First of all, Could you lead us through a brief history of your life? Where you live, what you do?

My name is Dan Philibin. I'm turning 16 this June and I have been creating websites for about four and a half years. I live in western Pennsylvania, USA.

How did you get started out on the web and what inspired you to get into coding?

When I was 11 I started working with Adobe Photoshop, just experimenting with the tools and filters. Later I used a borrowed copy of Microsoft FrontPage, MS's old WYSIWYG editor, to create a few sample websites - again, just playing around.

I really got into it, though, and in 6th grade I built a flash website for my dad's business that eventually won me gold at the PA state computer fair for 6th-9th graders. I won gold the next year, too, but this time with a hand-coded, XHTML/CSS site that is still in use today. As you can see, I'm a really fast learner.

Eventually I got into more advanced HTML and CSS, started working with PHP and WordPress, and now I've added an intermediate level of jQuery knowledge to my ability toolbox.

What languages do you code and which one do you think is more 1. powerful, 2. simple and 3. you enjoy more?

I code HTML, CSS, and intermediate levels of PHP and jQuery (but I hardly know any actual core Javascript). I think PHP is the most powerful because I've seen so many simple and advanced things done with it.

The jQuery Javascript framework has got to be the easiest to learn because it makes so many things that would take lines of Javascript code to produce so easy, such as accordion boxes, fading menus, and more.

But to be honest, I don't enjoy anything more than just creating an HTML template. jQuery and PHP can give me headaches from time to time, but those late Friday nights and very early Saturday mornings when I'm playing Radiohead and coding away, sometimes it's just fun to forget modern, advanced page elements and make a good ol' fashioned HTML template.

What sites you use for inspiration and do you recommend any to our readers?

I'm not much of a designer, to tell you the truth. I know my way around Photoshop very well and can easily point out good designs from bad, but coming up with original ideas has never been my speciality. Nonetheless, I often check out sites like PatternTap and DesignSnips to see some cool examples of what design elements are being used lately.

Do you have any other hobbies? if so what are they and why do you enjoy them?

Web development is really just one part of my life. In addition to being a high school student, I'm a committed member of the school basketball team. This helps me to stay active in ways other then dragging myself to the gym a few times a week. I also take private piano lessons, play the organ at my church, and act as assistant principle cellist in the school orchestra. I've played the piano since I was 3 and still find enjoyment in doing so.

Do you run a PC, or a Mac, why?

I'm a Mac all the way! I bought my first mac, a 20" white Intel iMac, in November of 2006, which is still my primary work machine. I also have a white 13.5" MacBook that sits alongside it. Of course, I run VMWare Fusion on the iMac to do IE testing when required. I started developing websites on PCs but ever since I made the switch I've loved the ease of use, application availability, and overall user experience of using a Macintosh.

What software couldn’t you live without and could you name 3 reasons?

This is a little cheesy but I definitely couldn't live without Mac OS X. I don't think I could stand developing websites on a PC!! It's fast, it's clutter-free, it's not bloated and it doesn't slow down over time, and there's tons of great apps available for OS X.

What’s the program you use to code in? What is so good about it?

I code all of my sites in Coda. This all-in-one code editor for Mac makes it so easy for me to develop websites. It has built-in FTP, which means I can simply double-click a file, download it, open it up right there beside the FTP sidebar, and begin editing. Saving the file immediately uploads the new version right to the server and I'm ready to go. It also has built-in previewing and a great site manager.

When you first started out, how did you promote yourself? If at all?

I can credit most of my early promotions to my dad. He was my first client and probably got me my next few jobs with some local people and businesses. Once I started learning how to use WordPress I think I got a few clients off the forums at Pixel2Life, got a few referrals from them, and...well, that's about it!

What was the first coding job you ever got?

My dad was my first "real" client. I was basically like, "Hey dad, I learned this Flash thingamajig program and I wanna try it out. Need a site?" My first hand-coding job was probably for a local downtown clean-up group, and that site is still up today.

Of course, my real home on the web is my portfolio and blog at DanPhilibin.com. I write articles at WPCandy, act as project manager and lead developer at WPCoder, and tweet and follow friends on @danphilibin on Twitter.

NEW! View HD on the Vimeo site by clicking HD in the player! Or by clicking here!

WordPress CSS Header - Install Clip

/*
Theme Name:
Theme URI:
Description:
Version:
Author:
Author URI:
Tags:
*/

Apple Touch Shortcut - Install Clip

< link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple_touch_icon.png" />

PHP Include - Install Clip

include('<<**SelectionInsertionPlaceholder**>>.php');

Clearing div - Install Clip

.clearing {clear:both; height:0; overflow:hidden; margin:-1px 0 0 0;}

W3C page validator - Install Clip

<a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=<<**SelectionInsertionPlaceholder**>>" title="Validate this website">(x)html</a>

That was just a few clips - there are loads on the actual website. I hope you find this post useful because I sure did. I absolutely love web tools like these. Oh and thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments and feedback and tell me what you think