2. Go to File -> Preferences -> in the preferences window go to "additional boards manager URL's and paste the following link
https://adafruit.github.io/arduino-board-index/package_adafruit_index.json
OR recommended ->
http://arduino.esp8266.com/package_esp8266com_index.json
3. Go to tools ->Boards ->board manager, in the boards manager window select "contributed" from the TYPE drop down and then select ESP8266 by ESP8266 community forum and version 1.6.2 and then install. It can take about 5 minutes to install!
4. Restart IDE, select board as ADAFRUIT HUZZAH ESP8266 (works with generic esp's) if you use the first link, or GenericESP8266 Module if you use the second link and 80hz freq and 115200 baud, then...
5. Code, test, contribute what you've coded back to the community etc
ALSO... You don't need to have anything special listed in the programmer list.