adobe Photoshop rules the world.
Make good website.
Use notepad for scripting, use Photoshop for graphics, use flash for some smokes, use PHP,HTML,CSS,Javascript,My SQL - be smart. Learn these well.
Wish to go for more talk on this if I get find time.