When creating a wireframe for a website, I always start with a Visio wireframe stencil from Garrett Dimon. The stencil is amazing but it has been a few years since it has been updated and I'm looking for something new and exciting.
What wireframing tool(s) do you use, if any?
Denim is kinda cool. Easy to use and it can produce very "rough" looking "sketches" which is a big plus when showing to a user. (If the demo looks to "shiny" they think it's already done . It's also free.
I use Visio Shapes for Microsoft CRM 3.0 a lot. It uses CRM 3.0 styles.
Update: Another mockup tool I use is Pencil, which is available as a free addon to Firefox.
Traditionally, I've heard Fireworks, Illustrator, OmniGraffle, and Photoshop tend to work pretty well. Here are some articles related to wireframing:
I use Fireworks, for two main reasons.
I guess there's a third reason - I have it, and can use it fairly well
At our place we actually use HTML / CSS. I know, I know - hear me out... :)
We use a simple grid css layout such as 960 Grid System with monochrome colors and next to no graphics (maybe a monochrome version of the client logo but thats it) to wireframe the most important pages.
Instead of needing to express complex UI elements, such as the items may move when clicked on, we can use simple JQuery to mock the movement.
Advantages
Disadvatanges
Certainly worth thinking about I'd say...
OmniGraffle is an incredible piece of software, not to mention it has a companion website for downloading free stencils.
I'm hearing a lot of good things about Balsamiq. Here's a good review.
JumpChart for content, HTML and CSS for the grid, and JQuery and JQueryUI and PolyPage for the interaction. Add those pieces together. For the CSS, you should already have base stylesheets that get used as the foundation for custom frontend development, so those can be used; I would only use a framework if you are comfortable developing the final product on it.
I would rarely divide the task of building a website to have a specific step called 'wireframing'. The process itself, I think, is way more holistic. Although it doesn't require doing designs or the backend, prototyping and final development often require the same tools. The goal and main benefit is the reusability of assets. You can do your wireframes in Photoshop, if you're planning to use Photoshop heavily in the design phase. In general, your prototype evolves into your final product, especially if you keep it under version control with something like Subversion.
I use Axure. Not free, but it is extremely easy to create anything from a basic mockup to a fully-interactive prototype. Variables can be passed between screens and actions can be easily created. It also allows sharing between users and notes for a page or for any element on a page. Master pages help for the background layout and styles can also be created for consistency.
Have you tried Pencil, Firefox's Addon and its free
The Pencil Project's unique mission is to build a free and opensource tool for making diagrams and GUI prototyping that everyone can use.
Top features:
Axure RP is by far the best solution out there for creating wireframes and prototypes. Again, as a lot of you have mentioned that it's not free. But if you're a pro, it's well worth the money. It also comes with a 30 day full functionality trial so you can be sure about it before you spend anything.
One feature which I find extremely useful is that it auto generates the functionality specification based on your wireframe design and the anotation you have added for each feature within the UI. Saves me atleast 1-2 days for each project!
I use http://www.pidoco.com for wire frame creations.
It's a combination of wireframing tool and usability software. I really liked was the fact that pidoco is 100% web-based, no need to install any software and it's free - 31-day free trial.
Justinmind Prototyper is a good one too! as (if not more) powerful than Irise, the price is a bit cheaper than Axure and you can create fully functional dynamic & interactive prototypes without any coding as everything is made through drag & drop (data integration, variables, conditions...)
Also checkout WireframeSketcher. It's a wireframe and mockup plugin for Eclipse and Eclipse-based IDEs like Aptana Studio, Flash Builder, Zend Studio, RadRails and MyEclipse.
Do correct me if I am incorrect but Pencil uses Creative Commons License & cannot be used for commercial purposes. It is a great tool (especially the stand-alone version) but exports all pages as one single web page.
Flex Builder:I have been developing Flex Apps using Flex Builder. I can tell you that it is as good for developing flex apps as for flex based "wireframes".