It's always interesting to learn about what other web pros use for their creation tools. For me, I'm almost 100% Webflow for my content management system (CMS.) My clients like it because it has a great editing interface and I like it because I can build, design, and launch with clean, no-touch code within one tool. Let's face it, every website has some kind of custom content just like the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival. For them, it's Artists, Events, Years, and more. The website is in it's 3rd season is still going strong because of the website's ability for editors to add, edit, and connect content which automatically lists and archives as expected.
Just you, your website, and the content you want to change
Our clients all report they love using Webflow because of the easy to use interface, especially the on-page edit ability with no need to even open backend CMS editor.
There are more projects we worked on like the NBPT Docufest (there's a fest theme going on here!) that has films, archive, and awards. And let's look at portfolios where users can browse content by categories like a project we did for the MIT School of Architecture + Planning and Dacon a design build company.
Content-first thinking
The above are all examples content thinking and information architecture before even one pixel gets designed and we love to get down to brass tacks. Here's a peak of a content collection type we built for one of the festival sites:
UX design, content modeling and information architecture are exciting parts of a project and with a long history of site building in the complex CMS, Drupal, building Webflow collections (custom content) and Collection Lists (Views) comes naturally to me. This is why I would not use constraining Squarespace or Wix to develop websites unless it's super low budget and a perfect use-case for example, these Squarespace projects I did for M. KRISTINE FISHER and Bobby Gibb the first female to run the Boston Marathon. And don't even get me started on my thoughts on Wordpress (bloated 🤮code, security risk 😬.) For me, it's a dream come true that I can develop and design at the same time without touching code and with this, clients benefit from this passion too.
No more lost in translation or dealing with a designer and a developer that don't speak the same language
This designer/developer-wrapped-in-one one approach also works to the client's advantage too because they don't have to worry about things getting lost in translation or dealing with a designer that does not understand CMS user experience or a developer that gets frustrated with the designer because they don't design for databased content. Believe me, it happens all the time but not anymore if I can help it.
I've learned a lot from my developer friends on best practices, which I kind of miss, but going solo with Webflow offers amazing educational opportunities with their university, a diverse, international community, and other organizations that offer training like Ran Segall of Flux. Yea, I'm excited all over again, like back in my old Drupal days.
So far so good with 17 Webflow websites under my belt and more in the making, it's exciting new world in Web design. And with Webflow getting a round of $72 million in venture capital, investors and over 47,000 business customers, we all see the “no code” development approach is clearly a winner among other content management systems.
“I think Vlad saw the market coming,” says Hustle Fund’s Eric Bahn, a former coworker at Intuit who was one of Webflow’s first angel investors. “We pushed them early on to go for bigger customers or add marketing tools. But they felt they needed to spend their time developing a reputation with the community.”
If you would like to talk about your next project, we would love to hear about it and how we can help with your design, content, development, and lightning fast hosting all in one company. Also, I made a handy guide for editing your website too. http://mdg-webflow-how-to-for-editors.webflow.io/
Thanks for reading! Susan
