This tool was reviewed by : Marcel van Leeuwen
The Good : Thimble webmaker is a very easy and open tool for absolute beginners that want to know something more about the basics of programming. They have lots of simple and short tutorials in which they explain very well what everything means and does. It is very helpfull that when you are changing code it immediatly shows what your are doing through the split screen (code/design).
The Bad : The bad thing about thimble webmaker is that it is so simple that it sometimes becomes limited. In order to change a background color, positioning, text size or fonts for example you have to search further into the program because it is not explained in the original tutorial. Information about what is supposed to be where in the code is also nowhere to be found. When you are trying something that code can’t do it gives a warning, but it only says what is wrong and not WHY it is wrong. This is probably the most anoying thing about a lot of code programs. For a designer with almost no understanding of coding those little things are also very important and usefull and it’s a pitty that such basics are not explained but have to be found somewhere else on the internet.
The Bottomline : Little by little (tutorial by tutorial) you will start to understand the basics of coding. Basics are basics and nothing more though.
Rate with **** stars
SPECIFICATIONS (objective info) * strike through those which are not applicable
Name tool : Mozilla Thimble webmaker
Webmaking made easy
* what is it : application | script | online tool | platform | other
* what is it for ? : video | image processing | writing | website making & posting | animation | other
available export formats are ? : Webpages
* this tool functions : online | after download and install | both
* this tool is available for : Linux | Windows | Mac | iOS | Android | other
* this tool is : Free Speech | Free Beer
* does this tool have a paid version available? yes | no
If yes, what are the benefits of the paid version over the free version?
REVIEW (subjective info)
The user interface How easy or hard is it to grasp? Is it intuitive, relatively easy to follow?
Or is it unclear, too complex? What can you say about the interface?
Thimble webmaker is a good start for beginners with no coding experience at all. It explains very clear and well how to make simple but effective and usefull things. The standard free tutorials avaiable on the site give you the right amount of information to get to know your basics of coding. While these tutorials and explanations are very usefull for beginners it might be very limited and frustrating for a little more expierenced ones. Thimble gives you the basics but that’s all if you want to go a step further you have to search for your own solutions/tutorials. The interface of the online program is a big plus. It’s extremely usefull to see what happens to your design while you are coding. This way you can adjust things much more easily.
Tutorials / Instructions
Follow one or more tutorials or set of instructions, and then fill in the following:
On a scale from 1 to 5 how
useful / helpful : ***
clear : ****
quick and easy to understand : *****
are the tutorials to use?
Yes.
What notable things do other users say about this tool? (either good or bad!)
“So far as we can tell, Mozilla is taking the Summer of Code thing pretty seriously.”
The register.uk
“I like the simplicity of the editor. it sports just the undo/redo buttons and a dropdown to select the font size. Add to it the live preview option and you can easily track errors. I also like the one click publish. Click the Publish button once and you’ve got yourself a one page website, a web portfolio, or an ad.”
Godwin Jebakumar
Testing the tool (learning by doing – trial and error)
Make your own portfolio tutorial
I made a small portfolio website that shows some of my work and provides personal information. On the site you can find photo’s, information about me, contact, links to video and links to facebook and twitter. The tutorial was nice and helpfull i feel like i gained some knowledge about code.
Link to result
https://thimble.webmaker.org/p/lkhq/
What would/could a designer use this tool for?
The program can be used as a school or a simple way to gain knowledge of coding in the first place. Second i think it might also be usefull to show clients prototypes of webdesigns, apps or presentations.
Depending on what kind of free this tool is, how “free” is this tool really?
You don’t have to pay for anything so i guess it’s totally free. I’m not sure if it is still free if you would like to have your own domain name. I can’t find further information about that on the website. There are no annoying adds at the bottom, top or in the corners.
Please add any additional comments below :
I will definitly go on practicing coding with Thimble for sure since I’m really bad at coding. This tutorial was understandable for me and I would like to learn some more. The most usefull thing about Thimble is that it is more of a school for coding than an actual program which is brilliant for people who need to learn.
FREE CULTURE & FREE TOOLS 
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