Here are some invaluable tools we used for DemolishPairs.com.

With the release of Demolish! Pairs and a number of other projects in the works, it has been a busy time here at Digital Gamecraft.  We finally got around to finishing the DemolishPairs.com web site (for now :)).  Now, I want to acknowledge three of the tools that proved particularly important to that task.

The first tool, and one of the most important in my arsenal, is Beyond Compare by Scooter Software.  I have mentioned before (and will probably continue to do so) that this is a product that I use almost daily and it is extraordinarily useful.  It performs both excellent file comparisons/”diffs”, showing (in this case) what changes we have made in HTML or code, and fantastic synchronization of files, so we can tell at a glance which files are updated and then copy changes to the servers (usually after verifying the diffs).  After using this tool, Dreamweaver is lacking and Expression Web is downright painful, so we exit either tool to publish with Beyond Compare instead.

The next tool is 3D Box Shot Pro, by Jellypie Software, which does a lot more than merely box shots.  For our iOS app, it generated wonderful 3D images of the screenshots on iPad and iPhone devices, which you can (finally) see on the Demolish! Pairs web page; they really make the page look much better.  I especially want to thank Andrew Gibson for actually generating these images (and more) and opening my eyes to the benefits of this software.  Here is more information and a short video showing how to make a 3D iPhone (or iPad) model with 3D Box Shot Pro.

The final tool is CSE HTML Validator by AI Internet Solutions.  This software validates your web site by checking your HTML (and CSS, etc.) files for issues that either will or could cause problems, and helps to make your site better all-around.  (It is like PC-lint for web sites: essential.)  Having used all of the validations in Expression Web successfully, I foolishly assumed that everything was fine with the site, but Dexter Bell (developer of FileBoss) pointed out that I had made a fundamental error with my HTML/CSS.  The tools from Adobe and Microsoft let it slide, but HTML Validator flagged it right away.  You can get an idea how thorough the product is with an online validation (but if you check mine, you may see that the iTunes link Apple provided me is invalid 🙁 ).

If you are developing a web site, I strongly encourage you to check out all three of these tools to help make your job easier, better looking, and more robust.