Even nice webites eventually need a refresh... I liked my site, but it has been bugging me... this nagging need to change it.  So here it is.  Fresh and new, using a customized version of the RocketTheme template Solar Sentinel.  I was using the Yootheme template, Ambient, prior.  I liked the dark theme, but hated the main text area being black.  It's a work in progress, so expect lots of changes.

You might be interested in how I put it together...

My workspace is a wild mess... I sometimes have so many programs open it would make your head spin... luckily I am on a 15" Macbook Pro that handles it like a champ and my brain floats through the chaos like it is home.

Want to know what tools I use?  Here's a list:

• Mindmeister - Like Google Docs for mind-mapping.  Mind mapping is the brainstorming thing you did in elementary school on the board where you drew a bubble in the middle with a central idea and then drew branches with child ideas...  It is how I brainstorm and create my "wire frames" for what I want to include in the site.
• Joomla! and JCE - This is the free open source software that I use as the foundation for my websites along with the editor JCE (Joomla Content Editor), a fine replacement for the default built in editor.
• Central Desktop - An online tool I use for several things currently, but while building sites it mainly is where I keep my to do list of what needs to be done on the site.
• Mozilla Firefox - awesome browser.  Seriously can Internet Explorer just go away?  I am so tired of that problematic browser in its various flavors.
• Firebug - The primary reason I use Firefox.  It allows me to change code in the browser on the fly and see what it will do...  then I can go to my next tool and make it permenant.
• TextWrangler - A nice text/code editor program that has FTP browsing built in so I can make changes to the actual files on the server, without having to upload them using the next tool.
• CyberDuck - A free FTP (file transfer) tool that I use to upload files to the website's server space.  This is how I get files from my computer to the server.
• Adobe Fireworks - The best image editor for web design image work.  I used to use photoshop, but once I got used to Fireworks I fell in love...  I use this to modify image source files for templates, logos, etc.
• Adobe Illustrator - I often use this to design logos.
• xScope - this amazing tool is a set of tools that float over all my windows.  It includes a loupe, a magnifier that tells me the color code caught in its cross-hairs, and a ruler tool to I use to measure the size of images and areas on a website.
• Skitch - this is the handy-dandy screen capture tool that I used to create screen shots to share with you.

So what tools do you use?  Am I missing anything?