The Full Website Lifecycle
Designing & Building
Webflow lets you take control of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a completely visual canvas. It translates your design into clean, semantic code that’s ready to publish to the web.
Laying the foundation — basic web fundamentals
But how does Webflow do this? It’s built on the core web design fundamentals: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (JS). Understanding these basics will help you work more effectively with Webflow, so let’s take a quick look at them.
💡Learn more about HTML, CSS, and JS on Webflow University.
Structure & HTML
HTML defines your site’s structure with elements like paragraphs, divs, and sections. These are all organized in the Box Model, where each element is treated as a box.
These boxes can be stacked vertically, arranged side-by-side, or nested within each other to form the layout of your site.
Styling & CSS
Once your structure is established, CSS allows you to style these elements, controlling size, color, spacing, and typography to bring your design vision to life.
Interactivity & JS
Adding interactions and animations can give your site a new level of attention-grabbing interactivity. JavaScript adds interactivity like hover effects, scroll animations, and more.
The Power of Code — Without Writing It
As you design in the visual canvas:
- Use the Add Panel to drag and drop visual representations of HTML code directly onto the canvas.
- Control your site’s styling through the Style Panel, where you can assign classes and adjust layouts without writing any code.
- Create animations using the Interactions Panel, which automatically generates the necessary JavaScript and CSS.
But that’s just designing in the Webflow Designer. There’s so much more to Webflow, such as managing content!
Managing Content with Webflow
Webflow’s visual-first, composable CMS enables you to create, manage, and scale your site content. Visually define your content architecture and build dynamic templates that bind your content to elements on the canvas.
For more sophisticated users, reference content from multiple collections, create custom field types, and leverage the CMS API for getting data to and from Webflow.
Here’s how it works:
- Create and build content database
- Design with dynamic content
- Editing made easy
- Maintain and manage your content
Collaboration: Working in Webflow
Building a website is a team effort. Here’s how Webflow supports collaboration:
[Graphic illustrating how these collaboration features work in tandem]
For larger teams, unlock multiplayer mode through Page Branching and Approval Workflows, streamlining collaboration across bigger projects. These features are available in Enterprise plans.
💡 Ready to work as a team? Learn more about roles and permissions in Webflow.
SEO & Accessibility
Webflow is designed to help you create websites that are not only visually appealing, but also optimized for search engines and accessible to all users. Here’s how:
- Meta tags & descriptions
- Custom URL slugs
- Alt text
- Clean code generation
- Accessibility features
- Responsive design
- Accessibility testing tools
Staging & Publishing
Webflow streamlines the process of staging and publishing your website, ensuring a smooth transition from design to live site. Here’s how it works:
- Staging environments
- Version control
- Custom domains
- One-click publishing
Beyond the Build
Once your website is live, Webflow offers a suite of advanced features to help you manage, optimize, and expand your site effectively. Here’s what you can explore:
- Analyze
- Optimize
- Localization
- Integrations / Apps
Getting Started
And that’s a basic overview of how Webflow works. Ready to get started? Let’s dive into some critical resources to help you on your way!