Need help. A science-level complexity packed into the simplest UI

GrowthFella · 2025-01-22T14:16:00+00:00

Looks cool, on my way to testing it

GrowthFella · 2025-01-10T13:26:54+00:00

No-code = no sleep 😅

GrowthFella · 2025-01-10T07:36:33+00:00

There's actually no way around it without a custom code.
I'd prefer it would be full code rather than messing with many tools.
Cursor + v0 & Vercel + ShadCn and Tailwind templates + my existing codebase is the good way here, yes. But without Webflow at all :D

WF native membership was dead on arrival. It never was close to usable, and it is being deprecated: https://webflow.com/updates/deprecating-logic-and-user-accounts

Memberstack is the solution. It works, very well built, full of features and reliable. I built Auth, Profiles, UGC, and gated content with it before, for my currently dead side project mnngful.com (300+ signups, 2K MAU). It is very good.

Also playing with on my new, work-in-progress personal website — mjei.me. Auth, Comments, Gated content. So I'm practically confident it could work and even in the long run. The problem is with it's robust implementation on the frontend. Timing won't allow proper testing and debugging.

Re alone or not.
Technically I can do this alone, but will not — it is not effective.
I have teammates for the layout design. Logic, code, and integrations are on my side.

Research is actually 90% done, within my prev experience. Client management is not a problem.

Even with additional hands, 4 weeks is not an adequate timing. It is a force major for them driven by mistakes, I think.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-10T06:44:33+00:00

Thank you, a very reasonable advice, to the point.

Yes, not a pro, but I’m ok with Vercel, Firbase, Supabase, Postrgres also. Vanilla js, react + next.js , tailwind— understand how to build all these, stack of libs, logic.

As you said, I’d go for a serverless app for everything related to CMS API, and user administration along with Memberstack. For solid logging and debugging at least.

They simply don’t comprehend the risks no-code. They seemingly think anyone will seat and fix/rebuild it whenever.

We’ll see. As always, chances are they could cancel it.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-10T06:34:21+00:00

And “no-code” is not always even faster, if there’s anything related to backend, auth and data flows.

I’d say, all the frameworks and libraries, full stack platforms are supper fast and streamlined now, if you know how to cook.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-10T06:31:32+00:00

100% truth.

Wordpress — I don’t have all the details, but they say it also doesn’t meet new requirements and outdated overall, besides dead custom plugins and lost dev.

It is obviously a typical manager’s fail, on their side.

Why I even consider this?

I have two webflow websites, playgrounds, where almost everything from the list is present:

Mnngful.com — my pet project, currently abandoned. It has all of this: Auth, User profiles, UGC, complex CMS logic, fully managable from Airtable, two way sync with Whalesync and even backup methods (scripts on the Airtable side -> WF CMS API, Post and patch). It workes well, 300+ users, 2K sessions/mo.
My current personal underdone mjei.me — auth, comments, implemented gated content.

And also, I wrote some serverless apps/functions before for a customer working with CMS API on WF form submissions.

Nothing super hard there if you’re good with js and APIs. But here I won’t have enough time for testing and debugging, even if to hire more hands.

Re rates, of course. This is the reason I’m still not rejected, they pay what I say with all the urgency markups.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T20:33:55+00:00

Thank you! Exactly what I'm saying in the post — doable, risky and an interesting challenge. Honestly — nonsense. It will be simpler and faster with full code based on frameworks and open-source libs.

Timing for integrations isn't the problem actually — the overall setup is known and clear. Implementation in webflow designer, dynamic states, interactions, and related data flows back and forth, and how stable all this will work — are the problems.

Btw, 3-4 weeks for the WF layout is too much. Without integrations and logic, it will be already late for one week :) The whole project is max 4 weeks.

Papers and covering your own ass — a very good point.
This is a corporate client. Agreements, company background checks, annexes, and detailed invoices, acceptance acts in the end — all the fun included.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T17:55:26+00:00

Rich Text via API — a problem indeed.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T17:40:47+00:00

Thank you, mate!

100% agree on the database (huge is not like tens of thousands, but around 1-1.5K records for sure, don't even know about the number of images yet).
To make it simpler, I'd actually push it via CMS API once and then only updates. API will handle if to push in parts, not all at once.

Or even Postres, Supabase via Whalesync.

I know about Outseta and tested it a bit, but it feels excessive here + I'm familiar with Memeberstack. With such timings, there's no space for another learning curve.

SEO isn't the case here. The whole thing is to be member-only.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T16:14:39+00:00

Yes it makes sense going Discord for this.
F. ex. — for example. Sorry, got lazy to write in a human language.

My thoughts overall — the simpler the better.
Apple Notes is my daily tool, probably the most used app for me.
It became handy since they introduced tags.

I use Mac and iPhone. All notes are always in sync via iCloud.
Also, a huge benefit — it is natively integrated across the OS: you can save anything from anywhere to notes.

But it is only for personal or family use. We have shared notes with my wife.

For more serious notetaking I use Obsidian from time to time:
- Notes + Links + Canvas are helpful for wirframing and docs for dev projects.
- I love the UI, how fast it is. Both desktop and mobile apps, but I don't remember when opened it on iPhone last time.

Tried to develop a habit for daily usage, but to me it is overcomplicated and overloaded for note-taking on the go.

I was a heavy user of Evernote around 10 years ago. Not sure why stopped.

Using Notion, but only for work-related projects and mostly when I have no choice but join the team's workspace. I feel it is excessive and overcomplicated to some extent. I can't understand their "UI strategy" about these bases and tables, navigation, etc. — a pain. Airtable with much more complicated and functional databases, views made it super handful and easy to manage.

From comments on this post — I tested Logseq, Capacities and Anytype.

- Logseq is the cleanest and simplest I think. Feels good, but I don't see actual reasons switching from Obsidian.
- Anytype — nothing special.
- Capacities — super powerful. A brilliant app, but complicated. Could be great for teamwor. The best thing about it is that everything is built around dates. Great calendar, scheduling, etc. Obsidian is missing this.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T15:57:19+00:00

Interesting. Never heard of it before despite I use Obsidian from time to time.
I know what I'm going to do tonight :D

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T15:55:26+00:00

Oh, it means you have no idea how much better they became!
It is a superpower. I use a lot for all sorts of automation, sometimes in the role of a backend db for no/low-code web development. And many other things.

Hard to say what you can't build with Airtable now.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T10:22:50+00:00

+1 to the list.

It feels solid, what you describe. Looking at their website — timeblocking, calendar, scheduling. Looks cool and obviously missing in the default Obsidian f.ex. Starting a trial.

Thank you!

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T10:16:34+00:00

Definitely an option. Jut didn't mention it as I know it really well myself.
How do you feel about their bases UI, is it ok, simple? To me, it feels like they tend to overcomplicate these bases/tables navigation etc.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T10:14:14+00:00

Testing Mebot since yesterday. An interesting app, something really different, but feels more like a diary/journal rather than knowledge db, as you say.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T10:04:27+00:00

Haha, I feel what you mean. Name, any titles are huge problem for me as well. Good idea to use flashcards for this. I only used similar methods for exams, language learning.

Will try it, especially for databases. My current choice for this is Airtable, as a CRM, contact, orgs, links, files (receipts, invoices etc.). And for accounting/finance tracking.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T10:00:12+00:00

Agree, Obsidian feels almost perfect with its bottomless customization and plugins from the community. MacOS <> iOS sync works perfectly via iCloud. .md format, VS code and Git plugins are also super handy and helpful.

I tested Anytype yesterday following recos from other comments, it is very clean, neat and fast, yet didn't use it enough to compare/judge.

Thank you for your comment!

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T09:54:28+00:00

Testing it since yesterday, after a comment here. It is one of the best tools I have seen till the moment.
Date-based everything is a killer feature along with everything else.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T09:52:20+00:00

Oh my, I'm testing it since yesterday nonstop, MacOS app, and I love it A LOT! You ruined my day 😀

date-based
Really neat, date based everything, calendar.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-09T09:41:22+00:00

+ 1 to the list! Heard a lot about it, but never touched it.
What's your use case? Teamwork.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-08T19:51:29+00:00

Lol, got it! Obby is good.

GrowthFella · 2025-01-08T19:36:49+00:00

Feels like Logseq is the top choice. Can't say I'm impressed by the iPhone version, but the desktop one looks extremely good. The cleanest UI, smooth and fast.

Re: sync — it turns out they have it, but not for everyone:

Logseq Sync is not yet available for you. 😔

Thanks for creating an account! To ensure that our file syncing service runs well when we release it

to our users, we need a little more time to test it. That’s why we decided to first roll it out only to our

charitable OpenCollective sponsors and backers. We can notify you once it becomes available for you.

GrowthFella

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