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20 Comments

Create MVP with Webflow?

Hey Guys,

Anyone used Webflow to create an MVP and what was your experience with it?

I'm looking into using to build out some UI as I do not have enough time to code out both front end and back end.

I'm working with Vue.js and I'm very comfortable in building out custom functionality.

It is just the conversion of the design into HTML / CSS code that I don't have time for, so looking for a convenient way to do so, once I have that I've got the custom functionality handled for both front-end and back-end.

Thanks.

  1. 4

    Use a Bootstrap template and stick to not using a JS framework like React if you can.

    Shouldn't take long to build the frontend at all.

    1. 1

      Thanks, I'm currently using Vue.js which I'm experienced with and comfortable with, just need to convert the designs into actual code html / css and I will handle the front-end and backend custom functionality without a problem.

      I am using React for Chrome and Firefox extension

      1. 1

        Buy a vue template don't waste time building it yourself or use an opensource Vue UI kit.

    2. 1

      Why not use React? Because of SEO or ?

      1. 2

        I find building in a frontend framework like React or Vue to be a lot slower than just using a template engine.

        1. 1

          Yeah fair enough - I suppose for a simple landing page, there's nothing wrong with a simple template file referencing something like bootstrap.

          1. 2

            When i was talking about a template engine I meant https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.0/topics/templates/, https://mozilla.github.io/nunjucks/

            But Bootstrap is a another time saver as there are so many snippets online etc.

            1. 1

              Yeah like handle bars? I agree then. I'm building https://sheetcapture.com in node and handlebars for the sheer reason that it's fast

  2. 2

    I built the UI for my Adobe Illustrator extension using Webflow. I passed off the HTML and CSS to my developer and then he built the functionality using Vue. It seemed to be fairly painless for him.

    I would recommend this workflow :)

    1. 1

      That's awesome! Thanks for sharing that, I've been looking into it more and I've seen a workflow that won't be a pain, you're UI is awesome btw :D

      1. 1

        Thanks! I'm a designer, first and foremost, so designing the UI of my products is always the most enjoyable part haha.

  3. 2

    I did exactly this for my latest project. The Webflow code doesn't play nicely with Vue. The HTML/CSS came out fine, it was the mobile side of things that was a complete pain. They use a lot of custom Javascript to get their navs, and other mobile stuff to display properly. This Javascript is really hard to follow, and it was minimized so I was unable to replicate it in Vue.

    I spent 4 hours creating the mobile nav... It was horrible.

    But on the other hand I don't know of any alternatives. There really aren't a lot of places that you can buy pre-designed themes that work with Vue.

    I honestly think that this is a pretty big downfall of front-end frameworks. In my previous projects you could go to ThemeForest, Start Bootstrap, Geo Bootstrap, etc... And these would all plug right into MVC, or an AngularJS environment. Now React, Angular, and Vue handle 3rd party javascript extremely poorly, making it extremely difficult to use a vanilla HTML/CSS/JS theme. I really hope someone comes up with a solution to this in the near future.

    1. 1

      Thanks for sharing that Shane! That's a big eye-opener, I had no idea, thought it would just be plain html / css and limited js but sounds like it would be a lot of pain especially with Vue

      The only attractive thing about Webflow is how it allows you to define your own UI and that's exactly what I need.

      I'll have a look at other options and see, if I have no other option I might just have to go with it.

  4. 2

    Hi Victor, I feel your pain. I had the same research recently.

    Have a look at Pinegrow. Exported code is much cleaner and has no extra js dependencies comparing to Webflow and alternatives.

    1. 1

      Nice! Thanks will have a look at this

  5. 2

    Hey Victor, what are you trying to build? Webflow is nice, but limited if you’re trying to build custom functionality you’d generally do in JS. If you enjoy React then divjoy.com could help you get something out pretty fast.

    1. 2

      Divjoy is awesome btw! Didn't realize you are the founder, I had seen it a while back, awesome stuff. I think if you include Vue.js as well, you will increase your user base / audience.

    2. 2

      Hey Gabe, thanks for sharing! The only thing I need is the front-end html / css , I will then be using Vue.js to make the UI interactive, etc. which I'm very comfortable with in building out custom functionality.

      It is just the conversion of the design into code that I want to find a convenient way to handle as I am working on both the back end and front end.

  6. 1

    I tried working with Webflow and is very limited. You can't even add css selectors, besides the basic :hover.

    Check Desech Studio which imports your design file (figma, sketch, adobexd) to create a clean html structure positioned with css grids, and then you can integrate with react, angular and even vue.

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