Adam Turtle, Freelance Web Design in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Since1986
A Web Developer’s Dock
- 26th May, 2009
- filed under: Web stuff
- 2 comments
I’ve been following Grace Smith’s Show Me Your Dock series on her blog, and Niki Brown’s similar post which showcases various designer’s OS X docks.
It’s interesting to see which tools these designers use to create their work, and it’s also interesting to see which apps are awarded a coveted space on the dock.
I was inspired by these articles and thought I’d share my own.
My Dock
So here it is:
I’ve kept it as minimal as I can. Like many designers, I use Quicksilver to launch the majority of apps, which is both a huge timesaver and keeps my dock neat and tidy. I have a thing about clutter – I can’t even have more than about 8 tabs open in a web browser without feeling a little overwhelmed and close down all but the essentials.
Quicksilver is indispensable, I’d be lost without it. It’s much faster than Spotlight for launching apps and can even work to find a song in your iTunes, as well as a hundred other uses. Highly recommended.
The Apps
So here’s a rundown of what I’ve got on the dock. These are apps that I mainly use on a daily basis.
- Finder
Installed as standard.
- Tweetie.
My Twitter client. It’s a little resource heavy but it’s gorgeous interface and full feature list make it easily the best free Twitter client.
- Mail.
I’ve changed the icon. I actually change it quite often, just for variety. Handles all my email needs.
- Things.
I tried out the free trial and loved Things. It’s a Getting Things Done app that allows your to create and manage a to-do list of projects and tasks. Found it very useful, but decided to forego the $49.99 price tag in favour of…
- Tada List.
This is a fantasticly simple Rich Internet Application from 37 Signals, creators of Basecamp et al. As it’s an online application, I used Fluid to create an SSB, which allows me to use it just like a desktop app. Very handy for keeping on top of work.
- BBC iPlayer.
I am a proud listener of Radio 2, so this is another SSB for the radio console.
- Google Analytics.
This is one of the first things I check every morning. It’s another SSB for Google Analytics. I spend roughly 15-20 minutes going through traffic sources, popular content and keywords. It’s interesting as well as good business practice.
- iTunes.
To be honest, since installing Spotify I’ve reduced my iTunes usage to more obscure tracks that Spotify can’t find and for my podcasts.
- Spotify.
I’m quite new to Spotify, but it’s simply amazing! A huge music library and no streaming time. The adverts are a little annoying but it’s a small price to pay for a quality service.
- NetNewsWire.
My RSS reader. I’m sometimes a little afraid to open it due to the number of updates, but it’s good to check out when I need a break from work.
- Photoshop.
I have Photoshop open almost constantly. It’s the only app of the Adobe Suite that rests in my dock since I don’t use Illustrator or Flash anywhere near as much as trusty old PS.
- Smultron.
A very good feature-rich open source code editor. It’s good for opening a file quickly and has a great ‘live search’ bar at the top which makes it lite and super fast. Love it.
- iCal.
Keeps me organised. I like it’s integration with Mail, lets me add events to the calendar without having to type out the details.
- Cyberduck.
An open source FTP client. Works great for almost anything. When I’m working on a project I tend to use Coda’s FTP since it’s integrated and faster (since it’s based on Transmit), but Cyberduck is very useful for a few drag-and-drop updates.
- Coda.
My code editor of choice. I’ve been using it since Day 1 and have not looked back since. Has everything I need in one window. I recently bought Espresso which I have yet to fully check out, but Coda is a tough editor to beat.
- Firefox.
My preferred web browser. Safari had me for about a year but the plugins offered by Firefox make it a cut above.
- Safari.
Very fast and used regularly, mainly for testing purposes. If it opened up for plugins it might lure me back.
- Parallels Desktop.
I considered whether it was better to Bootcamp my Mac with XP or go with Parallels. I opted for the latter merely for the convenience of being able to switch between OSs very quickly. Combined with Spaces, it’s very seamless and runs very fast. I even have Ubuntu running on my Macbook now!
- MarsEdit.
Blog editor. I questioned if I really needed an app to update my blog, but MarsEdit does such a good job of it and for a bargain price I really couldn’t afford to go without it. It’s really handy for writing up draft posts and saving them locally, then simply publishing them when the time comes. Even lets you write in Markdown!
And there you have it. Few surprises, probably, to most of you but maybe there’s something there to help you out. My greatest tip remains to get Quicksilver, I really think Apple should incorporate it into their next OS release. And it’s totally free!
Do you create your own dock icons or just download them?
I use the icons from the Fluid Icons Flickr group (www.flickr.com/groups/fluid_icons), or create my own if they don’t have one.