Hello everyone,
I am trying to find information regarding server side function capabilities with webflow.
I want to create a small SaaS site and app dashboard with webflow and require the ability to create outgoing POST requests. I would like the ability to do this server side so and confirm the data from the CMS DB prior to sending the POST.
Is this possible with Webflow?
Apologies if this is in the wrong area.
Regards,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
In short, any server-side programming you do will have to be hosted somewhere else. Webflow only provides (limited) support for adding client-side JS to your pages, and has no ability to add server-side files or programming of any kind.
Depending on what you’re building, you might be able to host your site on Webflow, and then use client-side JS to connect your UX to your own custom API and server-side code, which then goes through the Webflow API to access CMS data. However there are issues as you scale the usage, particularly around UX performance and Webflow API limits.
You could also export your site and run-host it with your own custom built back-end but then you don’t have the Webflow CMS at all, you’d use your own.
If security needs are low, and the amount of CMS data is manageable, you could do that “confirmation” step in client-side JS ( checking against collection list output ) before the post is sent, and skip all of the server-side logic, however this can be hacked and of course it won’t work if the user has disabled JS.
Hi Michael,
Thank you very much for the detailed response.
I believe I am picking up what you are putting down.
The better of the two options is to self-host. I have heard rumors of Web Flow supporting React components now, are there any other front-end framework integrations that are commonly used for Webflow projects that you know about?
Thanks again!
For client-side, React is the best supported because of Webflow’s DevLink initiative. If you’re wanting a more programmatic client-side UX, I’d head in that direction. Vue.js is another, but not directly supported. You’ll find some examples if you search the forum.
Awesome thank you very much!
You can also build a small PHP app that does the magic and integrates with Webflow. Please check my Youtube Video where I explained it
