Preferred front-end workflow

Notepad.exe or SimpleText.app, any true developer needs nothing more...

Haha no, it's Labor Day and I'm not allowed to work, so I'll post multiple times in here, one for each of the many situations, site size and types that come along. I find the solution greatly differs.

Since again, it's labor day and I'm getting ripped off the computer in 15 seconds, I'll be the first to throw myself on the fire and say that because most of the sites we fire up are microsites or small to mid sized, our clients want a million dollar site for 10 bucks. So I have no problem (nor do they) with using WordPress, finding a template that matches their existing brand as close as possible, then adapt it to the pretty picture the design department hands me. It takes from a couple hours to sometimes just mere minutes to transform it completely into a child theme. Nothing left to do but insert their desired content in the agreed upon site structure and hand it back to them, for a really rock bottom price. While this has the absolute least amount of overall involved front end development, these go out our doors non-stop, in record speed time, with happy clients, paying a very affordable price.

Next I'll touch on the exact opposite side.. Medium size foot-in-the-door site with the eyes on scaling up to the sky over a long duration.

Nancy O. wrote: I'm not marking this as a question since there are no right or wrong answers. I thought it might be helpful to see how folks work on projects. What are some of the tools you use, why do you like them? etc... Do you build all mobile-friendly projects now or only when a client requests it? Is your backend system (CMS) mobile-friendly too or just the front end? Workflows: Illustrator to wireframe? PSD to Extract? Bootstrap? Foundation? Commercial Themes/Templates? Other? SASS / LESS / SCSS? Etc... Nancy O.

I still use Fireworks CS6 to create wireframing - but it doesn't support svg by default (I think there may be an extension). Will most likely eventually use Illustrator as I'm familar with that and it feels a lot more like a layout tool than does Photoshop which I think is too complex for my workflow. Pity Fireworks was abandonded as I think its a really good bare-bones no fuss bit of software that understood web-graphics whereas Illustrator and Photoshop try to encompass both print and web. I hope something else comes along to replicate Fireworks.

Never used extract but found the demo using psd file and Brackets hugely interesting. Brackets is really impressive - I like it a lot. Not sure why I havent made it my main web-editor yet. I'm still using DW, old habits die hard I guess.

Yikes, you know my take on Bootstrap, Foundation etc - I give those kinds of workflow a wide berth - far too uneccessary mark-up, dodgy css and general coding for my liking - obviously engineered with something other than front-end web development in mind. (It's grid system is fine though if you isolate the code needed (not that I use it) - components are total rubbish)

Templates - not something that I would consider using as I've never ever found one which fits with my requirements or specifically the clients requirements. I think when you use a pre-conceived design you don't fully take into consideration the objectives of the project and see the templete as a wirefarme to feed in information, rather than than coming up with something bespoke which might best suit the clients needs. I might observe template designs and get some inspiration or even use some aspects or them.

Again I have an issue with SASS/LESS etc as I don't feel a 'compiled' file fits in with my workflow as it could quickly become redundant and be rendered uselsss should the compiled css file get changed for any reason, of which there could be a few - mistakes, other companies geting involved with website updates etc. I think the attributes bought to this workflow such as mixin-in, variables, calculations are amazing and useful BUT not if it needs to be complied to a stand alone file - I'll wait until this can all be executed in one file, which surely must happen as some stage.

I use php as standard in all production sites going forward - best decision I ever made.

No point in NOT producing everything as mobile friendy now - its not going away so you might as well include it as part of the overall production workflow. I think clients are now becoming more aware of the need for mobile support. I don't push my clients to go that way until they need a complete redesign. I feel all the hype about Google penalising those sites that are not mobile friendy is/was as far as my findings are concerned not happening. I still have sites which are not mobile friendly ranked way above those that are. Seriously is Google reallly only going to take mobile friendly into consideration and not the content. Persoanally I don't think so as it would kill the search engine stone dead. It's not really up to Google to get involved in that kind of decision making.

CMS - I don't really care if that is mobile friendly or not so I really havent made any effort to make them compatibile. I don't really know why - its just probably the least of my concerns.

OK so you have other stuff like Jade - again I don't understand this workflow of compling an html file - just seems crazy to me but if it works for others well it works. I can't help thinking sometimes though developers are using things more out of being a bit lazy or wanting to feel and be looked upon as  'skillfull and clever' rather than it really being a nessesary measure or are maybe pressured to do so by the company they work for. Everyones situation is different.