▼
Streaming live at 10am (PST)

Too much left to be desired

#1

I was expecting a lot more from the app.

There is no way to:

1) Grow a container from the interface itself, you have to use that little annoying panel on the right instead of just being able to drag any element's border to make it grow. The same thing for padding/margin/position-absolute-options.

2) No way to split a container, meaning converting one container into 2 (while sharing the size it had, so everything outside such container remains in the same place)

3) Easily see the container selected, cause that little blue line is hard to see when its collapsing with the border. And the names of the elements appear and disappear randomly, they should stay visible always (and make an option to hide them)

4) Create a form automatically when creating an input; instead of telling me I need a form
container it should just create one; that's an anti-pattern; just inform me that you just created a form container for me.

5) Search for an element when I want to create one; I should be able to type "form" to create a form, instead I have to scroll down and look for the little icon that says "form"; its really an anti-pattern, any long menu should work the same way as the windows start menu when you can click OR type to find an element (or for a HTML example, Select2 plugin)-

6) Having to scroll less just to access any option in the right panels, they should have a filtering (see number 5 solution), so for example if I write "bag" only the background panel should be visible (unless another panel also has "bag" in its name)

7) Being able to use (an manage variables), for example if I want to change all the pink elements I shouldn't have to change each pink element; there should be a way to create variables so you only have to change such color once.

8) Being able to use css CALC inside numerical propierties, as in margin-left: calc(10% - 20px)

9) A paid plan for one single project -but with proper HTML exporting- for people that just wants to export ZIP but don't need CMS or anything else.

#2

Webflow is constantly in development. Feel free to request for them at https://wishlist.webflow.com

#3

What? I already wrote them; I don't need to write them again. Plus that "wishlist" is a popularity contest of the most requested "big" features, not the small UI changes that would make it usable enough for already HTML/CSS professionals.

#4

@Ivan_Castellanos Ivan_Castellanos The wishlist is brand new to Webflow and most of us do not have the habit to post requests there yet. But I think it is a much better environment for sharing suggestions like yours, so feel welcome to repost there. No one says it is intended for the "big" features only.

#5

I'm confused by number 2, but it's a pretty good list.

1) YES I don't understand why this hasn't been addressed already. There appears to be no way to directly design 4k websites because of panel will not scale. 4k is beginning to explode in popularity and fluid design needs to be better addressed asap. Although I don't like the idea of modifying a div from the interface. I've seen this before in other web editors, and it gets clunky and can be buggy. I'd rather rely on the panel. If this ever became something a lot of people were interested in, I would much prefer this to be a toggleable option.

2) I don't think I get this point. When I want to "split" a container, I just copy and paste a div I want duplicated and add proper margin/padding/etc from there.

3) This sounds great in theory, but the problem is lines easily get in the way and can not only cause clutter, but create a more difficult time designing and force reliance on using a 'preview' and 'back to edit' shortcut or having to click the toggle icon at the top (this view seems buggy though so I never use it). I'm not sure how something disappears randomly. "Use Google Chrome" is my suggestion. But again, yeah a toggle button for this might be nice. It does get to a point though where you have too many things to toggle. The simplicity of Webflow we have right now is great.

4) YES; It's something I would expect to have made it into the final build. If you're going to notify me that I need a form just to add this element, you might as well add the form for me or maybe instead notify me that it is improper to add the element without a form but let me do so anyway. Either way works for me, but it seems ineffective to waste someone's time when they have to add a form just to add an input.

5) Yes, I would expect Webflow to have more elements to choose from in the future, and search boxes might be nice. Although if there is going to be a search box anywhere first, I would rather have it in the Style panel.

6) Then last option addresses the same thing for me here, although it would even be nice to have a search bar in the Navigator and when I select the element I am looking for everything becomes visible so I can see it on its hierarchy.

7) I'm not sure exactly where you're getting at here because Symbols and combo classes address this. BUT it would be nice if I could have combo classes for different elements with the same traits. If I have separate classes of "c1" and "c2" I should be able to have "style" affect BOTH of them. Not being able to do this adds lots of complications and it confuses me because this is something you can do with normal HTML/CSS and it's proper.

8) YES, I should be able to use Calc wherever I want.

9) Good luck convincing Webflow on anything in terms of pricing. They don't mind raising their prices too much and continue to not include simple capabilities like storing file types besides images and not being as transparent and co-operative as they think they are. Relying on third party options is more expensive and should never be a requirement for a web service like Webflow.

Many of my clients have chosen me to work with Wordpress and more popular: Squarespace. Both alternatives provide better storage options and more flexibility at a much lower cost. And for $12/mo, Squarespace provides unlimited storage of any file type with a limit of 20 pages (seriously, who needs more than 5 to 10 pages anymore?). Squarespace also integrates a free eCommerce platform with a reasonable 3% fee on transactions. AAANNND you get beautiful analytics which the client can easily see, which helps for the design process down the road. With Webflow, all of this is more of a pain and more expensive, especially as Webflow increases pricing. WEBFLOW, how about you become more personal and tell us how certain things are going? How are Interactions 2.0? I'm on the hype train but I'm beginning to get annoyed. It's really tough to stay positive when you're losing money on something you could have ignored or let develop on its own for years.

edit
Did I mention that Squarespace offers UNLIMITED storage and blazing fast web hosting?