Open-source development and other software development tools are becoming more commonplace and they have many benefits. With recent online document development tools, the cost for a single designer is absolutely low, a factor making it ideal for many freelance creatives. Platforms like Panache and Little Bighorn Odeo Review) have provided plugins to extend many of Google's core design features. Other platforms like Canva, Pyra and Prezi make it easy to create professional-looking multimedia documents.
These tools are diverse, but overall they're useful for a wide range of content creation needs. Whether you're a programmer or a designer or a content author, these applications help you make your content easily searchable and auto-populated with types of content that the reader requires.
Another major opportunity for content publishers is the explosion of social media and blogging. For many bloggers, the need to publish frequently can translate into an efficiency-altering cost of $1 million per year, according to a 2011 report. Lower the barrier of entry to publishing by using an integrated blogging tool and others like Canva and Pyra to reduce the cost for editing, design and layout work.
JavaScript tools are few and far between, but those that do exist range from flashy animation modules to basic menu tags. There are also some economical tools like the modern, searchable Library of America, which is free and provides over 2,000 text, image and grid documents to enrich your creative production.
With more than 150,000 plugins available, many of these developer communities have ideas for you to try. We've narrowed down the list to five plugins or modules that might interest you for a variety of content creation needs. The following tools have received some attention from some of the greatest names in
Top GStep Plugin
Top GStep is a PHP plugin that allows you to build and tag with a drag and drop interface. GStep and other plugins like it can add interesting presentation modules that will become part of your web design if used successfully. Most of these plugins are free, though some can be quite lengthy and also require you to re-image previously hosted text elements.
Free to download and use
EditWave App
The Editors Choice award-winning EditWave is a copy-and-paste app that allows you to create multiple styles and alter them as desired. The free plug-in can be used with Photoshop, Illustrator and most of the others used to create content.
Free to download and use
Cicada Scripts
After installing and configuring it, Cicada Scripts lets you control the loading and functioning of content within your webpage, which can increase visitor productivity and decrease production costs. Each page you make can be saved and configured with settings you wish to establish for purposes of time, cost and design.
$4.99 per month or $49.99 for a lifetime of use
Soulsword Keyboard
Yes, there are complete replacements for most screen-based tools and although they work great at times, their price seems a bit on the steep side.
Stonyfield Foundation is a relatively new application, which simply looks and feels like using a computer keyboard. It offers a vocabulary of styles so you can build your own with ease. The application only supports 1.0-formatted styles, but hopefully they add additional types to complement the keyboard's styling capabilities.
Free to download and use
Harper U-Press
Harper U-Press is a laser-etched one-page design tool for desktop publishing that supports just about any document-oriented authoring format. The free $2.50 application lets you create pages, backgrounds and text overlays and the unmetered install means you don't even need to download it if you don't wish to.
Free to download and use
Of course, these are just a few of the many options for developers to help automate their web development work. You might use each tool in combination, or by selecting the most appropriate option like a QuickDraw media-editing tool) you can integrate it into your workflow.
By asking some of the best and brightest programmers and designers around, we narrowed down the list of plugins or tools to five that can increase your efficiency and creativity. These programs and tools also hold applications for designing images, allowing you to create document-focused artwork on demand.