What is Wix Velo? Everything you Need to Know

Wix Velo, or “Velo by Wix” as it’s sometimes referred to, is a full-stack development platform created by the company known for being one of the most straightforward site-building tools around. Wix Velo helps developers to create more intelligent, efficient solutions with easy building, management, and deployment.

While Wix is best known for providing one of the simplest tools for code-free website building around, it also has a range of other features to offer depending on your specific needs. Wix Velo integrates into your Wix ecosystem to help you build more advanced websites. This means you can create and manage databases with ease, build dynamic pages, and even host user-generated content.

If you have JavaScript knowledge, you can also create custom interactions like collapsible menus and use the API from Wix to connect your site to other apps like Google Drive, Facebook, or Zapier.

Today, we’re going to show you exactly what Wix Velo can do.

Introducing Wix Velo

Wix Velo is a tool for providing Wix editors with all the features they need to make more immersive sites and applications. You can harness your more creative side and your coding knowledge to unlock advanced enterprise-level projects. Users also get to save a significant amount of cash by cutting their standard development time in half.

Visual UI tools and a quick setup environment makes it easy to bypass hours of coding and maintenance tasks, so you can get the job done much faster. There’s even access to secure hosting, so you know you’re going to have the peace of mind you need to protect your application or service.

Already, countless companies have leveraged Velo as a platform to help them build, manage, and deploy technology with speed. The solution combines all the tools today’s companies need to turn their ideas into professional apps. Features include:

• Database for the information collection
• Dynamic pages
• Node.JS server
• External database collections
• Site monitoring
• Connections for site elements
• Wix stores
• Wix booking
• Wix CRM
• Wix Payment API
• Wix Blog
• User Input
• Marketing tools and integrations
• Import and Export
• Analytics
• Roles and permissions
• Members area
• Coding
• Release manager
• Roles and Permissions
• Members area
• Custom interactions
• Wix editor elements
• Database APIs
• HTTP functions
• Web modules
• Routers

As you can see, Wix Velo definitely has a lot to offer. We’ll jump into the features a little deeper in a moment, but first, let’s cover some of the pros and cons of the service.

Wix Velo Pros and Cons

Wix Velo is an interesting approach from Wix to give developers more of the tools they need to create amazing websites and applications. Although it might not be the most extensive coding system on the market, it’s one of the easier tools to use. All you need to do is click a few buttons, and you’ll be able to create your first database in no time.

Pros:

• There are no technical issues with things like installations and maintenance
• The majority of the work is done in the background by Wix
• Even if you use API calls and JavaScript, you don’t always need this knowledge to begin coding your first websites and applications
• You can make your current investment in Wix more powerful with dynamic pages and hooking databases for more amazing websites.
• You’ll have access to countless tutorials and guidance articles to help you get started.
• There’s a community available if you need additional guidance

Cons:

• You’ll need to pay for a plan to maintain your website
• You don’t have access to your Wix source code
• You won’t be able to use PHP for the server-side script
• The Wix coding can only run within the Wix ecosystem

Overall, Wix Velo seems like a solution designed for a very specific audience. It’s not an ultra-flexible coding platform, so you can’t move your code from one host to another whenever you choose. On the other hand, you don’t need a lot of coding knowledge to get started. If you have a lot of coding experience, this solution may be a little basic for you. If you have no coding experience, Wix will help you to jump in head-first.

The Wix Velo environment is powerful, but there are many limitations, like no access to PHP. Generally, this tool seems intended specifically for people who already have a Wix website set up and want to make sure they can do as much as possible with it.

Wix Velo Features: The Database Features

The Wix Velo ecosystem splits into a selection of different elements so you can unleash the full potential of the application. You’ll start with the “database” system. This is where you’ll be able to store all kinds of crucial records and content in collections, so you can use them anywhere on your website. The database environment features:

• Dynamic pages: A single page layout with unlimited page options. You can create pages with their own URL, SEO, and content for specific purposes.
• Connect Elements: Connecting site elements is easy; there’s no need to write even a single line of code to get started.
• User input and custom forms: you’ll have the freedom to create custom forms with unique elements that submit info wherever you choose.
• Import or export: import your data from a codebase or collection, or export your information somewhere else.
• External database collections: Add services or databases as virtual collections and use that data in your applications.
• Database joins: This feature allows users to create relationships between collections of data for master-detail layouts.

Wix features allow you to create a wide range of different pages, including dynamic pages, thanks to the database functionality. Once you’ve set a database with Wix using the simple backend environment, you only need to create a sample dynamic content using dummy content, and connect the fields with the corresponding components of the page. Wix code handles the rest for you, generating individual pages for each database row.

Databases also allow you to create repeating layouts. You just pick a suitable repeating layout from the menu (Lists and Grids) and adapt it according to your needs, then connect the elements to the right field in your database.

Wix even allows webmasters to collect user information and store that in a database, using a form and hooking that up to a dataset. From there, you just map the form fields to the correct database entries, and every time a user submits a form, the information will automatically store in your database.

Wix Velo Features: The Coding Features

The next set of features in the Velo by Wix environment falls into the “coding” category. These capabilities influence how you work with Code through the Wix Velo environment. As mentioned above, you’re going to need at least some coding knowledge to get started here – though perhaps not as much as you’d need to build a site or app from scratch.

The Wix coding environment features include:

• Node.JS server: For backend and front-end JavaScript writing
• Site monitoring: Integrations with third-party logging systems so you can track and view application errors and logs.
• Release manager: Create a release manager to gradually release content and roll out new versions of your site or application.
• Custom interactions: Add and code events to site elements for unique customer interactions.
• APIs: The Wix Editor Element APIs allow you to write code that controls the behavior of various site elements. Keep in mind you’ll need significant coding knowledge here.
• Database APIs: You’ll also have access to Wix Data and Wix Dataset APIs for extending and controlling data in your collections.
• Web modules: These elements allow you to call backend functions from your client code directly.
• HTTP functions: With HTTP Functions, you can write serverless functions to expose the performance of your site as an API
• Routers: Routers allow Wix developers to create custom SEO and routing descriptions for specific web pages on their sites.
• NPM packages: The NPM packages allow users to install Node packages and work with external JavaScript libraries
• Built-in Online IDE: This functionality makes coding more productive with the use of built-in IDE equipped with code completion and syntax highlighting.
• Functional testing: Trigger and test backend functionality within the IDE with access to the Wix editor
• Velo packages: Experiment with and install pre-built code packages designed by Velo to help improve the functionality of your site at speed.

Wix Velo Review: Business Features

The custom functionality you can create for your Wix site with Wix Velo is great for anyone who wants to go beyond the basic features of most drag-and-drop solutions. With Wix Velo, you can customize how you interact with users on your ecommerce site, add unique elements to your web apps, and more. For business purposes, Wix Velo offers a specific range of unique features intended to help you increase conversions.

In the business dropdown menu of HTML templates and web applications, you’ll find:

• Wix stores: Tools for enhancing the functionality of your store pages
• Wix bookings: CSS and HTML solutions to take bookings from customers
• Wix CRM: A tool for managing relationships with your Wix customers
• Wix Pay API: Develop new ways of accepting payments on your websites
• Wix blog: Web developers can use the blog component to add new features to their blog
• Roles and permissions: Professional web designers can give users specific roles on a website, like separating visitors from administrators
• Members area: Wix can enable Velo users to create unique members areas for subscribers to a website, complete with their own landing page and unique elements

Wix Velo Review: Marketing Features

The last section of the Velo environment is dedicated to marketing. Wix.com, like most website builders, already offers a variety of marketing features, like integrations with leading SEO tools to help you build your presence online. The Wix Velo landscape allows you to build more customized strategies for your company. The focus areas of the Wix Velo marketing features are:

• Marketing tools and integrations: Just as you can build a host of integrations with third-party tools on WordPress, you can also do so with Wix. Marketing tool integrations will help you track the success of your marketing workflow, set up A/B tests and more.
• Analytics: Businesses can create custom events triggered with Google analytics, Facebook Pixel, and Google tag manager, for better insights.
• SEO: Being able to customize your site’s SEO settings could be a game changer for many companies. You’ll be able to adjust things like metadata, SEO patterns, descriptions and titles

The rich Wix code development environment means the majority of marketing updates you’ll make to your website are likely to be based on integrations with other leading tools.

What Can Wix Velo Do?

Wix Velo, like Wix Corvid and the Wix ADI are all examples of the company’s attempts to serve a wider audience with their technology. On it’s own, the Wix website builder isn’t the most advanced solution for web development. While you can make some basic changes to your website using the Wix Editor, and integrate with Wix Apps, the flexibility isn’t anything near what you would get with something like Wix Velo, and the Wix Velo API environment.

Essentially, Wix Velo gives you the tools you need to further expand what Wix can do, by giving developers a way to talk to the native language of the Wix platform (JavaScript). With this functionality, professionals can connect their website to a host of online websites, and link various components of Wix, like the Bookings app and the contact page.

Notably, the Wix coding experience is a little simpler than learning how to code an entire website from scratch. You get a lot of guidance to assist you with connecting various components. Beginners can manage larger sites and more complicated projects with less training. However, there are some down sides too.

Learning how to use Wix Velo doesn’t mean you’ll know how to code a website anywhere from ground zero. You’ll only have a knowledge of how to use Velo – which won’t necessarily translate to various open-source site building projects and similar tasks. Additionally, even though Velo is easier to use than some coding environments, it still has a learning curve.

Finishing Thoughts on Wix Velo

If you’ve got some pre-existing programming knowledge, or you don’t mind putting a few hours into developing your knowledge of the Wix Velo platform, you can really benefit from this tool. The Wix Velo environment is surprisingly intuitive and flexible, with lots of opportunities to build custom interactions and experiences.

The more skilled you become in traversing the Velo landscape, the more you can experiment with things like creating your own web apps and building unique dynamic web pages. However, Velo won’t be the right pick for everyone. There’s no PHP server-side development, which can be problematic for some serious programmers.

Additionally, learning how to use Wix Velo will take a lot more time and effort than simply building a website using something like the drag-and-drop tools available from the standard Wix platform or an alternative like Shopify. If you’re looking for straightforward simplicity and speed, Velo isn’t the fastest option out there.

Ultimately, we’d probably recommend Wix Velo to someone who appreciates the performance of a tool like Wix but wishes they could do a little more with the technology. You’ll need to be committed to working on your education for a little while, but once you’ve got the hang of the basics, it doesn’t take long to start seeing the benefits of your Velo coding knowledge in-action.