Website Development Features

Wix offers a robust suite of features that support an efficient and productive development workflow. This overview covers the key features that help you develop, test, publish, and maintain custom sites with advanced functionality.

Developer environment

Leverage Wix's suite of tools and IDE options designed for efficient site development.

IDE options: Choose from the code editor built into Wix Studio and the Wix Editor, the online Wix IDE, or a local IDE like VS Code.

Git integration and Wix CLI: When working in a local IDE, use Git and the Wix CLI to manage version control and local development, allowing easy collaboration, change tracking, and branching.

Secrets Manager: Store sensitive information securely with the Secrets Manager, which keeps API keys and other sensitive credentials hidden from your code.

Packages and apps: Add functionality with npm packages, Velo packages, or custom apps tailored to your project’s needs.

AI Assistants: Use AI-powered tools to speed up development, offering code suggestions, debugging support, and productivity enhancements.

Build a custom backend

Develop backend code, hosted by Wix, to build advanced features and integrations, all managed securely on the platform.

Web modules: Write backend code that securely handles business logic and can easily be called from the frontend.

Recurring jobs: Automate tasks, such as data updates and email notifications, to run on a regular schedule.

HTTP functions: Expose your site functionality as a service by creating endpoints that external applications can call, opening up integration possibilities.

Routers: Take full control of your site’s URL structure and routing by customizing how requests to specified paths are handled.

Event handlers: Add backend event handlers to respond to actions that occur on your site, such as a new contact being created or a customer abandoning their cart.

Build a custom frontend

Enhance the pages you've designed in the Wix editor by adding custom code to create interactive and dynamic user interfaces, allowing you to fully tailor the user experience.

$w API: The $w API lets you interact with UI elements. With support for over 100 element types-—-from simple elements like images, buttons, and input fields to advanced components like repeaters, galleries, and multi-state boxes-—-the $w API enables you to add interactivity, manage user input, and customize element behavior on the page.

CSS: Use CSS to customize the appearance of your site—from colors and fonts to sizes and positions of elements. Work with the existing Wix CSS classes or create your own custom classes.

Custom elements: Create custom HTML elements and integrate them seamlessly into your site, enabling unique functionality and design beyond what the built-in components provide.

Data

Manage your site's content and data with Wix's integrated database solutions, allowing for dynamic, data-driven web experiences.

Wix CMS: Manage structured content with the Wix CMS, allowing you to store, query, and display data programmatically or using no-code features.

External databases: Connect to external databases, so you can integrate data from other sources using the same APIs and no-code features that you use with native Wix data.

Dynamic pages: Use dynamic pages to create multiple pages from a single design by connecting page elements to database content. Use the Dataset API to programmatically fine-tune the functionality of dynamic pages. Data API: Access and manipulate CMS and external content programmatically with the Data API, enabling you to create, read, update, and delete data directly from your code.

Wix business solutions

Leverage Wix's robust suite of business solutions to incorporate features such as eCommerce and bookings, while having the flexibility to extend and integrate with these solutions to fit your business needs.

Wix business solution APIs: Integrate directly with Wix’s business solutions, such as Wix Bookings and Wix Stores, using dedicated APIs to access and manage bookings, orders, and more.

Service plugins: Enhance Wix business solutions by creating custom service plugins that inject your own custom logic or integrate 3rd-party services into Wix flows. For example, you can create a service plugin to customize price calculations for services booked using Wix Bookings or to add an unsupported payment provider as an additional payment option.

Replace business solution pages: Customize the user experience by replacing default Wix business solution pages with your own, giving you full control over design and functionality. For example, you can replace the default Wix Bookings service page with your own custom version. Your page will appear in the booking flow instead of Wix’s default page.

Test your site

Ensure your site performs optimally and provides a seamless user experience by utilizing Wix's testing features to identify and rectify issues before going live.

Preview: Use preview mode in the editor to test your code in a controlled environment. You can interact with a preview version of your site and see errors and logs in the developer console, without affecting the live version of your site.

Functional testing: Run tests on backend methods in isolation to ensure they work as expected, without having to write extraneous testing code.

Test sites: Create a dedicated test site to experiment with features, test integrations, and refine functionality without impacting your live site. This is especially useful for complex updates or collaborative testing.

Maintain your site

Keep your site updated and running smoothly with Wix's maintenance tools, ensuring long-term performance and security.

Monitoring: Keep track of your site’s performance, monitor your storage usage, and troubleshoot site issues with the monitoring dashboard. Keeping tabs on monitoring data allows you to proactively address issues and ensure a smooth user experience.

Logs: Access detailed logs to review site activity, debug issues, and gain insights into user interactions. You can view logs in real time within Wix and connect to Google Cloud Logs to store logs and perform analysis, generate visual depictions of log data, and to extract meaningful insights from your logs.

What’s next

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