17 Best Free Resources For Bloggers.

Here is a compilation of the best free resources for bloggers that you might find helpful! There are several websites that I come back to constantly for tips, and resources as I constantly update and tweak the look of my blog. I decided to compile all those websites into a list that I hope you will find useful as well. The best thing about these websites? They offer free resources and reading materials to improve your blog’s feel and presentation. Read on!

In case you have time to learn more of these topics, here are some of the resources/links I’ve written about in the past!

Free Resources For Bloggers I’ve written About in the Past

1. 18 Best Free WordPress Plugins Every Blogger Needs
2. 20 of My Favourite Apps for the iPhone
3. You can find more blogging resources under the under this tag

Free Resources For Bloggers

Articles and Helpful Readings

1. Smashing Magazine – an excellent blog/magazine dedicated to coding, little snippets, and tips/tricks for flawless design, coding and web experience
2. Troubleshooting: Share Code – ever been stuck on a CSS/JS coding and feel like you’re read to rip your hairs out? Check out this article which lists a few web editors that allows you to verify the validity and cleanliness of your codes.
3. CSS Doc Hub – a comprehensive list of CSS classes with examples and their appropriate uses. Also available for HTML, Javascript, jQuery, and PHP
4. Find Colours To Use On Your Website – ever been stuck trying to find a color combination for your website? This page lists some excellent websites to help you choose combinations for your site.
5. 5 Pictures You Should Take to Improve your Blog’s Photography – a great article written about why you should play around with your photography subject to improve your blog images and presentation.

To Make Your Life Easier: Generators

Or in my case, to ease my laziness.

1. favicon.cc – a favicon generator that allows you to import existing images and turn them into favicons for your blog. Definitely a must-have for those who are not as artistically inclined as I am.
2. Stripe Generator – an online background generator that allows you instantly create backgrounds (stripes) in seconds. You control every variable, and if you are not interested in creating your own background, downloads of others’ background is also available. This is an awesome resource for those who do not have Photoshop or too lazy to fiddle with Photoshop. A generator is also available for Tartan Backgrounds.
3. Grab Button Generator – allows you to quickly generate HTML code for your buttons. It does not create the buttons for you, but create the HTML coding to display the button and the copy/paste box.

Helpful Tools

1. Email Address Encoder – prevents spam bots from spamming your email address by converting them into HTML numbers. Your email address will stay intact and legible on screen. Ingenious!
2. Disqus Commenting System – a very powerful, and useful commenting system that allows for greater engagement and interaction with your readers
3. CSS Beautifier – helps load your site faster by cleaning up your CSS code.
4. Fake images please? – image placeholder tool that creates dummy image or text to help you see the finished layout during the design process
5. PicMonkey – a free online picture editor. I’ve never personally had to use it since I learned and grew with Photoshop. I heard this is a really helpful tool; allows you to create collages and more.
6. ColourLOVERS – a great place to check out if you are ever stuck with deciding which color scheme to use.
7. Subtle Patterns – an excellent resource for your pattern/background needs. They offer mostly black and white plain or patterned patterns – excellent for print or digital designs.

WordPress Related

1. 40 Essential WordPress Plugin – awesome list of plugins to help improve your WordPress site: better security, loading time, and making it SEO friendly.
2. 20 Best WordPress SEO Plugin – all about making your WordPress blog SEO and search engine-friendly.

I’ll be posting more blogger-related resources and tutorials in the upcoming weeks! Any future requests? Send me an email to get in touch!