Wix Devcon 2022 Wrap-up - News and Releases

With the first Wix Devcon event coming to a close, there is a lot to talk about and even more to look forward to when it comes to the future of the Wix platform. Many developers, Wix Partners (like us), and even investors had the opportunity to experience the latest and greatest from Wix that will yet again change the world.

The event kicked off with Avishai Abrahami (Wix's CEO) talking about the original ideas he had for Wix being a modular platform with the ability to implement custom code to, in a sense, alter what was already developed out of the box; for example, Wix Stores.

"In the last year, one in every 4 sites built on a CMS platform is built in Wix" Avishai Abrahami

This is outstanding news for Wix partners and for the company as a whole. More and more businesses are able to utilize Wix for their business needs, and at Slaterock, we believe that much of this has to do with the amazing partners helping to bring these businesses online with a secure and reliable website.

Not only that, but partners are each and every day are solving the problems that many business owners have, helping them to stay on the platform instead of seeking other web builders to "solve their needs," even though that almost never the case.

Changing the Way People Look at Wix

Another outstanding announcement from Wix Devcon was also in the opening speech by Avishai. While many may look over this (especially at a developer's event), one of the greatest things to hear from a business standpoint is the fact that Wix is now branding itself as more than just a drag-and-drop builder.

This is great news for all Wix partners and developers because Wix now understands that they may have gone too far in being the "simple solution". Because when you're too simple, you may not be respected or looked at as a leader in the industry.

"One of the things that we have been doing from day one at Wix is that we are always advertising Wix as easy, stunning, and available for everybody"

As you can see, Avishai nods to the idea that Wix was advertised as an easy-to-use platform for everyone, but what he says next is truly game-changing.

A lot of what we are doing in the last year in marketing has changed, you dont see us advertising so much as easy and free. You see us talking about being a proffessional platform.

For Slaterock, this is some of the best news to hear, and it should be for many of you as partners and developers as well. Although some of the features being released, which will be mentioned later, are amazing, changing the way Wix is perceived by the public is what will help all of the partners and developers get more work under their belt.

Watch Avishai's Full Speech below:

Wix Devcon 2022 Releases

Now after hearing some of the great news and things that are going on within Wix, its time to talk about some of the game-changing features that are being released to help every Wix user; whether you are a developer, partner, or business owner, these features are here for all of us.

Wix Blocks

Wix Blocks is a new feature from Wix allowing developers to create widgets in a separate builder environment to then install on multiple websites as needed without the need to copy/paste and reconfigure on each website, reducing the time needed to reuse code that was already written.

This is absolutely game-changing because now, instead of having to copy and paste code and re-create or configure code for each website, it can simply be installed to any Wix website, and it will automatically adjust to the theme of the website.

Not only that, but you can even customize it further on each individual website if necessary.

Want to know the best part? If you build something extensive and somewhere down the line you find a bug, just update it within the Wix block builder, and the bug will be cleared from all the sites it's already installed on!

This paves the way for a new marketplace which was speculated at the event but, after discussions with many of the Wix employees, is still not yet finalized.

Although our vision, along with many other developers at the event, can see a truly unique marketplace for Wix users to ultimately purchase different widgets or tools or components from developers who are then able to monetize their work.

Wix users same time and save money (instead of hiring a developer for hours on end), and developers have a unique platform to create and monetize their work while Wix has more users come to the platform because of these amazing features; it's a Win-Win.

Wix SPIs

Wix SPIs are essentially mini APIs for specific Wix components such as Wix e-commerce or Wix Bookings. It allows you to break apart and use only what you need from the specific prebuilt components from Wix.

Wix SPIs is a great example of how Wix is planning on breaking down the platform and essentially opening it up for developers to make a more customized experience for Wix users on all levels.

Currently, there are only three SPIs available, but many speakers at the event explained that Wix plans to open dozens of SPIs in the future to allow for even more customization.

The three SPIs currently available include:

• Additional Fees

• Custom Shipping Rates

• Get Catalog Items

After watching the event, many of the live demonstrations included very simple lines of code, usually less than 8, that can alter the user's experience for the better when checking out.

Such as choosing different shipping rates depending on location while using a Google Maps call after the user-supplied their address.

GIT Integration

As soon as it was announced, the room went wild! Developers from all over the world celebrated the new integration while sitting in the room together in NYC.

From what we know, the integration allows for a much faster and easier coding process allowing developers to code in a platform that is already well known to them.

What's interesting is that a developer can be creating code while a designer is actively working on the UI. The code can be stored locally and pushed to the site whenever it's ready.

The developer can also test the code using a new way to publish the new implementations without actually publishing it to the live website.

It should be noted that even though the work is done on your local machine, you will still need to be connected to the internet for everything to work properly.

Watch the full announcement below:

Final Thoughts on Wix Devcon 2022

First, our team would like to give a huge shoutout to Wix for putting together such an amazing event for the first time, and we hope to see more like this in the future! (Wix Designers, Wix SEOs).

New Beginning for Wix as a Professional Platform

Wix has come a long way from the early years of the platform, and with so many achievements, this is yet another one.

By branding the platform as a "professional", one more enterprise businesses will turn to Wix as their needs change and adapt. Thanks to Wix's reliability, security, and speed, there is no reason not to use the Wix platform.

New Wix Development Features

As the new features were announced, you could feel the excitement in the room. Developers from around the world were once again excited to utilize the new tools that are now available.

Wix is making things easier and faster for developers, and that's a good thing for all Wix users.

After speaking to one of the investors at the event, he mentioned the App Store and how the iPhone wouldn't be what it is today without the App Store; and he was right. Now, that is exactly what Wix is enabling developers to do by opening up the platform and giving more access to the guts that have made Wix what it is today.

Future Plans As A Wix Partner Agency

As a Wix Partner, this event was super exciting and eye-opening, to say the least. Wix is in a good place, even after some of the recent layoffs, and we are excited to be a part of it!

Our team will continue to focus on our core SEO management work but certainly continue to invest in our in-house development projects. Right now, we are currently building out some internal tools that our potential customers can use to scan their website to get a better understanding of how their site is performing in search results.

Feel free to check out our free domain analysis tool for desktop devices only currently. We also have a backlink analysis tool being tested right now as well. Feel free to give it a shot and let us know what you think!

Now having early access to some releases, I will be working closely with our in-house developer, Erica, to put these new features to use for our clients and us.

Not only that, but I will be leaning on some of the amazing developers I met while at the event to help my team better understand Velo and its capabilities; you know who you are!

Are you looking to take full advantage of all the new features Wix is now offering? We recommend you work with a Wix Expert to help get the job done. View everything you need to know before hiring a Wix Expert.