Webydo
Webydo is a web design cloud platform that allows designers to create advanced HTML websites with built-in CMS, without writing code. Webydo works on the intuitive WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) principle. It also works with tools similar to those used in other software such as Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, but with the ability to design directly in browser. While designers drag and drop their design elements on canvas, Webydo's cloud software automatically generates the cross-browser and cross-platform compatible HTML code as well as a built-in CMS for the ongoing content updates by the website owner.
Overview
Webydo is a cloud-based software as a service, providing two integrated work environments that can be used directly in The Browser:
- A DMS (design management system) professional online software for creating and designing advanced HTML websites.
- A CMS (content management system) for content updates by the website owner.
Webydo's DMS has an intuitive WYSIWYG design interface that allows designers to drag and drop into the online canvas design elements such as images, texts, videos, flash, galleries, menus, custom designed forms, widgets, or their own HTML code. A July 2013 partnership with the e-commerce widget provider Ecwid also added a built-in e-commerce functionality. Designers can start their clients' sites from scratch on a blank canvas, choose a layout or take inspiration from pre-made designs (in which each element can be modified).
When the designer decides to publish the website, Webydo’s code generator automatically creates the HTML code, which is updated to the latest industry standards (W3C valid), cross-browser and cross-platform compatible, optimized for search engines and comes with built-in content management system (CMS) and SEO management tools. The CMS permits further updating, deleting and creating new content in the website by the website owner. Designers can lock specific design elements, preventing unwanted changes made by their CMS clients and preserving full artistic control.
Webydo also hosts the published websites and provides automatic backups and data protection. The partnership between Webydo and Akamai gives access to the latter's content delivery network, permitting uploads to the closest server and subsequent duplication in all the other worldwide servers of the network.
Webydo is a B2B website builder intended primarily for professional designers who want to create advanced custom-made websites for their clients including a CMS, without writing code. Unlike do-it-yourself B2C website builders that target un-professional users and offer simple pre-designed templates, Webydo provides a professional platform. Webydo’s cloud system offers professional design tools that eliminate designers’ dependency on developers and enable their direct communication with their clients.
Webydo also provides a set of tools intended to help designers build an independent web design business, with a dashboard that permits handling multiple websites with features created specifically for designers, like:
- Build your brand - designers can re-brand Webydo as their own;
- Bill your client - designers can invoice clients for services directly from Webydo's dashboard;
- Share your site design - in order to ease the communication with their clients, designers can allow them to edit in the CMS (as a cloud-based software). They can also choose elements on their websites that are uneditable regions (the client will only be able to update the content while the designer has total access to the design).
Webydo business model is freemium, offering designers a free use of Webydo’s online software as well as free hosting of unlimited amount of websites on Webydo's sub-domain. A Premium plan allows designers to add web domains to their clients' websites, CMS and SEO management tools, more storage and an unlimited number of pages.
Features
Parallax Scrolling Animator
Animate any element on your site with unique motion paths, transitions and speed using a visual interface, without writing code.
Drag and Drop
Drag-and-drop control to upload elements such as: shapes, images, texts, videos, flash, galleries, forms, widgets and menus. Webydo will automatically optimizes all the assets.
Code-Free Web Design
Webydo will automatically convert the design into an updated HTML code + CMS (Content Management System).
In-Browser Editing
Webydo’s online Studio provides you with the features to design and manage your sites directly in-browser.
Web Fonts
Choose from hundreds of free open-source fonts which are optimized for the web.
Cross-Platform
Webydo generates a cross-platform code updated to the latest industry standards, so your website will look as planned on all browsers and devices.
Advanced Web Design Features
Webydo offers many advanced web design features such as a grid generator, smart guides and snapping, layers window, text caption for images and galleries, the ability to design sophisticated forms and set corner radiuses and other elements' properties such as fill, shadow and stroke.
E-Commerce
Webydo offers easy integration of the Ecwid E-Commerce widget. Ecwid accepts a wide variety of payment types, and offers great stock control, categories, and product descriptions.
Articles
You can create repetitive based elements such as blog posts, product collections, news feeds, etc.... Clients will be able to update and add new articles directly from the CMS without changing the design elements. Every new post created will follow the same design format as previous posts.
Smart Guides
The Smart Guides and Snapping features are temporary snap-to guides that appear when moving elements on the canvas. As the element you are moving approaches the edge of another, it snaps it to it like a magnet.
Anchor Links
Anchor Links provides you with the ability to add links to a specific part in the same page.
CMS: Content Management System
Webydo automatically creates a friendly CMS for you and your client. In the CMS your client can change, delete, or update any content element on your website, independently.
WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get
Similar to your design canvas, the integrated CMS editor is WYSIWYG. Any changes made on the CMS canvas reflect exactly how the content will look to your site users.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
Webydo provides SEO features that enable you to monitor and optimize the position of your website in search engines.
Dashboard: Manage Unlimited Websites
Webydo’s Dashboard provides you with an efficient way to manage all your clients’ websites from one control panel. There’s no need to log in and out of accounts, or install third party plugins.
Site Permissions
Define clients’ permissions or site settings with the CMS from the Dashboard. You can provide your client with a direct login page, so your client can access the CMS and make content changes to the site.
Site Analytics
Receive accurate real-time statistics regarding traffic to your website, page rank tracking, etc...
Bill My Client
Without having to use a third-party site, designers can bill clients for their services from their Webydo dashboard.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
When you finish designing your site, press Publish and the site will be live immediately on Webydo’s sub-domain. You can use this temporary site for testing and to share with your clients for review.
Publish Independently
Webydo partners with Akamai to deliver your website through a Content Delivery Network (CDN), which is a large network of servers located across the world.
History
Webydo's software was developed initially as an in-house tool for the web design agency of the founders Shmulik Grizim and Tzvika Steinmetz. While managing the agency, they identified specific problems in the web designing process, namely the repetitive development of handwritten code amounting to about 70% of website creation budgets and the communication gap between designers and their clients. They thought of a tool which would permit automatic generation of HTML code for an Adobe Photoshop-like graphic design and which would also make possible the direct involvement of the client in the website ongoing management process. Subsequently, they enlisted a team of mathematicians to create the necessary algorithms for such a software.
The new platform proved quickly to be successful and with potential to be used by web designers worldwide. A new company for this product was opened with investment from Adnan Raya. After Google chose Webydo’s technology to provide web solutions for businesses in Israel, some 35,000 websites were rapidly created. Microsoft-Israel also drove business to Webydo after selecting it in a competition as one of the 20 most innovative companies in 2012.
Open source community design
Webydo is a community lead platform and employs the concept of radical democracy in its open source development process. Webydo provides the technology, while its community of designers is setting up the goals for the system development and voting on features that should be developed next.
Reception
The main feature highlighted in reviews is the fact that the Webydo code generator manages to replace the developer in the web design process, an achievement described as a "web design revolution". Other remarked features are the rich, intuitive and easy-to-use web design software, providing ample room to manage the professional web design process and the good hosting infrastructure.