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Webflow has been undergoing a series of continuous updates since the start of January, and this positive momentum shows no signs of slowing down for the remainder of the year. The company is set to keep this upward trajectory with the exciting plans for four developer conferences scheduled later this year.
Though not all of the Webflow updates featured in the latest online streamed announcement are brand new, as some were introduced earlier this year, they are significant and deserve a closer look. Webflow seized the opportunity of this update announcement to shine a spotlight on these tiny but important updates, capturing the audience's attention and emphasizing their relevance.
Thus further on in this article we will categorize the announced updates in three categories: recently added ones, May updates and updates coming soon this year!
In our fast-paced lives and with limited free time, it's common to become unaware of our surroundings, particularly when we're engrossed in serious work and feeling the pressure of meeting deadlines. Thus sometimes important news might escape us.
That's precisely why, even if you happened to overlook some of the recent updates that were rolled out since the start of this year, Webflow leveraged this announcement as an opportunity to provide a brief introduction to those updates alongside introducing the new ones.
Here are the recent Webflow features and enhancement updates launched from the beginning of this year in order:
Webflow has introduced new enhancements to page branching, providing more power, control, and visibility to large teams.
The enhancements include the below abilities:
These Webflow updates aim to facilitate collaborative website development and allow teams to work on the same site simultaneously. Enterprise customers and Enterprise Partners can access these Webflow features.
Webflow has introduced significant performance improvements in their Editor, specifically for large websites, providing a smoother editing experience.
Some of the improvements include:
Additionally, minor UX updates have been made to filtering and browsing, allowing to refine items in a collection, and paginate through it once 100 data items have been pre-loaded.
Webflow earlier this year updated its Google Analytics integration to accommodate the upcoming transition from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. Users can now only use Google Analytics 4 measurement IDs through the integration.
Those with Universal Analytics measurement IDs will be prompted to replace them, while those with Google Analytics 4 measurement IDs will need to re-save and publish their sites for continued tracking. Toggles for IP anonymization and gtag.js were also removed, as they are now mandatory configurations in Google Analytics 4.
Users in Webflow now are now able to set a default Workspace, making it easier for agency members and freelancers to navigate between different teams. You can now simply specify your preferred Workspace and it will be opened automatically when accessing the dashboard.
On the other hand, design improvements have also been made to the dropdown menu for switching Workspaces, ensuring a more organized and streamlined experience.
Another update Webflow launched is regarding variable fonts. Designers can now animate custom axes of variable fonts, giving them more creative possibilities, and have easier access to custom fonts.
Moreover, a new indicator makes it easier to distinguish between variable and static fonts, and designers can access variation controls more conveniently. Not only that but customization of variations can now be done in one step, eliminating the need for manual addition.
Transitioning from the previous format to a more streamlined one, Webflow has introduced an update that allows users to choose their Workspace @handle and profile URL. This change provides improved branding for profiles and gives users direct control over their URL selection.
Users can navigate to the Workspace settings page and utilize the "Workspace profile URL" field to pick any available URL of their preference. Old URLs will automatically redirect to the new format, ensuring seamless access to the user's public profile.
After many user requests Webflow introduced the update that allows users to utilize CMS data in custom attributes, making custom code and HTML attributes even more powerful. This enhancement enables designers to bind CMS data fields or component properties to custom attributes or element IDs, reducing the reliance on custom code for dynamic data.
Users can now improve site accessibility, control integrations or widgets that use HTML data attributes, customize page styling based on field values, and more.
DotLottie animation files are now supported in Webflow. This allows users to add Adobe After Effects animations to their Webflow sites with smaller file sizes and faster load times. With this integration, users can create interactive experiences by connecting these animations to triggers such as page load, page scroll, and mouse movement using Webflow Interactions.
The introduction of site activity log filters facilitates large teams to find what they need quickly and more efficiently. With these filters, Webflow Enterprise customers and Enterprise Partners can customize the activity types they want to see, such as classes, custom code, and branch events.
Users can also filter by author, viewing results from all authors or specific individuals. Additionally, class modified events now include a clickable "list" icon that provides quick access to elements and pages impacted by class changes. These enhancements streamline the process of tracking and resolving site issues, improving collaboration and productivity for teams.
What previously had to be done in multiple steps, webflow with the introduction of new keyboard shortcuts and canvas context menu options now allows designers to wrap elements in a div or link block much more easily.
To provide designers with more flexibility when creating responsive designs for mobile browsers, Webflow introduced new CSS viewport width and height units.
These new units (small, large, and dynamic) address the issue of dynamic toolbars on mobile devices, ensuring that fixed elements are not cut off and improving the overall visitor experience. They can be utilized in the Style panel on the Webflow Designer.
Addressing a common request from the community to fix class naming, Webflow did that with this fix of the Figma plugin. The update improves class naming when copying and pasting elements from Figma to Webflow.
What previously caused duplicated classes when copying and pasting elements from Figma to Webflow, leading to a cluttered class system, now users can paste without worry of that. They can paste using Webflow classes or paste updating Webflow classes. Note that clipboard access is needed to be given to Webflow for the first paste.
Text stroke styling is a much needed feature eliminating the need for designers to use custom code or third-party plugins. The feature allows users to easily add an outline or border to their text elements, offering more flexibility and streamlining their design process.
Catering to the needs of large enterprises, SSO enhancements have been made for teams with multiple workspaces, teams with multiple email domains, and workspace-level authentication for improved security.
The new changes made to components aim to improve the editing experience by reverting to a previous behavior that is smoother and more intuitive. Users can now double-click to edit the main component and edit component properties directly on the canvas.
Clearer labeling and easier menu navigation have also been implemented. These Webflow features now made it easier to update components without unintended modifications.
For more control and managing of the CMS content, Webflow introduced this update allowing users to nest Collection pages within folders for better URL control. This feature enables users to optimize their SEO by publishing Collection items within a URL subdirectory.
Users can also now prevent template pages from publishing for specific Collections and duplicate Collection structures to speed up content library creation.
This list includes Webflow updates that were rolled out during the month of May before the video announcement event!
Targeting large websites with 50 pages or more, this Webflow update provides improvements on the speed and responsiveness of various Designer functions, including opening the Designer, switching between pages, navigating the Pages panel, Element settings, Navigator, and Style Manager, as well as working with grid layouts.
Searching for swatches in the style panel with this update is now quicker than ever. When selecting a color in the color input, a dropdown list of swatches with their corresponding color and name will appear, making it easier to find and choose colors.
Moreover, users can preview color changes in real-time by hovering over the swatches on the canvas.
A much requested feature that even got mentioned the first in order in the video announcement, allows users to remove themselves from a Workspace without needing assistance from an admin or client.
To do that you can access the Workspace dropdown menu in your Dashboard, click on "Manage Workspaces", select the ellipsis for the specific Workspace, and choose the "leave Workspace" option.
Dragging components into Collection Lists and connecting CMS data to component properties is now possible with this Webflow update, enabling the reuse of common design patterns across multiple instances.
Not only that but now elements inside Collection List items can also be converted into components, similar to any other elements, enhancing the efficiency of designing and syncing layouts throughout the website.
Enhancing privacy and security for reviewing site changes before launching them publicly is made possible with this feature that allows users to restrict access to their webflow.io staging domain to logged-in users within their Workspace.
This webflow update is particularly beneficial for Enterprise customers who can now ensure that only authorized team members have access to the staging environment.
Webflow recently also launched combo class support for their Figma plugin, addressing a top-requested feature. This update allows users to automatically create Webflow combo classes when pasting Figma designs into Webflow. To create combo classes, users need to name their Figma layers with both the class and the combo class separated by slashes.
To illustrate for instance, naming a Figma layer "Primary Button / Dark '' will generate the Primary Button class and the Dark combo class in Webflow.
Previously, it was challenging for Webflow Experts to showcase their work on Made in Webflow and their Webflow profile when the site belonged to a client's Workspace. With this update, site owners can now tag agencies, freelancers, and other contributors to their site's Creator Credits.
By doing so, these creators can showcase the work on Made in Webflow and their Webflow profile without needing to make a copy of the site to their own account. Site owners, Workspace members, and guests can add up to three other Webflow users or Workspaces to a site's Creator Credits via the General Settings tab. Tagged creators can showcase the site even if the site owner doesn't showcase it on their own account.
Webflow announced 5 big updates coming soon this year, and though we were expecting some of them, there is much to be excited about. This time we will just mention them in passing, as we’ll be making another in depth article later this year when they get launched!
Here are the 5 Webflow updates we are looking forward to during this year:
Webflow has been continuously updating its platform and has exciting plans for four developer conferences later this year. The recent updates, although not all brand new, are significant and deserving of attention.
They range from enhancing collaborative website development to improving editor performance, Google Analytics integration, workspace management, and more. The last upcoming updates announced are something to be looking forward to, and are keeping us all excited.
Webflow's commitment to optimizing the user experience is evident in these updates, providing increased power, flexibility, and efficiency for designers and developers.
Lastly, if you are still a beginner in the Webflow roadmap of web design and development, you can check out the Webflow 101 course for an in depth introduction to all the ins and outs of web design, and also make sure to check our blog for the latest Webflow news and updates!
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