Third party CMS and Webflow suggestions

I have a few projects that have CMS needs beyond what the Webflow CMS can handle currently, but I still want to design in Webflow. I normally would look to Craft or Statamic but wondering what you all recommend as that code can’t be added in Designer? What is best workflow when you need to export the code and a client wants an update after the CMS code is added? Is there some easy way to export and merge? Maybe with the Meld program or GIt?

I am open to any suggestions. Any CMS that works with just classes? Thanks in advance.

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Anyone have any suggestions?

I use processwire.com for projects like this. There is nothing even close to it. Have not run into a scenario where it doesn’t work. Very easy to theme since you are in 100% control of all output.

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Process Wire looks nice. You export then add the CMS code correct? Or is there any way to add when in Designer? Wondering what to do if i need design changes.

I don’t worry about adding all the content in WF, just some fake records to act as placeholders.
On export, I convert a page template to a PW template, with dynamic elements using the PW API.

Processwire has very sophisticated rendering options. You can really approach it in different ways. I use a MVC approach myself.

This would be a good page to review.

What is best way to handle if you need a design update after all the PW code is added? Do you just reexport and merge the two files?

I am wondering if a class based CMS would be good as you could add the classes right in WF Designer. Something like this Designer Documentation » Free and simple CMS » CushyCMS? I know they are not as feature rich as PW.

I try to use the Webflow CMS when I can, but it is missing these features that I use a lot:

Repeat Regions
Multi-Image field
Multi-file field
User Auth for Member sites
Form notifications to diff recipients

If Webflow had those it would fill a 95% use case for me. The repeat region would save the setup of many small collections. Multi-image is critical when I want to attach images to a post and have no idea how many are needed. Same with files. Member sites and protected content are not possible yet either.

If Webflow had these it would be amazing. I personally feel the CMS needs more features more then we need e-commerce. Just my $0.02.

Foxy Cart and Snipcart are amazing and work great with Webflow. Very feature rich. I can’t wait for commerce to catch up, but I suspect it will take a while.

Some simple things like user accounts and gift cards and promotions are lacking which make it hard to use yet.

I am a HUGE Webflow fan so please don’t mistake my comments as negatives. Just areas we need improvement.

These are reasons I use PW when needed. Look at the field types available. If a client needs a truck, I don’t try to sell a car.

Take a look at markup regions in PW. It is how I typically implement template integrations.

So you add the ID for PW in Designer, then export and you just rename each exported template to .pho? Then you have a referencing file with the values like the basic-page.php?

Any tutorials on Webflow and PW integration as this looks like a great way to handle advanced sites.

Perch is could be smart too. You create the fields inside your markup. So it could be easy to add fields where you got some dynamic content from Webflow.

Trying to explain this as Q&A in a forum post is not productive for me. If you a looking for a tool that allows you to accomplish things you can’t do today in webflow, then you will need to invest time doing R&D. Pick a tool, then run with it. I have over 8 years working with PW and there are so many ways to approach builds. Skills dictate options. I build MVC with markup regions. It is how I like to code and maintain the solutions.

I would love to build out a nice tutorial, if I could find the time. I have a project that I am on right now that could be a candidate. Heavy content with silos and dynamic regions based on paths. If time permits …

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Thanks so much everyone.

Agreed. What a sleeper of a CMS or should we say CMF?

No doubt. CMF is really the right term. However, that is a relatively unknown acronym.

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The problem with this question and finding the answer is that there really isn’t an easy way/automated way to convert content from webflow to a CMS. But understanding what you’re doing can help.

Webflow creates extremely easy to read semantic code. Any CMS you use whether it’s Wordpress, CraftCMS or Processwire will require this type of code. So Webflow is doing the first step automatically. So when you export your code and begin assembling the CMS of choice it’s very easy to connect the custom fields to the code created.

You’re asking about after doing that, if the client needs items changed or pages customized or the design updated what do you do and are there any tips?

Well, my question back would be in any scenario whether or not Webflow was used to enforce / help the design how would you do this?

The design changes, you get comps or changes from client, you update the design & pages and add those changes to the CMS. Whether you’re making those changes in Webflow or directly in the css files of the CMS’s theme, it’s essentially the same thing.

But there are tools you can use to make it easier. The ones I use are:

  • GitHub / bitbucket & Sourcetree - to keep track of changes, collab with other Dev’s on a project, and be able to revert
  • Kaleidoscope - for comparing the new and old css or js files
  • Buddy.app - to automate pushing to live server & compiling

Hopefully this helps. I understand trying to find something to automate this, but a lot of time those automation tools put you in a box that isn’t really necessary to begin with and creates a bloated theme with classes you never needed to begin with. And besides that, you don’t really learn the CMS and how it works to solve problems and make informed decisions down the line for other clients.

@webdev really looking forward to testing out processwire looks radddddd

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I’ve used Webflow with Craft CMS fairly successfully.

I will have one page in webflow with all my design elements on, then in a folder called templates I create all my page templates. Within these templates I use the embed element to write the html/twig code for cms elements using classes from my design elements page – these pages won’t look pretty but once exported you just overwrite the templates folder with the webflow generated one and these will be rendered just fine.

This isn’t great for complex craft setups, but sits quite nicely between webflow and a full blown craft site.

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