Coda Tips and Tricks

Since I switched to Mac a two weeks ago, I’ve been looking at viable alternatives in how I go about coding my sites. During my time on social networks I have seen alot of people championing Coda and Textedit. However being the sucker I am for something which is aesthetically pleasing I decided to opt for Coda, I think it was their lovely leaf logo which won me over, fickle or what?

With any new program there is a learning curve, if the truth be told I’ve actually struggled to get to grips with Coda but I am determined for it to become my editor of choice. My intention for this post is simple – to tell people about the hints and tips which I have learned in the hope that I will learn a few new things myself.

Validation

If it isn’t already activated turn this option on by pressing the small triangle icon located at the bottom of the Coda window. The purpose of this is that it highlights the coding errors within your document before you put it through the arduous task of putting it through an HTML validator. You’ll notice the errors, if you have any, pop up in icons which resemble small bubbles.

Line Numbers

Line numbers can be enabled within the Coda window, like you will see in other WYSIWYG editors, such as Dreamweaver. This is very handy when, as mentioned above, you’ve just ran your code through an online validator. The validator will then tell you the error which it has found and present you with the line number the error is located on. These line numbers can be a life saver when spending time sorting out your code. To activate the line numbers simply press ‘view’ and select ‘show line numbers.’

Show File Paths

To show the save path of a file press the command button and click on the tab to show the exact save path.

Split A Window Vertically Or Horizontally

Although you can change this in the preferences you can split a window horizontally or vertically by pressing a button in the top right corner of a window. If you press Option you can switch it from vertical to horizontal and back again by clicking once more.

Is Your Font Size Too Small?

Press the Command button and then the plus or minus key depending upon which way you want your text to go.

Show .htaccess and Invisible Files

Go to View > Show Hidden files.

Preview Current File in Browser

If you want to open the file you are using in your own browser press the command button + Option + B.

These are most of the tips I’ve learned and read about since downloading the trial of this app. Below I have a few questions I would like to know the answers to.

A question I have for you

How do you create a connection for your sites in order to upload and download your files? During my first night of getting to grips with the software I found creating a connection to be quite hit or miss. Please enlighten me as to what option you choose to create/connect to your sites and what fields you fill out with what content.

My final question

Transmit. Do you use it and is it worth buying? I know Coda has it’s own built in ftp window but is it easier just from the start to use Transmit? I probably won’t be uploading massive files every day, I think I may just have answered my own question?