Webflow 2021 / No-Code Conference

Last week Webflow made a number of eagerly awaited announcements at their virtual No Code Conference, they expanded capabilities and made updates to their platform that will make it even easier to create richer and more engaging web experiences — all without code.

The focus was on how they are unlocking all three of the major pillars of software development: UI, DATA and LOGIC in an integrated way that removes a ton of complexity, here's a recap of their keynote.

UI + Data

Collaboration

Workspaces

Individual account plans and team plans will be merged into a single concept called Workspaces, this removes the hassle of account setup and will now scale with you as you grow - you'll be able to add seats to keep your Webflow workspace agile and efficient.

Roles & Permissions

Structure how you want to get work done, with your team or your clients. Now you can control access for example: who can publish, who can manage account settings like billing and who can add team members.

UI

CSS Preview Tool

Shows the CSS code that is being generated whilst you design in Webflow, they are literally letting you see behind the magician's curtain here, this will be invaluable for teaching people the fundamentals of CSS.

Blending modes

Preview results live on the canvas, stack different blended elements together and add complex interactions to these elements.

Backdrop Filters

Now you can easily create a frosted glass (glassmorphism) navigation in Webflow like the one used by Apple on their website, you can now stack filters exactly how you want meaning you can now build even more powerful custom user interfaces directly in the Webflow style panel.

Improved Accessibility Guidance

After nearly one year in beta the Audit panel is officially released along with five enhancements that will make improving your website accessibility even easier.

1. In-product guidance to help you resolve each detected accessibility issue
2. Coloured panel icon for newly detected audits
3. Outstanding audits now discoverable in the Publish Dropdown
4. Option to ignore individual audit suggestions
5. Alt text audit for multi-image fields

DATA

CMS Performance Improvements

Data driven CMS websites make it possible for us to create unique eCommerce experiences. Changes to data architecture will allow for faster and more complex sites, loading time is now up to 15x faster, 6x less memory usage and 86x less bandwidth needed on load.

"Our biggest projects now load so much faster - projects with 3000+ CMS items now feel like lightweight 100 item projects."

- Joe Krug, Founder & CEO of Finsweet

Users in Webflow

Users

Add a user database to your site, manage those users from the Webflow designer, customise transactional emails and fully design all the pages associated with users.

Access Groups

Full control of gated content dependent on who's logged in. Create secure user-driven experiences without code.

Paid Memberships

You'll now be able monetise gated content, with memberships the skies the limit you'll be able to create e-learning platforms, members-only experiences, client-only sections, you could even create your own version of Patreon.

LOGIC

They announced that they are bringing visual logic natively to Webflow. The ability to visually declare custom workflows that describe exactly what you want to happen when a certain user event takes place.

Logic is the central nervous system that will tie together complex Webflow sites in harmony with UI & Data.

This really feels like a point in time for Webflow & No-Code where we'll look back on it as being a defining moment in its evolution.