My thoughts on the Wix Studio developer experience

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Hey all,

I’ve recently been exploring Wix Studio and reflecting on my experiences with the ‘Velo developer’ environment.

One of the aspects I’ve always appreciated about Velo is its accessibility. Unlike more complex IDEs like VS Code, it provided a user-friendly experience, particularly for those of us who might not be full stack developers but still wanted to learn to code. I’m one of those users who started with Wix Code (then Corvid, now Velo) back in 2017 and have gained substantial knowledge in the Velo Workspace and APIs.

With the introduction of the new Wix VScode IDE, I see a lot of potential. It’s an exciting development, especially for those who operate on a dual-screen setup. However, many of us design and code sites on our laptops, and I found the original Velo IDE and workspace within Editor X / Classic Editor to be perfectly suited to that environment.

Wix Studio has made incredible strides, solving 95% of the pain points I had with Editor X. However, the changes in the Dev Mode on Wix Studio have brought some new challenges:

  • The limitation of the old Velo IDE to Global and Page Code only.
  • The resizing of the old Velo IDE to take up half the screen horizontally, as opposed to an expandable view from the bottom of the screen.
  • The restriction of backend code editing to only the new VS IDE.

I understand that many developers familiar with advanced environments will embrace the new IDE, and I’m enthusiastic about learning it myself. However, for those of us who work primarily on laptops, the changes pose some hurdles. The visual coding approach that defined Velo feels slightly overshadowed.

It just feels like this platform is now geared only towards those who are full stack devs, who know all of these IDE’s and stuff inside out, and can code without needing to be visual. Sadly, that’s not me - and mostly due to the fact that, as mentioned, I am so used to Wix’ super user friendly dev experience.

Rather than feeling frustrated, I’m hopeful and eager to find a solution that combines the best of both worlds. These changes may feel like barriers to me at the moment, but I trust that Wix is open to feedback and responsive to the needs of its diverse user base.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Wix Studio continues to evolve, and I hope that a happy medium solution that accommodates different working environments and preferences can be achieved in the near future.

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I completely agree with the comments you mentioned above. I will re-list them here and expand on them:

*** The limitation of the old Velo IDE to Global and Page Code only.**
I honestly feel that the people in charge of making decisions have never truly built an efficient website on Wix. Ever. Every decision made seems counter intuitive and works AGAINST us. It adds on so much development time. The placement and default settings of EVERYTHING makes a huge difference.

  • The resizing of the old Velo IDE to take up half the screen horizontally, as opposed to an expandable view from the bottom of the screen.
    This is so bad. SO bad. Do you know how many Velo developers code on the road? In an airplane? While traveling? Everywhere? We don’t just sit in front of multiple 27 inch monitors all day long coding. We need to be available any time of day, anywhere in the world on ANY PC, imac or laptop device for our clients. The same way Wix makes “websites responsive for viewing on any device” is the SAME way Wix should be building OUR tools in the editor. It is the only logical way of allowing us to create FAST and EFFICIENTLY. It is the ONLY way we can keep making Wix money the fastest way possible. The more difficult you make it for us to deliver for our clients, the more we will keep looking for external platforms and solutions that can make it happen.

*** The restriction of backend code editing to only the new VS IDE.**
This should be optional. We need to VISUALLY see what we are doing. You have already slowed down the coding process as it IS by adding extra clicking and navigating while using the database panels, etc. Now when we work on a small screen or laptop we have to waste more time by toggling back and forth? (Do you know how dizzy that makes me? Dizzy. Yes. Too much movement back and forth. Too much time wasted looking for “where I left off”. Too much time wasted.) Period.

Even more related topics: New Premium Plans and CMS Limits (Data Platform is Dead) - #6 by clsnlsen

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@RobertHamilton Just letting you know I am making sure the team sees this. I’m trying to obtain more information about the reasons for this new view while coding and the possibility of a change, so once I do, I will share it! You make many valid points in your post and it’s a major help that it’s so informative and explains the situation. It does not go unnoticed!

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I also learned to code on Wix and always work from my laptop, 90% of the time without a second monitor.

But I am actually a big fan of the new flow, I found having to open and close and sometimes drag up and down the code panel quite frustrating, and it is much faster to swipe between two windows and be able to use keyboard shortcuts to switch. It is something new to get used to, but I recommend opening it in a new window instead of having it as a second tab.

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Completely agree with all points above. An option to set your chosen in-editor code window position would be ideal, so people can choose between the sidebar or the bottom edge orientation.

I love the IDE for it’s expansion of what’s possible and keeping all the code files in one easy location, however from using it a couple of times, it’s slower to write page code on the IDE.

Backend file code is the same as there are seemingly no element-based autocompletions there, but I have found myself then needing to close the IDE, wait for the system to register that it’s closed and start coding for the page within the editor again.

For example if I want to code for an element called $w(‘#videoBox’) on my homepage, when coding inside the editor all I need to type is $v and then select the video box. In the IDE, I need to type out the entire element selector. When you need to repeat this action multiple times, it’s a huge time sink compared to the autocompletion in the editor.

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