Webflow and WordPress

I’ve built websites in WordPress for nigh on twenty years. In its many configurations, themes, and site builders, I’ve found it a reliable tool to create nearly anything I need.

Recently I’ve started testing Webflow in earnest. Out of curiosity I’ve wondered what I’ve been missing. It’s a tool I’ve been familiar with for years, but had never given it a full try.

Now, after several weeks of playing with things I’m growing just comfortable enough to be aware of what the tool can do, how things are structured, and navigating between the designer tool and CMS backend.

Frankly I’m blown away.

It’s akin to getting used to a tool like Photoshop or Figma. There’s so much there. It’s not a consumer friendly product. But, once you understand how to navigate things it allows you to build anything you can imagine.

I started out designing webpages by hand, coding them in an IDE with HTML and CSS. Then I spent most of my time in CMS land, building with a GUI.

Part of me wants to still just code a site by hand, removed from all the wasted time pressing buttons and navigating across a slow (and Webflow is slow) interface. But I also appreciate that I can build just about anythign with mouse clicks.

ChatGPT has also been incredibly useful in finding solutions to common Webflow questions. It’s more useful than Google, and ten times faster than wasting my time browsing YouTube videos (if I have to hear “hi guys” one more time).

Now I find myself wishing for an open source solution as powerful as Webflow, but not as locked down (and costly).