Officially we are witnessing “Fourth Industrial Revolution” in front of us with technology creating an entire new generation of web applications. These are richer in content and making these demand constant changes on the front-end. Firms are in search of resources to shift gears and streamline their work and increase productivity on a day-to-day basis.

Developers spend quite some time researching for design blogs and browsing through various websites for tools to garner an easier flow for their work. The following 5 cool front-end tools could come handy for your everyday business output.

Edge Code

adobe.com/edge/code

Formerly christened as Brackets, Code has been built by Adobe Systems to enhance the capabilities of other applications, for example, Dreamweaver. Adobe Edge Code is a lightweight text editor for web developers and designers. It gels well with HTML, CSS and Java Script Code comes in-built with all functionalities of the erstwhile Brackets and additional extensions that integrate with other Adobe products such as Edge Inspect, Edge Web Fonts, and Adobe Kuler. This gives you access to a world of fonts and color palettes that you could use in your development Endeavour.

For those having Apple ID, Code comes free. It is well worth a try since it speeds up development time through display of code changes directly on screen.

Snipping Tool

Pressing print screen button and copying the image on screen is a shortcut to show someone what is on screen. This is exactly what a snipping tool does. Snipping tool is a screen shot tool. Select the area and in the editor highlight or encircle the areas for review, save them and send across or use for future reference. You can capture a free-form snip (drawing a free-form shape around an object), rectangular snip (dragging the cursor around an object to form a rectangle), window snip (selecting a browser window or dialog box that you want to capture), and full-screen snip (capture the entire home screen).

For Windows 10, open Start button and type snipping tool in the search box and select snipping tool from the list. You can after saving the snap shot email your client for further action.

Codepen.io

codepen.io

Codepen is the handiwork of CSS wizard Chris Coyier and his friends Alex Vazquez and Tim Sabat. Codepen is a social development tool for front-end designers and developers. A unique feature of the tool is that it allows users to experiment with code in the browser itself turning it into a virtual playground. Want additional features, get on to their paid account, it will be a virtual treat.

Breakpoint Tester

breakpointtester.com

To easily test the responsiveness of websites at various breakpoints when creating something responsive is a challenge. Breakpoint Tester solves this issue and helps you scan sites’ style sheets for defined breakpoints and display them tiled in your browser. Breakpoint Tester is a handy tool for getting an overall view of how a project stacks down.

Last Pass

Lastpass.com

Last Pass is your password manager and password generator that locks your passwords and personal information in a secure vault. In the process it keeps you protected. Since it keeps a track of all your account login details you are not required to remember your passwords, key them in or click on the forgot password button. They give a great way of reducing login time and managing accounts between teams. Last Pass has got safe and secure safety features and can be customized as per your needs.

Panda

http://usepanda.com/

Panda is a great chrome extension tool to stay abreast with what is going on in the design industry. You can make the most of Chrome with this extension tool. Panda can replace your default tab. Enjoy the peace and quietness of the lively news feed on the left and beautiful tiled feed on the right.

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The internet has come a long way since the past decade. There has been a splurge in popularity of many small business websites, who have demonstrated their capability to take on the bigger players. At the same time, many websites have lost their appeal due to their unwillingness to change according to the latest trends. Your online visitors can easily make out if your website looks outdated. You need to make sure that it stays in tune with the latest trends. The best way to find out whether you should go in for a website re design, is to visit it, using your smartphone.

Website Not Optimised

Many of us are glued to smart phones for most of the time. However, very rarely do we use them to check our own website. If a website loads slowly or appears disproportionate on a smartphone, that means it has not been optimised for the mobile.

Unclear Message

Web visitors will be on your site for a brief while. So make sure that you get the message across, very quickly and in the most effective way. If the message is not clear, they will simply click away to another site. Therefore make sure that the main page contains all the essential points and the message is conveyed in plain and simple terms. If you feel that it is appropriately designed, you may still ask for a second opinion from close friends who will be more honest in their review of your website. Also have it tested on multiple devices as well as browsers.

Difficult to Navigate

The website must be easy to navigate. The visitors must never get ‘stuck’ in some part of the website and find it difficult to go back. The navigation bar is usually towards the top of the website. It must provide the user with the much needed ease in navigation. The users also expect links at the bottom of the web-page, so that they can find their way through your website, even if they get lost.

If your site is easily navigable, people will spend more time on it, and this increases their visit duration and sometimes results in business conversions or product purchases.

Doesn’t look Trendy

Your web design needs to keep up with the current trends and should not look outdated. Although it may not be evident, you still need to view it from your customers’ point of view. It is best to seek the unbiased opinion of your friends. This will give you an idea of what needs to be done to make it look more appealing.

Poor Conversion Rate

When people visit your website, they may choose follow the Call-to-Action (CTA), submit a query form, sign up for a newsletter, buy a product or perform any other recommended action. If you are getting less response and your conversion rate is on the decline, then there is cause for concern. It implies that your website is not providing the customer experience or simply doesn’t have the appeal of your competitors. Once you are sure that something is wrong with your conversion rate, it is time to go in for a website redesign.

Lots of Bling

Make sure that the site doesn’t have too many bells and whistles. Too many graphics and animations slow down your website and drive visitors away. It is much better to have a simple but optimised website. It loads faster and conveys the message to the web visitors without any further hiccups.

These are few of the reasons why you need a website re design. You may thus approach website design professionals to get it re designed.

Five Cool Frontend Development Tools