In the last year or so I have really found a great set of tools that I use for almost any/all projects if needed. If you are considering building a web site or a web application – consider taking a look at the following (and consider using this as your “WWJU (what would Jen use) list:
- CMS: WordPress
- Javascript Library: jQuery
- Slideshow: jQuery Cycle
- Accordion: jQuery Accordion
- Open Source Flash Player: Flow Player
- JS UI Tools: jQuery Tools (overlays, tooltips, etc)
- JS QA Tool: JS Lint (find/correct those errors!)
- Web Site Best Practices: Yahoo! Recommendations
- Minify Tool: minify (minify your JS/CSS)
- Basic Tutorials: W3 Schools (JS/XHTML/PHP, etc)
- Hosting: Liquid Web
- Offsite Backups: Jungle Disk
If you ever need any recommendations – please ask. 
