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Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

plasmic.app

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Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#21

Post by chungwu »

catapart wrote: post #16

This doesn't quite hit the sweet spot for me, yet, but I really wish something described the exact output of this app. Is it a react app, always? Or can it be just a vanilla js-based web app? Can it make svelte components? Just a sample of the output would go a very long way in telling me whether or not it can produce anything I can use.

Right now Plasmic mainly target outputting React components. The code it generates can either be consumed as files you check into your codebase (see https://docs.plasmic.app/learn/codegen-guide/) or as data you fetch dynamically across the wire to render content without touching your codebase (the "CMS" use case).

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#22

Post by chungwu »

momojo wrote: post #12

What makes this different from other low-code/no-code editors out there? Retool, Appian, Kuika, etc.

It can deeply integrate into your existing app (reuse your React components, and form the same React tree as your React app and read from the same React contexts, etc), and it can be hosted from anywhere. It also places a lot more emphasis on design and customizability.

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#23

Post by addisonj »

I have been using Plasmic for the last 3 months as part of a contract app where the goal was to get the technical, but not frontend experienced client able to do a lot of the design. I did a lot of custom work on components (like integrating the Supabase API and custom Auth for RLS support) as well as integrating some other endpoints/libraries.

In short, I have gone pretty deep with it as a proper "app" builder compared to maybe a more CMS/design use case. By far, for front-end low code UI tools it is my favorite. However, it isn't without the typical pains of that when the abstraction breaks it can be quite a hassle and requires some real knowledge (or support help) to figure things out. The real thing that keeps me on it though is that it really can have hand written react and Plasmic generated react live by side, which drastically lowers the risk compared to a lot of other app builders.

I do genuinely think it can speed up development for certain teams on app use cases, but I think the structure of those teams is a bit particular, because you do need someone who really knows react/next ecosystem to manage the underlying integration.

Thanks to the Plasmic team!

Happy to answer questions in thread

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#24

Post by jason_plasmic »

solardev wrote: post #9
octopoc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they're trying to invent a new market where none exists yet, and when you do that you HAVE to communicate very clearly. Basically I think they're a WYSIWYG editor for a React SPA. For me, this section helped: https://github.com/plasmicapp/plasmic?tab=readme-ov-file#how...

Thanks! That's a lot more helpful. I understand the gist of its value offering now. Still have questions about how component composition and layout work, but at least the readme is clearer about what the product IS.

For component composition and layout, Plasmic makes it easy to build responsive pages. Our primitives like stacks are all based on flexbox, though you can use absolute positioning if needed.

For some more detailed docs, check out https://docs.plasmic.app/learn/styling-and-layout/

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#25

Post by bogwog »

xyzzyrz wrote: post #13

Excited to see this posted here! I think probably because we announced it going open source today. I think the GitHub page is probably a bit clearer than our website right now: https://github.com/plasmicapp/plasmic Basically, it's a visual page builder that plugs into your own Next.js/Remix/React/etc. codebase. Your marketing/content/design team can then build and publish pages without filing tickets on eng. This (co…

So it's like a more advanced alternative to something like GrapesJS that also includes integration with some popular web frameworks?

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#26

Post by bossyTeacher »

addisonj wrote: post #23

I have been using Plasmic for the last 3 months as part of a contract app where the goal was to get the technical, but not frontend experienced client able to do a lot of the design. I did a lot of custom work on components (like integrating the Supabase API and custom Auth for RLS support) as well as integrating some other endpoints/libraries. In short, I have gone pretty deep with it as a proper "app" builder compa…

> you do need someone who really knows react/next ecosystem to manage the underlying integration.

So this is react specific? It doesn't say so in the home page. It vaguely hints at it with a "Bring your data sources, React components, deployment environments, design system, and more.".

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#27

Post by nkozyra »

chungwu wrote: post #18
superfrank wrote: post #11

My question with these WYSIWYG editors is always how maintainable is the code they output? I have no problem using these on smaller projects that are fairly static, but on more complex things it has always felt to me like the time you save by using a tool like this, you end up losing when you want to do something not supported by the tool and you have to hack through the spaghetti code it outputs. Can anyone speak to…

Plasmic isn't a one-time codegen tool, where you generate some code and then modify it to suit your needs. Instead, we've designed Plasmic code generation so that you can generate code, add some business logic, iterate on design, generate code again, without blowing anything away. You're never directly editing the code generated by Plasmic. You can check out how it works ( https://docs.plasmic.app/learn/codegen-guide…

> Instead, we've designed Plasmic code generation so that you can generate code, add some business logic, iterate on design, generate code again, without blowing anything away. You're never directly editing the code generated by Plasmic.

I think that actually amplifies the concern. Basically it's "don't touch the output," but what if we want/need to?

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#28

Post by bossyTeacher »

chungwu wrote: post #15
solardev wrote: post #2

I don't really get what this does. The front page feels like a lot of empty marketing, but I still don't understand how it works...?

Plasmic at its core is a general React app builder. You can create components, add interactivity, and connect to other data sources. You can also bring in your own React components, so there's endless possibilities in extending the tool for your needs. Our users have used Plasmic to build all sorts of things, from websites and e-commerce storefronts, to Retool-like internal tools, to full web apps (major parts of the…

> You can also bring in your own React components

What does that mean? Does it mean that you can import your own components like using a standard import statement?

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#29

Post by xyzzyrz »

bogwog wrote: post #25
xyzzyrz wrote: post #13

Excited to see this posted here! I think probably because we announced it going open source today. I think the GitHub page is probably a bit clearer than our website right now: https://github.com/plasmicapp/plasmic Basically, it's a visual page builder that plugs into your own Next.js/Remix/React/etc. codebase. Your marketing/content/design team can then build and publish pages without filing tickets on eng. This (co…

So it's like a more advanced alternative to something like GrapesJS that also includes integration with some popular web frameworks?

You can think of it like that - GrapesJS ultimately outputs HTML that exists in its own universe, whereas Plasmic focuses more on integrating with existing codebases, where you might want to use your React components, render in your React context, etc.

Re: Plasmic.app: Visual editing and content platform for building websites and apps

#30

Post by throwup238 »

bossyTeacher wrote: post #26
addisonj wrote: post #23

I have been using Plasmic for the last 3 months as part of a contract app where the goal was to get the technical, but not frontend experienced client able to do a lot of the design. I did a lot of custom work on components (like integrating the Supabase API and custom Auth for RLS support) as well as integrating some other endpoints/libraries. In short, I have gone pretty deep with it as a proper "app" builder compa…

> you do need someone who really knows react/next ecosystem to manage the underlying integration. So this is react specific? It doesn't say so in the home page. It vaguely hints at it with a "Bring your data sources, React components, deployment environments, design system, and more.".

That omission jumped out at me too. I immediately googled "django plasmic" and had to find out from the Github repo title: "plasmicapp/plasmic: Visual builder for React. Build apps, ..."
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