The editor in Wappler is Monaco (from memory - I keep muddling these names up so forgive me if that’s not correct).
Yes. You can hand-code the front end and use the API features in Wappler for the server-side. I wouldn’t recommend it as most of the time-saving features are in the front end features of Wappler but the API scripts take input, interract with data and/or other APIs and then produce output as JSON so you could use that any way you wish.
Monaco Editor. Same as VSC uses.
Yup. You could do that if you wish, but I personally see no point unless you already have a huge backend built and you want to reuse it until you finally migrate that too.
@JonL Hey Jon thanks as well for your reply.
My biggest issue with Bootstrap is the styles, I am used to creating (from my designs) my own styles, that’s why I really like webflow just for this particular thing it gives you so much flexibility in that regard.
But if I want to change my styles in Wappler I have to tinker with BS files (which I am not familiar with)?
Thanks!
You can create any additional styles you like which can override BS styles. Also, Wappler has a great Bootstrap theme editor where you can easily edit the BS styling to pretty much get whatever you like out of it.
I understand your point. Not much I can say there. It’s either BS and if you want to develop your own styles and components you need to learn how BS works. Or you go commando and write plain CSS but will lose the ability to use the right panel for the frontend components.
I would go with learning BS. It’s a good skill to have and it makes a lot of things easier. You can style whatever you want in BS but you need to learn how BS works for that.
There is an active Feature Request for Tailwind but I believe it’s not a priority at the moment.
There is also a feature that is on the roadmap for custom extensions for the frontend(we already have them for the backend). This feature would allow anyone to build support for other CSS frameworks or even CSS framework agnostic frontend components. But even if they provide support for custom components nobody can tell if someone will develop an integration for other CSS frameworks(or no framework).
@JonL Hey Jonas thanks a lot for the detailed explanation on how things are at the minute on this subject matter.
So basically not going commando would simplify things a lot as I understand rather learn BS and override their styles instead. This is a faster approach as I understand.
Something last since you guys are so responsive, are there any articles or other posts for me to read around the subject of choosing back end “Server model” inside Wappler?
I am familiar with NodeJS a tiny bit and PHP (but i don’t like it due to Wordpress which I HATE 
)
I have no idea how ASP works.
Can I decide later while I am building my front end?
Thanks!
You can decide later but once you start on the back end then you won’t want to change. NodeJS is the future. I’m still using PHP. ASP is probably the least future friendly and would rely on Windows hosting so I would avoid that.
Thank you Jon,
I already know a little bit of Javascript (built a weather app 2 years ago with Vanilla but that’s it as far as my knowledge goes with this) it would probably be wiser for me to go with NodeJS as I understand.
Thanks again!
Just to clarify: you don’t want or need to tinker with BS files directly. There are two methods, as described by @sitestreet. If you use Wappler’s theme editor - in most cases, the best and most efficient approach - you will in effect be modifying the relevant SASS variables and recompiling BS, which I believe is the recommended way.
Just because Wordpress is built with PHP, don’t rule it out completely. 
Hi @TomD
I am bookmarking this for when I have a bit more experience with Wappler which I just started learning.
Will be back on a later date thanks!
This is a good question and I’m not sure if anyone can give a definitive answer. This recent thread touches on this matter.
That’s a funny one 
Here you have a link to the most controversial post in this community.
Some of the web apps that I self-host for myself are based on PHP though so I don’t hate PHP per se. I just don’t build things with it. With Wappler, and for the reasons mentioned in the linked post, there is absolutely no reason to choose PHP over nodejs unless it’s a client demand.
Edit: you will figure out if you stick around that I have strong opinions, but opinions don’t put food on my dining table so if someone comes up with good arguments I might change them
@TomD @sitestreet @JonL @Teodor
I went through it all the version control post and well… 
I don’t have 20 years of experience, I am not a professional developer, I don’t have enterprise level clients. I don’t have any clients!
I am a designer that simply knows front end and wants to create a freaking app (excuse my tongue) and to look as I designed it on Figma or XD without tinkering BS and breakages everytime.
If on every version upgrade something breaks say in a database (lord have mercy) I wouldn’t know where to start and what to do and suppose the app is live then what if I can’t troubleshoot the issue myself in a timely manner? This doesn’t seem like a reliable way to create your own app it seems like to me.
That’s just too much risk that other platforms don’t have I believe and I think this happens when you rely on a very small team of people with a (promising) product that is based on Bootstrap and if you don’t follow a certain pattern then you will have even more troubleshooting to do down the line.
And the only real way if you want your websites/apps to translate on the web as you designed them is to be dropping BS blocks and elements and tinker the styles till highlander dies (never).
Is it fair to say that basically Wappler is for web developers that mainly don’t really do much of design or don’t want to do much of design but want to service various clients with it in a quicker fashion?
Does Wappler work best for freelancers only and not business owners directly since it is also marketed at professionals and not as a true no-code tool (rather low code))?
It doesn’t seem like the right tool to develop your own business but rather is aimed at developers who service multiple clients no?
Thanks again… 
Hehe, I was waiting for that post to get mentioned. 
Not fair at all
Wappler is flexible enough to provide value to hobbyist, solo entrepreneurs, freelancers and small/medium enterprise clients. You will actually find all those profiles in this community. Actually many of the opinions will also be biased towards the type of user they are so you need to take that into account and factor it in when taking your decision.
But Wappler as a team and as a product can service all those type of users. They might fall short with contractual support SLAs and that is why you probably won’t see Google using Wappler as a tool. Wappler isn’t marketed for them either so I see no problem. But as people said I get better support from Wappler than from Adobe. I don’t need a piece of paper to prove that to me.
On the other side, worst case scenario is that the team disappears leaving you without updates to the desktop app. You still would have your code available, your app would still keep running and you could always learn to code backend or hire someone. If the same happened to your cloud app builder say bye-bye to your business.
Only that makes Wappler the only sensible and educated choice right now.
@JonL thank you.
Well Wappler is not the only app that allows you to export code is it?
All well and fine but still there is no proper way for me to build my custom designs here, it’s a bootstrap app or nothing.
So basically it’s good for developers only that want to easily provide services to clients without the need of a designer in a way rather than for designers.
As you say bye bye business but what about dependancy on BS versions isn’t that something negative?
Isn’t BS meant for prototyping only and getting something up and running fast and then take it from there and build the real thing?
How does Wappler enable me to build the real thing if it uses a CSS framework as the De-Facto in the app no-code environment.
Am I missing something here?
Thanks again.
Absolutely not. You’ll see bootstrap used all over the place. It gives you all the tools to build fully responsive sites/apps but also allow you to finely tune the design.
And taking the considerations of “what if it disappears”… well, bootstrap is just a css and js library so just have a local copy of it and it will continue to work anyway. But it ain’t going anywhere.
