Pinegrow the WEBFLOW KILLER??

Here are my initial thoughts on Pinegrow as a Webflow user. This was originally streamed on Twitch.tv/fakesamgregory
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#Webflow #Pinegrow #WebDevelopment

[@SgtSOB]

The Pinegrow interface is both visually and functionally clunky compared to Webflow. However, I love working locally with Pinegrow because it's a lot faster and seamless. The killer process imo is having Photoshop / Affinity / Figma auto-export your assets when they are changed to your site image folder. Then use Visual Code to watch your site folder and auto-refresh the web page (using the live server extension) when the site is changed in Pinegrow or the asset is changed in your editor. It's just so seamless and time-saving. I don't have to upload assets or manually refresh anything!

[@webflowandcode]

True! This is not necessarily a function of Pinegrow but developing locally. Glad you’re enjoying Pinegrow and thanks for checking out my channel!

[@RockstahRolln]

This is Terrific!! Got to give this a go!

[@sismith5427]

Being able to open a url in pinegrow is great, also the option to choose different css frameworks like bootstrap, tailwind etc make prototyping on real dev teams far better as you don't have to convert your styling from webflows own css to whatever the design team uses, even the fact you can use an existing sites own stylesheet makes extending a site a real help. I used to use webflow but was always ending up doing a ton of work because the final production code needed to be in bootstrap say. The interactions is cool but isn't as slick as webflows... and being able to write wordpress themes is really amazing if that's your bag. The big thing for me, is you can work in pinegrow alongside vscode. I use it as visual design tool when required and write my js and markup often in vs code so your get all those useful development benefits like linting, autocomplete, a terminal, formatters etc.

[@pablocortes682]

This is a great video to show how Pinegrow compares to Webflow. My reaction is that Pinegrow needs to work on its UX/UI, its designer is not as organized as the Webflow designer. However , I like how you can organize files, and libraries, and take a look at the code of the animations you create. I wished Webflow showed the code it creates on the interactions panel. Thanks Samuel!

[@webflowandcode]

No problem. I’m pretty sure you can de-clutter the interface but I’ll share as I learn.

[@TytusDubel]

I like the UI, maybe because I'm used to the old Adobe Illustrator interface.. :- )

[@omfgihopethisworks]

Hi Samuel, good video! I have been looking for more info on Pinegrow and found this just in time. Would like to see a future video on your thoughts on Oxygen Builder, thanks!

[@webflowandcode]

What a stroke of luck! Glad to have your support. I have no current plans to look into Oxygen build

[@markgonsalves]

I saw an article on Pinegrow's website that tells you how to import webflow templates to Pinegrow. You should check that out too.

[@jeremyleroux8108]

Interesting tool. I think anything is going to look clunky on a stream when someone is unfamiliar with it. It doesn't seem really like a nocode tool per se as people who are unfamiliar with CSS and HTML and rely on the visual designer of webflow would be lost. But will be interested in your findings because being a long time webflow user I do find the code snippet use and custom css not that easy to implement not that I am proficient in coding at all. Enjoying your channel though as I venture to understand the code side better to maximize what webflow can do paired with low code.

[@webflowandcode]

I’ve got a video on the way. You can absolutely use Pinegrow as a no code tool but the fact you can dip into the code means it’s a lot more powerful than Webflow. Thank you for joining the journey! Look forward to making more of these videos

[@YohanPenny]

How does any platform fuck up UX and UI this badly in 2023. Do they not study competition?

[@webflowandcode]

The video was made in 2021 but I get your point. What do you do consider yourself as your primary role? Designer or developer? I see this as a developers tool. Unrestricted. My car analogy in my “Pinegrow UI Sucks” video perfectly describes this. If you consider yourself a developer, I think you’ll understand and quickly see past it, if you’re a designer, what would you do differently?

[@MrL22]

Great video. We are Laravel developers and are looking for a way to speed up the design/html process. Currently, our designer works in XD. Once signed off by the client, we will hand code everything into blade(HTML) and sass(css) using our custom bootstrap-4 compile which is quite time-consuming. I guess I am looking for something where our designer (who is not a coder) can quite easily design to show the client, but we can export elements/sections with responsive support from that. XD is ok, but not great and very basic. I did look at Webflow which seems very comprehensive, but we do not wish to move from Laravel or move hosting due to the types of websites and apps we work on. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[@webflowandcode]

It sounds like you guys need a front-end developer! Pinegrow is a great tool for this if your designer is willing to stretch themselves and understand code but ultimately design is best kept in a design tool for the ease, simplicity and speed of making and refining the design. We typically avoid development until the design is signed off. We prototype in Figma (XD has similar functionality too). I wouldn’t recommend that they design in a tool like Pinegrow/Webflow but I know that people do it and Pinegrow makes it a lot simpler and a lot more practical for you guys. You have access to the raw code as well making it a far better choice that Webflow. Hope this helps.

[@webflowandcode]

I think these no code tools have given rise to this idea that designers can be developers too. Unfortunately, from my observations, this is rarely the case. This thread is tapping into my thoughts after over a year of running this channel. The whole idea of this channel was to try to teach designers that websites aren't just about making things look useable and pretty (see my video 'STOP using Webflow like a designer'). There's a lot more under the hood about what HTML is and accessibility being a huge part of that but after being a 'key player' in the Webflow KZbin influencer circle (I wouldn't describe myself as that but I have been recommended by many others) the stats on my videos tell me that designers who use nocode tools aren't interested in learning the under-the-hood stuff and are more interested in making cool looking animations and designs with little regard for accessibility. I'm lucky to have some die-hard fans who respect the code side of things but this is a huge minority and I hope these designers go on to be this great hybrid that I believe can exist (and is worthwhile existing as you both have proven). Why am i telling you all this? Because maybe it's not your responsibility as designers to write front end code. Coming from enterprise software development working with the likes of Netflix I wouldn't touch code written in these no code tools by a designer without thoroughly going through it and scrutinising the quality of the code. It's maybe good for prototypes or really low-grade websites or portfolio sites but ultimately code is logical and design is creative. I want these roles to combine but maybe it's best left to someone who knows how to take a design and write 'proper' front-end code. Maybe this is old-school thinking and I'm stuck in the past but these are my thoughts right now. Would welcome yours!

[@webflowandcode]

BTW, Pinegrow can totally make enterprise-ready code (If used correctly)! It's great and very powerful.

[@florlopezpeze2]

hello samuel! greetings from argentina. I ask you a question to know your opinion. I'm a designer and I'm learning low-code development, do you think using pinegrow is a good option to offer my clients the conversion services from figma to wordpress? could it work?

[@webflowandcode]

Welcome!! Pinegrow is perfect for Wordpress theme development. You should try their Wordpress Plug-in which gives you online version of Pinegrow. I will say however Pinegrow has a higher learning curve than something like Elementor or Oxygen. If you’re sticking with Wordpress then I’d consider learning the ropes on these and then progressing to Pinegrow. However you may be able to pick up Pinegrow easily enough. Best thing to do is give it a try first and if you struggle, try one of the other Wordpress page builders.

[@florlopezpeze2]

@@webflowandcode Thanks for replying! Great! I already use builders and lately I'm using oxygen a lot and also webflow. I know some code too and that's why when I saw Pinegrow, which I didn't know it (here in Argentina I never heard of it) I've started to investigate it. I'm waiting for calmer days to try things, but I think I'll add it to my little stack of tools. Thanks for sharing and your videos!

[@craigwall6071]

Grass is always greener when making a quick glance. It's absurd to try to make any comparisons early on with a tool.

[@webflowandcode]

Thanks for checking out the episode! Absurd?sure, but impossible not to. Hence this episode

[@cariodoesntcode]

Why do I find these tools moving more and more to actual code? Pinegrow killer - VSCode ADVANCED CUSTOMIZATION. LOL.

[@webflowandcode]

I think Pinegrow is a good balance which is why I use it. Speeds up the boring bits while still being able to nip into the code