Slater: What Is It & Why Is It Great For Custom Coding Webflowers?

Web dev's come a long way, right? With tools like "No-Code" and "Low-Code" out there, anyone can build a website these days. Webflow's been a game-changer with this - no more sweating over endless lines of code. But, it ain't perfect, especially when you want to go beyond the basics. That's where our new friend Slater steps in.

‍

ps. I'm not going to bullshit you guys - I'm biased writing about this one. I've been working with Edgar Allan for the last few months doing a bit of marketing/copywriting/PR type of thing and part of my job is to help excite the community about Slater. Nevertheless (I don't think I've ever said or written that word but I'm here now), I genuinely think Slater is the bees knees. No, I'm not getting paid to talk about it in Webflail (but will accept cash or card).

‍

Alrighty then, let's get in to this one.

‍

The problem with custom code in Webflow

Now don't get me wrong gents and gentesses, we all love Webflow. It's been a game changer. But there is a little bit of a pain when it comes to custom code. While the rest of Webflow website building just flows (see what I did there?), custom code just doesn't. Here's why:

• Speed of publishing: Testing your custom code in Webflow means publishing the entire site – that's your HTML, CSS, all of it.
• Not terribly easy: If you're using a lot of custom code, the Webflow custom code editor is a bit barebones.
• Character Limit: And, there's a 10,000 character cap for your Webflow embeds.
• Lack of team editing: No team code editing functionality

Let's be clear though - the Webflow designer is excellent for website building in general, and by using complimentary tools like slater for custom code, you can supercharge your website. Since Webflow is not built strictly as a custom code platform, it's not fair to just judge Webflow on it's native custom code editor. That's like judging a kebab shop on how healthy the food is - the food is not meant to be healthy so why judge how healthy it is if that's not the point of kebab food, you know?

Weird analogy but anyway, let's talk about how Slater will help push the boundaries of your Webflow projects seamlessly.

Introducing Slater

Slater, created by a genius agency Edgar Alan, is shaking things up big time. Here's why:

• Seamless Webflow Integration: Slater has an app in the Webflow app marketplace allowing you to have Slater within the designer. This is the big one guys. This is a modern coding environment built specifically for Webflow. Open Slater within your Webflow project seamlessly and custom code to your heart's content
• Powered by Edgar Allan: EA is an award winning Webflow agency. They have built the tool specifically to do custom code in Webflow projects. In fact, the genesis of Slater was when they built Letter Run last year
• Community Library: Get custom code shared by Webflowers in a code snippet library specifically for Webflowers! Drag and drop code snippets seamlessly.
• Speedy publishing: Manage your code with one embed link to see code instantly‍
• Instant Code with AI: Slater has an AI tool built into Webflow allows you to quickly and easily generate the exact code you need for your project.‍
• Learn Code with explainers: Slater not only writes the code for you but will explain the code allowing you to learn how to manipulate code for your projects‍
• No limits: No character limit allowing you to use whatever code on whatever page without limits‍
• Intuitive Coding: Slater works with Webflow's interface, offering a familiar environment to code.‍
• Time Saver: Slater lets devs edit and fine-tune their JavaScript without leaving the environment. ‍
• Flexibility: Slater gives you the freedom to customize your JavaScript as per the project's needs.

‍

If that doesn't tickle your pickle, check out some of the wild projects that people are making using Slater:

Isabel Edwards

‍
JP Dionisio

By the way, if you're interested in how he made this, I recommend checking out this video here:

‍
‍

Corey Moen

Interested in learning how he's doing this and using Slater ore generally? I recommend checking out this video here:

‍

If you're interested in trying Slater out, I recommend checking out the website and starting a free trial! Oh, and also, there is a hell of a competition on at the moment so I recommend getting involved!

Check it out here