The WWX Stack: Develop an Entire Web Application Without Writing Code

In the fast-evolving market of web development, the demand for faster, more efficient, and cost-effective solutions has never been higher. Traditional coding methods, while powerful, often present significant barriers in terms of time, complexity, and accessibility. Meet the WWX Stack - comprised of Webflow, Wized, and Xano - a revolutionary trio of No-code tools that are redefining the way of developing websites. Imagine building a fully functional, dynamic website without writing a single line of code. With Webflow's intuitive design platform, Wized's seamless integration capabilities, and Xano's robust backend services, this dream is now a reality.

The WWX Stack empowers both seasoned developers and tech novices alike to create sophisticated web applications with extraordinary speed and efficiency. These tools democratize web development by eliminating the need for traditional coding, making it accessible to a broader audience. Whether you're an entrepreneur with a groundbreaking idea, a small business owner looking to enhance your online presence, or a developer seeking to streamline your workflow, the WWX Stack offers a powerful, versatile solution. Join us as we explore how Webflow, Wized, and Xano are not just tools but the leaders of innovation in web development.

What does the WWX stack consist of?

Briefly, it consists of Webflow, Wized and Xano. But let's dive deeper.

Webflow - A Revolutionary Web Design Platform

Webflow is a powerful web design tool that enables users to create visually stunning, fully responsive websites without writing a single line of code. By combining the capabilities of a design tool, CMS, and hosting platform, Webflow empowers designers and developers to build, launch, and manage websites with unparalleled ease and efficiency.

Develop Websites Visually

Imagine having the ability to just put some elements onto a canvas, and make that your website. That is what Webflow's visual development interface is all about! It allows users to design and develop simultaneously, bridging the gap between creativity and functionality. With a drag-and-drop editor, designers can create complex layouts and interactions visually, ensuring a seamless translation from concept to reality. This intuitive approach eliminates the need for manual coding, making web design more accessible to individuals with varying levels of technical expertise.

Design for Every Screen Size

Did you know that mobile phones make up 58% of Internet traffic? That’s why your website must look great on all devices, and Webflow excels in responsive design. Users can customize the appearance of their site for different screen sizes, allowing them to create engaging user experiences across desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Webflow’s built-in tools allow for real-time adjustments, making it easy to see how design changes will affect the site’s appearance on various devices.

CMS (Content Management System)

Do you want all your blog posts stored in an organized system that you can manage? Webflow's powerful CMS allows for easy content management, giving users the ability to create custom content structures without coding. This flexibility makes it simple to update and manage dynamic content, from blog posts to testimonials directly within the design interface. Users can also collaborate seamlessly, with multiple team members to add and edit content together in real-time.

Full E-commerce Capabilities

With Webflow's e-commerce features, building and managing an online store is straightforward and intuitive. Users can design a custom storefront, manage inventory, and process payments with ease. You have the freedom to customize every single aspect of your online store while maintaining complete creative control over your brand's online presence. Additionally, Webflow offers integration with popular payment gateways and shipping solutions, simplifying the process of running an online business.

Integrate with a ton of other apps

Webflow offers a robust ecosystem of integrations, allowing users to extend the functionality of their websites with minimal effort. From marketing tools like Mailchimp and HubSpot to analytics platforms like Google Analytics, Webflow ensures that connecting with third-party services is straightforward and efficient. Webflow's Zapier and Make integrations open up even more possibilities, allowing users to connect with thousands of other apps and create custom automated processes tailored to their specific needs. By leveraging these integrations, Webflow users can create more dynamic, interactive, and efficient websites that cater to a wide range of business requirements.

Hosting and Deployment

Never worry again about your website going down. Webflow provides reliable, high-performance hosting with automatic updates and security features, ensuring your website remains fast and secure. Deployment is as simple as clicking a button, making it easy to launch your site and share it with the world instantly. Webflow also includes SSL certificates and global CDN, enhancing site performance, SEO, and security with minimal effort from the user. However, Webflow does not offer purchasing domains, so you will have to acquire a domain from a separate platform.

Xano - The Backend Without The Code

Xano is a powerful no-code backend platform designed to help users build and manage robust databases, generate APIs, and handle backend logic without the need for traditional coding. By offering a simple way to manage backend operations, Xano enables developers and non-developers to create scalable web applications. It is characterized by genuine simplicity, thus speeding up the development process and allowing to get things done faster.

Database Management

Xano's database management system allows you to create and maintain sophisticated databases with ease. The intuitive interface lets users define data structures, relationships, and constraints without writing SQL (Structured Query Language). This streamlined approach simplifies data management, enabling users to focus on building their applications. Additionally, Xano offers built-in data security features, making sure that your data is protected and compliant with industry standards.

Simplest API Generation

A thing that Xano excels in is API generation, which allows users to create powerful, RESTful APIs. With its point-and-click interface, you can define endpoints, set up authentication, and manage data flows by writing zero code. This feature accelerates the development process, allowing for rapid iteration and deployment of APIs. Xano also supports GraphQL, providing even more flexibility for developers who are looking to implement advanced data querying techniques.

Easy Implementation of Backend Logic

Implementing complex backend logic has never been so straightforward. This no-code approach is backed by a robust toolkit that enables users to build dynamic applications without deep programming knowledge. Users can create custom functions, automate workflows, and define business rules using a visual interface. This feature alone makes Xano practical for a wide range of users, besides developers.

Endurance under heavy loads of data

Businesses need their applications to remain fast, reliable, and responsive, even as they grow. Scalability is a core strength of Xano’s databases, designed to handle enormous data needs and increasing user demands effortlessly. The platform's architecture is made so it can accommodate more users and higher data volumes without compromising performance. Xano's cloud-based infrastructure offers auto-scaling capabilities, meaning your backend can dynamically adjust resources based on real-time demand.

Wized - The Bridge Between Frontend and Backend

Wized is a tool that’s been tailored specifically for Webflow. It bridges the gap between your frontend design and backend functionality, whilst adding the option to create dynamic, data-driven web applications. By coupling it with platforms Xano, Wized has the ability to implement complex features and interactive elements.

Connecting Frontend and Backend

For the web application to work, the two ends need to communicate with each other. A middleman is required to establish the interface for communication, and that’s where Wized steps in. Users can link their Webflow projects with backend databases and APIs, bringing static designs to life with real-time data and dynamic content pulled from the database. In this stack, Wized pulls the data from a Xano backend database and renders it visually onto the Webflow frontend.

Dynamic Data Handling

The capability to manage and display data in real-time is called dynamic data handling, and Wized is the tool we use to handle this kind of operation in Webflow. Users can fetch data from backend systems, update content, and create personalized user experiences based on real-time information. This feature is crucial for applications that require up-to-date information, such as dashboards, social feeds, and personalized content.

Creating User Flows

Having the ability to create conditional logic in Wized allows you to develop interactive and responsive web applications by defining rules and conditions for how elements behave. This feature lets users implement things like form validations, conditional content displays, and interactive user interfaces easily. By visually setting up conditions, users can control the flow of their application and enhance user experience without delving into complex code.

User Authentication

A critical feature for many web applications is user authentication, and Wized provides a straightforward way to implement it. You can set up secure login systems, manage user roles, and protect sensitive data from unauthorized access. Wized has many options for authentication methods to choose from, including email/password, social logins, and single sign-on (SSO), ensuring robust security and a smooth user experience.

The Purpose of the Frontend, the API, and the Backend

In a well-run restaurant, the dining area, waitstaff, and kitchen must work together to ensure a great customer experience. Similarly, in web development, the frontend, API, and backend must communicate effectively to create a functional web application. Let’s see what role each of these three tools has through a restaurant analogy.

Webflow (As The Restaurant Dining Area)

The frontend is the user interface of a web application, where users interact with the site, much like customers in a restaurant dining area. This is where users browse menus, place orders, and receive their meals. In our tech context, the frontend involves the visual elements and user interactions designed using tools like Webflow.

Xano (As The Kitchen)

The backend is where all the heavy lifting happens, similar to a restaurant kitchen where orders are prepared. This is where data is stored, processed, and managed, ensuring that the correct information is delivered back to the customer. Xano plays the role of the kitchen, providing that all data requests are handled correctly and efficiently, preparing the necessary "meals" (data) for delivery back to the frontend via the API, which in our case is Wized.

Wized (As The Waitstaff)

The API (Wized) has the intermediary role between the frontend and the backend, just as the waitstaff serves as the go-between for customers and the kitchen. When a customer places an order, the waitstaff takes this order, communicates it to the kitchen, and comes back with the meal we ordered. On the tech side, when the frontend has a request for the backend, Wized steps in to communicate the request and come back with a response.

Why the WWX Stack is Future-Proof

Available For a Broader Audience

If you've been thinking about getting into the web development space but didn't want to go through the hassle with code, this is what you want to hear. The WWX Stack, composed of no-code tools, democratizes web development by making it accessible to a broader audience. With intuitive and simple interfaces, these tools can transform people without coding skills to become web developers. Before, non-developers stayed away from participating in web development, and now they can build and manage complex web applications.

Rapid Development

Since I started using no-code tools, I feel like coding takes forever, and it's true. Things are done faster using this tech stack. That is why I say speed is a crucial advantage of WWX. Web applications are developed and deployed rapidly. Webflow's visual design capabilities, combined with Wized's simplicity for API integration and Xano's efficient backend management, substantially speed up the development process.

Reduced Development Costs

By eliminating the need for extensive coding and reducing dependency on large development teams, the WWX Stack offers significant cost savings. The no-code tools allow businesses to hire a freelancer to do the job instead of an expensive large development team. This cost-effectiveness makes it an attractive option for startups, small businesses, and even larger enterprises looking to optimize their budgets.

They are flexible

No-code platforms are incredibly flexible, allowing for rapid iteration and changes. Each tool within the stack is tailored to integrate with others. Also, Xano’s auto-scaling capabilities mean that applications can handle increased traffic and data loads as user demands grow. This means you can start small and expand to feedback and changing requirements, ensuring that your application always meets the needs of its users.

How to connect Webflow, Wized, and Xano (Step-by-Step)

For this part, I assume you have the Webflow, Wized, and Xano accounts already set up. If you haven’t, don’t worry! You can go ahead and create the accounts now. It’s as simple as creating an account on every other platform. You can use an email and password registration, or you can sign up with Google.

Note that to complete the process, you need to have a paid Webflow Site or Workspace plan. You can choose any plan, as all of them have the ability to enter custom code. Don’t stress yet, we are not going to write any code. We need this feature to paste a code snippet that will connect the three tools.

Create the Webflow and Wized Projects

Once you’ve created your Webflow account, you can create the Webflow project by clicking the blue ‘New Site’ button. Now you have the option to select a template or go with a blank site.

You can choose whatever suits you the most. Then you will be asked to name your project.

That’s it! You have started your Webflow project. To continue the process, just publish your site to the staging domain. You can do that by clicking the publish button in the top-right corner, and then ‘Publish to selected domains’.

The process of creating a project is very similar with Wized. On your Wized dashboard click the blue ‘New Project’ button. Then fill in the form with the required information about the project.

See, here your staging domain is needed, that is why I mentioned earlier that is required to publish your Webflow site. Now you can enter the domain, project’s name, and the workspace for your project. Another step that you need to take is to paste the given code to the <head> section of your site. That is also why I noted before that a paid site or workspace plan is needed, as you do not get the option to embed custom code on your site.

To paste the code in the correct place, go back to the Webflow dashboard, and click on the gear icon that appears on the project’s thumbnail after you hover over it.

At the bottom of the left menu choose ‘Custom Code’ and paste the code snippet in the Head code section. Then you publish your website again, and it’s done!

You have connected Webflow and Wized. The only thing that we need to complete is Xano.

Connecting Webflow with Xano through Wized

As I said before, I assume you have created your Xano account. Upon your account creation, you will be prompted with a form to provide some info about your database. There are no wrong questions, so just fill in the forms with the correct information for your scenario to help them personalize your Xano experience. The only thing I would suggest here is to check the ‘Include CRUD’ checkmark when you arrive at the third step. This action creates the API endpoints for you, so it will save you some time and effort. And if you don’t check it, it is not a big deal, but you will have to create the API endpoints yourself.

So to connect Webflow and Wized with Xano first off we need to copy our database URL. You can find that URL when you select the API option on the left-hand side.

Then you click on any of the endpoint groups you have there and choose a random endpoint. On the endpoint page, you have the option ‘Copy Endpoint URL’.

Now you’ve copied the Endpoint URL from Xano, you'll need to paste it into App settings in Wized, but let's hold on for a second for that. Next, open up Wized and navigate to the Apps option on the left-hand side. That is the first button you have on the sidebar. You can name your app however you want, and for the "App" field you will select XANO. Bellow app field there is "Base URL" field where you paste Endpoint URL from Xano.

And that is the whole process. Once you finish this, you will have your Webflow, Wized, and Xano tools connected. Now you are ready to turn your idea into an app (without coding, of course).

Where to go from here?

If you don’t know anything about web development just yet, don't worry. I will suggest learning Webflow first and doing a couple of projects in it. Try watching tutorials and online courses. Reading the documentation on Webflow University could be very useful too.

A key factor to consider is implementing what you learn. This way, you will gain practical experience in Webflow.

After you’ve gained some experience with Webflow, you can proceed to learn Wized and Xano. You can learn them both at once by watching a tutorial, or developing a project yourself, whatever you prefer.

I wish you all the best on your no-code development journey!