I think you webflow dudes should think about more features that are built for designers. A big chunk of the webflow market is designers and right now, for a designer that doesn’t code, it doesn’t really feel like it’s made with people like me in mind… and I speak for a number of designers here in israel we had a debate on it
Should be a lot more “preset” features to choose from, like different gallery types, basic page layouts, social plugins, navbar options, stuff that you see a lot here on the forum that we designers struggle with and for developers it’s a walk in the park. almost every question I ask in the forum is answered with “learn html/css” but that’s exactly the reason I’m here, so i don’t have to That’s understandable because most of the forum members here are developers or designers/coders, and that’s too bad the designer community has a lot to offer!!
I think the real breakthrough for webflow will happen when it will be true paradise for people who don’t know and don’t want to know code. That’s a big audience that I think you are missing out of right now. Including me, that is the only reason that i don’t dive in to webflow. Wix feels really “old” compared to webflow that is to me truly cutting edge, but when it comes down to business, it’s easier to build a website in wix because I have so much features to choose from and I NEVER had to mess with code. I used squarespace, weebly, folyou and every other site you can imagine, Webflow is the best in terms of a lot of pretty words i don’t know to pronounce in english, The only thing missing is MAKE IT EASY!
I understand where you are coming from but it seems like you don’t know how much work has been done on webflow in only a year. 14 months ago, a tool like this didn’t exist at all and it has come a long way. I am a visual designer with very minimal coding knowledge just like you and once you get the hang of it, webflow is an incredible tool. It has changed my life and my business. It allows me to create incredible websites for my clients that I could not before.
Be patient, the features are coming, but don’t criticize them on not having features when it is only due to not having enough time to create them. You see, these guys are making this stuff from scratch and its not like they can just download a widget or plugin to make it happen.
If you need advanced features without coding, unfortunately you will have to wait. But you can create some incredible websites without any coding at all right now.
@Mordi_Levi you’re right, more “widgets” components will make Webflow more attractive. Thankfully, I think Webflow knows that.
There is a reason for what Webflow isn’t that easy, though. Or maybe not a reason but let’s put it like this: Webflow works because as trying to make an easy tool for designer, they kept an intimate relationship between what’s the reality of HTML and CSS and their designers tool. So that you just can understand when something messes up and fix it. It’s extremely important, because the ones who didn’t, (Adobe Reflow, Macaw…) are just failing at the moment. Your dream will somehow come true, but as far as 2014 WF is the best option.
The CSS and HTML skills required to use Webflow as a power user isn’t enormous, at all, you can learn that in any of the beginner CSS courses and maybe it’s a good idea to attend one of them.
Now you have me thinking vincent, what are the shortcomings of macaw and reflow in this aspect? I havent really researched it but watching the videos for those products, it never clicked like it does in webflow. Like theres no real understanding of what you are doing corresponding to general parameters.
@DFink This is not much a criticism as it is a feedback of what I have learned using webflow VS other platforms.
I know these guys are amazing i’m just saying that this is something to focus on. You can see from this (amazing) forum that most of the users here are code savvy and there aren’t a lot of designers using webflow, at least non that can’t code, and if they are here, they can’t get the maximum out of webflow like others do.
I am looking at this from a business perspective, I enjoy playing with webflow but it is too hard for me to make it a part of my business right now, I am sure it will get better with time
@vincent You’re comparing it to reflow/macaw, which are more code-oriented, but i’m comparing it to wix/weebly/squarespace and such. The main issue is building a site without code. If you compare it from that perspective, there is much more to solve on webflow.
And again you’re telling me to learn code I don’t want to!! No offense guys but I hate it, i think it’s boring, I have tried to learn so many times but It’s just not for me. And I know that there are A LOT of designers like me that are looking for a solution for building websites, besides paying someone else to code it…
Again this is just a feedback and something i felt is important to say, I love the work done on webflow or else I wouldn’t be spending my time writing this.
Oh I don’t want you to do what you don’t want to do (:
I’m just saying this is a little early for no-code-at-all pro tools. No wonder that it will come, en masse, and rather sooner than later.
Just a word on “code”. A code is a program. There’s code logic, variables, pointers, chained lists and so on. It can be hard, it can be impossible for some. It’s impossible for me,I’ve tried, a lot of times. Even recently I tried again Javascript… and Swift. I can’t.
Ad written as they are, HTML and CSS aren’t programs. More description scripts. It’s not code, it’s easy to write, easy to understand, doesn’t require code logic at all. It’s embellishment without a UI. You can be a “no code” person and perfectly understand HTML and CSS. What I was pointing at is a couple of days of getting the basics, not weeks of difficult coding learning. Just for things to be clear (:
No one is making you use webflow. It is a tool for people wanting to create custom sites from scratch or customize them from existing templates. Tools like squarespace, wix, weebly all rely heavily on templates and are already designed for you. There is no artistic element at all other than customizing colors and what sections or pages go where. Basically webflow is for creatives to make a website and the rest are for end users to insert content on the web.
@DFink You’re wrong about wix, I have designed websites on wix from scratch, totally customizable with no use of templates. My problem with wix is the interface and interactions, that’s the main reason why I like webflow it runs a lot smoother and it’s just more fluid. and the interactions are amazing.
@vincent For me it’s less learning html/css but using it. I used to have a blog on Blogger and I played with it a lot, there were a lot of plugins and custom codes online with instructions how to use. The work itself with code is what I hate… Just staring at those letters, having a bug, working on it for hours just to find out that you forgot to put a > after the < whatever / . That can drive me crazy!! I know the basics but that’s hardly enough to implement custom code…
and I think there aren’t a lot of people in the world that can be amazing in both, coding and design is just a different kind of personality, thought process, or whatever you want to call it…
But that’s a different subject
I do know how to code in HTML and CSS but why should I spend so much time doing so when the UX, and functionality are what is more important to my client. They do not really care whats coded in the back end. I love using web flow for almost all of my projects. I am the only the only one pumping out websites at my company. Web flow makes it easier to conceptualize and think about the creative aspects and get things done in a timely manner. My bosses speak negatively about web-flow but still allow me to use it…Go figure. They do not want any other companies to know that we are using such a tool to “cut corners” they say. Which leads me to think that my bosses do not value the design as much as the code behind it.
How else can I express to my boss that this is just an awesome tool and it does not reflect negatively on our company because we use it?
I would also like to have more presets just for convenience, especially in the interactions department (I love creating them but without a way to save them it becomes a chore). I am not much of a coder either, however it doesn’t matter what ‘easy to use’ tool you use for the web it is a good idea to have basic web design best practices knowledge. Once you learn those using Webflow is a lot easier to digest and I think the way Webflow is structured it offers a lot more to a ‘non-coder’ than any of the other ‘drag anything around the canvas’ editors because it uses the HTML box model with a hell of a lot more freedom to create a legit site.
Even if they had presets you are still going to have to learn the software. No amount of pre-designed content is going to keep you from that. Having things done for you instead of learning how they were done causes more problems than it solves.
Just because Webflow allows you to create a site without writing the physical code doesn’t mean it is going to be something everyone can or should do. Weflow teaches you the essence of code without asking you to write it.
I’m a designer myself that learned code by using Webflow. Here at Webflow our goal is to make it possible for anyone (designers, coders, anteaters) to build any type of website. We do hope to add more “preset” features along the way to make it easier and faster to build sites. It’s just a matter of time.
+1
Couldn’t agree more. When technology as a whole improves, it makes room for more creative and new ideas. Remember how transistors got integrated into chips and what that did for solid state electronics?
That’s understandable because most of the forum members here are developers or designers/coders, and that’s too bad the designer community has a lot to offer!!
I don’t want to!! No offense guys but I hate it, i think it’s boring, I have tried to learn so many times but It’s just not for me. And I know that there are A LOT of designers like me that are looking for a solution for building websites, besides paying someone else to code it…
