There is no shortage of WordPress themes, page building tools, and app design packages in today’s marketplace. Each has its own unique feature and potential uses, and the same can be said for supporting products and services a web designer might have a need for or require access to.
In this listing, you will find two or three quality products and services that we have placed in their appropriate categories. Some of these selections are listed because they are somewhat unique. Others are listed because they are among the best in their class. All of these web designer tools and resources were created to make your life easier as a designer. Take a look and see if something in this list might be of use to you.
WordPress Themes
Version 4 of Theme is proving to be a game changer in the world of premium WordPress themes. The reason is X’s new page builder, Cornerstone. This innovative feature is unlike anything else currently on the market. X is already the fastest selling ThemeForest theme, in part because it is packed with features web designers crave. With the addition of this new page builder, this theme is destined to become more popular than ever. Purchasing X could well be the smartest decision you ever make as a website designer. You will immediately be given free access to the many Themeco-created plugs for WordPress, all of which work seamlessly with this theme. A solid, top quality support team, and free access to a dynamic community site and information-packed forums will also be there to assist you.
Enfold is a top seller. Select one or more of the demos they offer and you will quickly see why. This theme, the best rated multipurpose theme on Themeforest, gives new meaning to the phrase “user friendly”. It is by all accounts the easiest and most user-friendly theme to work with in today’s marketplace, a statement that definitely speaks of the truth when its drag and drop page builder is taken into account. The virtually unlimited number of variations made possible during the editing process means you can start from scratch and rapidly build any layout you like. This theme is so fast, that while you build page after page the clock on the wall seems to stand still. Enfold is always kept up to date, and the support that is provided is exceptional.
Be Theme is the biggest WordPress Theme ever by nearly any measure. Most of its users will point to the 100+ premade layouts as this theme’s main and biggest attraction. This is by far more layouts than you will see offered by any other theme, and they cover any conceivable topic you are apt to design a website around. Be is also big in terms of the features incorporated in it. Its more than 40 core features makes this theme one of the most versatile responsive themes, if not the most versatile, you will find anywhere. If you were to assign a number to Be’s support team, it would have to be a perfect 10. The support this premium theme provides to its users is nothing short of world class.
Website Builders and Platforms
XPRS is a brand-new website builder that is totally different than what you used to get from website builders. It uses a new technology called Polydoms that makes website building like playing Lego.
XPRS has a white label solution that is offered for a great price of $250 per year for unlimited licenses and let’s you easily manage 1000’s of clients sites. XPRS is fully responsive and working with it can reduce your work time on each project by a significant amount. You should check them out.
Webydo
Craft your design code-free. Webydo – a cloud-based platform for professional designers – provides a seamless design environment to manage and deliver pixel-perfect, responsive websites. Webydo allows professionals to manage their clients’ websites from a single CMS. With full White Label and customization options, this premium platform is the go-to place for professional designers and web agencies. Webydo empowers design professionals to lead the website creation market.
WordPress Page Builders
Cornerstone is new, innovative, and definitely not your typical page builder. While it has too many valuable features to list here, there is one feature that stands head and shoulders above the rest, and that is its 100% front end editing capability. Cornerstone’s editing and preview functions are displayed side by side, allowing you to see exactly how your site is taking shape as you build and edit a page. The need to edit and check, and edit and check, is a thing of the past. Users are raving about this new WordPress page builder. You will also.
Themify Flow is a framework website designers can use to build responsive WordPress themes. You can build as many home page, page, and post templates as you want, and construct templates for other categories as well, with its drag and drop page builder. Since you can see where you are at as you proceed, you maintain full control over the layouts and modules you are working with. Each template has its own header, footer, and sidebars, and there is no need for CSS or PHP coding. Themify Flow is an open source project, and as such it is 100% free for you to use.
Project Management and Collaboration Tools
Nutcache is a smart and simple project management tool you can use to track project time, track invoice work, and make payments or get paid for the work you do. At the same time, it provides of the best collaborative solutions you are likely to find anywhere. If features a series of collaborative boards from which you can invite team members, clients, and other stakeholders or collaborators to work with you on your project or projects. Nutcache also features a dashboard featuring graphic indications of project status.
Azendoo offers a more relaxing, yet efficient way to go about you work. It could best be described as an intuitive project planner and task manager. Primarily intended as a collaborative teamwork tool for marketing and design teams, Azendoo will assist you in sharing valuable information, coordinating with your team members, setting priorities, and maintaining your focus on the task at hand. Share information via Evernote, Dropbox, or Google Drive, or copy and share Photoshop or Sketch designs. Get rid of all the clutter, and the need to scurry about to gather information. You’ll find it relaxing.
Converting Designs to Code
PSDGator is a small development team offering some very big services. Their specialty is to take your designs and turn them into code, sparing you the time and effort of having to do so, or the time and effort of having to learn how to code. They will convert your Photoshop designs into responsive, hand-coded HTML/CSS. If you need to have a design integrated into WordPress or WooCommerce, they can do that as well.
Upload your PSD and let 40 Dollar Markup convert it to pixel-perfect HTML/CSS. The HTML files you receive in return will be SEO friendly, cross-browser compatible, and W3C valid. The code you get will be hand-coded — no automated coding tools allowed! 40 Dollar Markup is a service provider you may also want to visit if you have a need to have a PC website converted to responsive code. Whatever you ask them to do their deliverables will be supported.
Direct Basing provides a variety of slicing services ranging from HTML5 slicings to complete WordPress realizations. They will convert your PSD design to HTML/CSS that is both SEO friendly and cross-browser compatible, and they can deliver it all responsive as well. If super-fast delivery is important to you, Direct Basing will be well worth looking into.
Hosting Services
Whether you are looking for a shared hosting plan, a VPS hosting plan, or a managed WordPress hosting plan, GlowHost has just the right plan for you. With servers located in 16 worldwide datacenters, this hosting service operates on a large scale, and it specializes in managed dedicated servers and managed cloud and complex server clusters. Setup and activation is immediate once you sign up or place your order, and the hosting fees are quite affordable.
Doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie or experienced user, launching a Linode cloud server is an easy task. Your files will be hosted on a modern hardware which guarantees great speed and 99.9% uptime.
They have a simple and easy control panel called the Linode Manager. It has a straightforward interface which allows you to deploy, boot, resize and clone really quick.
Stock Photo Agencies
Big Stock has an inventory of millions of stock photos, vectors, and illustrations to share with you. You can select from a variety of subscription plans, and once you have purchased a royalty-free image, you can re-download it at any time for free. Searching for what you want is easy, and you can begin with a free trial and 35 free images.
Photos, vectors, or illustrations, Stockfresh has them all in abundance. All of the images are nicely categorized to cut down on your searching time. Prepaid prices are reasonable, but you can realize significant savings by signing up for a subscription service. The Stockfresh website is responsive, so you can place an order while you are on the go, and the support Stockfresh provides is excellent.
Web Apps
Sendloop’s specialty is email marketing. You can use their drag and drop editor to quickly create mobile device ready emails in minutes, or select from among the 60+ responsive and topical email templates. Sendloop’s real-time email reporting metrics let you to measure various usage parameters associated with your email campaigns at any time, and you can monitor these metrics while you are on the go!
Typeform helps you create mobile-ready, interactive, and conversational forms. You can create surveys for customer feedback, generate registration forms for your event, build online tests and quizzes, and even take payments.
The best part is you can use its core features for free. You can also use Pro features before paying, so you can see how powerful it is. If you want to make a strong first impression with your audience, go with Typeform.
UI Kits
Vonn Material Design Mobile UI Kit
If you are suddenly given an assignment to design an Android mobile app, and you don’t know quite how to get started, this drag and drop Vonn UI kit can save the day. Starting with 100 classy UI templates conveniently placed in 9 categories, this kit has everything you need to create an unlimited number of stunning apps. Simply download the files on Photoshop (the kit is CS5+ compatible) and away you go!
The preceding UI kit was designed with material and fashion apps in mind. The Flavourite Mobile iOS UI Kit is an ideal solution if you have been given an assignment to produce a cooking or recipe oriented app. The high quality components featured in this kit fit together perfectly in a structured grid, and your final designs are ready for Retina display devices. There are 15 delicious-looking templates, plus a selection of vector shapes, to help you get started.
Icons and Fonts
Icons Responsive’s library of more than 1000 different icons should make looking to other sources for icons unnecessary, unless of course you have a very specific element in mind. Each icon type is available in 5 different sizes ranging from 16 to 128 pixels, and in 4 different styles. If 1000+ is not enough, more icons are always being added, and they are yours for free once you sign up.
Tallow Handcrafted Uppercase Font
Just when you thought that every font there would ever be a need for had already been invented, along comes Tallow, a handcrafted uppercase font that is a perfect design element to help establish a brand identity. All of the major languages (and a few minor ones) that use Latin 1 glyphs are represented. For variety, small uppercase letters can be used in combination with larger uppercase letters. Check out this very unique font.
This selection of premium themes, website builders, page builders, and mobile app builders has been nicely complemented with several specialty services and tools, including PSD to code converting services, hosting services, and special sites devoted to email marketing, forms, icons, and fonts.
There will always be more to come in our future listings, but we hope you have found something in this one you can put to good is. Whether you have or have not, we are always interested in hearing your thoughts, so feel free to leave your comments with us.
Great collection. Must have.
“Purchasing X could well be the smartest decision you ever make as a website designer ” – id say learning how to design a website from scratch rather than getting a head start by using a pre-built theme is a smarter one.
That’s Great..!
This make designing easier and faster, but working with such tools and services may have chances of getting security issues after sometimes.
This could be some what risky and can be done with care.