Connect Webflow CMS

What You Get

Bidirectional sync:

• Push articles from ILLIXIS to Webflow collections
• Pull existing Webflow items into ILLIXIS
• Automatic slug generation and sanitization
• Featured image handling with CDN-based URLs

Publishing options:

• Create as draft or publish immediately
• Auto-publish based on connection settings
• Manual publish control per article
• Collection-level configuration

Key features:

• REST API v2 integration with OAuth
• Automatic collection detection
• Custom field mapping per collection
• Rate limit handling (60 req/min free, 120/min paid)
• Rich text HTML support

Setup Steps

1. Generate Webflow API Token

Go to Webflow Dashboard > Site Settings > Integrations > API Access.

Click Generate API Token.

Copy the token. You'll use this in ILLIXIS.

Scopes required:

• sites:read - View site info
• collections:read - View collection structure
• collections:write - Create/update items
• cms:read - Read CMS data
• cms:write - Publish CMS items

2. Get Your Site ID

In Webflow, go to Site Settings > General.

Your Site ID is shown under Site Info (format: 507f1f77bcf86cd799439011).

Copy this ID.

3. Get Your Collection ID

Go to CMS Collections in your Webflow site.

Click on the collection you want to publish to (e.g., "Blog Posts").

The Collection ID is in the URL: webflow.com/dashboard/sites/[site-id]/collections/[collection-id].

Copy the collection ID (format: 507f1f77bcf86cd799439012).

4. Connect in ILLIXIS

Go to Settings > Integrations > CMS tab.

Click Add Connection.

Select Webflow as the platform.

Fill in:

• Connection Name: Internal name (e.g., "Main Blog")
• Base URL: Your live site URL (e.g., https://example.com)
• API Token: Token from step 1
• Site ID: ID from step 2
• Collection ID: ID from step 3

Click Test Connection to verify access.

If successful, you'll see:

• Site name
• Collection name
• Item count

Click Save.

Field Mapping

ILLIXIS maps content to Webflow collection fields. Default mappings work for standard Webflow blog templates.

Default field mappings:

• Title → name field
• Slug → slug field
• Content → post-body field (rich text)
• Meta Description → post-summary field
• Featured Image → hero-image field

Custom Field Mapping

If your collection uses different field names:

1. Go to Settings > Integrations > CMS.
2. Edit your Webflow connection.
3. Click Configure Field Mapping.
4. Set custom field slugs:

• Title Field: Collection field for article titles
• Slug Field: Collection field for URL slugs
• Content Field: Collection field for body content
• Excerpt Field: Collection field for summaries/meta descriptions
• Image Field: Collection field for featured images

To find field slugs:

• Go to your collection settings in Webflow
• Click on a field
• The "Field ID" is the slug ILLIXIS needs

Publishing Content

Push from ILLIXIS to Webflow

From any content brief:

1. Click Publish button
2. Select your Webflow connection
3. Choose publish mode:

• Draft: Create as draft in Webflow
• Live: Publish immediately to live site

Content appears in your Webflow collection.

Auto-publish behavior:

• If connection has "Auto-publish" enabled, articles go live automatically
• If disabled, articles are created as drafts
• You can publish drafts manually in Webflow CMS

Pull from Webflow to ILLIXIS

To import existing Webflow content:

1. Go to Content Hub
2. Click Import from CMS
3. Select your Webflow connection
4. Choose what to import:

• All Items: Import entire collection
• Published Only: Skip draft items
• Specific Items: Enter Webflow item IDs

Imported content appears in Content Hub as "Custom" source.

Featured Images

How image handling works:

ILLIXIS generates time-limited signed URLs for featured images (15-minute expiry). Webflow fetches and imports the image during item creation.

Image requirements:

• Accessible via public URL
• Supported formats: JPG, PNG, WebP
• Max size depends on Webflow plan

Localhost images are stripped:

• Content generated on localhost cannot include images with localhost or 127.0.0.1 URLs
• Set PRODUCTION_URL in environment to rewrite localhost URLs
• Or upload images to CDN before publishing

Content Processing

What gets stripped before publishing:

ILLIXIS removes platform-specific markup:

• Issue highlighting (red/yellow markers)
• Inline comments and suggestions
• ILLIXIS internal attributes

Promo banner handling:

• If content has "Show Promo Banners" enabled, placeholders are injected for GTM ad-server model
• If disabled, existing placeholders are stripped
• Webflow receives clean HTML ready for display

Rich text compatibility:

• ILLIXIS converts content to HTML
• Webflow accepts HTML in rich text fields
• Standard HTML tags are preserved (headings, lists, links, images)

Rate Limits

Webflow API has rate limits:

• Free plan: 60 requests/minute
• Paid plans: 120 requests/minute

ILLIXIS automatically:

• Throttles requests (1 second between calls)
• Retries on 429 rate limit errors
• Waits for Retry-After header duration

If you hit rate limits:

• Wait 60 seconds before retrying
• Batch operations are throttled automatically
• Upgrade to paid Webflow plan for higher limits

Troubleshooting

"Authentication failed: Invalid API token"

Cause: Token is incorrect or revoked.

Fix: Generate a new token in Webflow and update connection in ILLIXIS.

"Site not found: Check your Site ID"

Cause: Site ID is incorrect or account doesn't have access.

Fix: Verify Site ID from Webflow Site Settings. Ensure token has access to this site.

"Collection not found"

Cause: Collection ID is wrong or collection was deleted.

Fix: Check Collection ID in Webflow CMS Collections URL.

"Required field missing" error when publishing

Cause: Webflow collection has required fields not mapped in ILLIXIS.

Fix:

1. Check which field is required in Webflow collection settings
2. Update field mapping in ILLIXIS connection settings
3. Ensure ILLIXIS content has that field populated

"Image URL not accessible" error

Cause: Featured image URL is localhost or unreachable by Webflow.

Fix:

• Set PRODUCTION_URL environment variable to rewrite localhost URLs
• Or use external CDN for images
• Or publish without featured image

Items created but not visible on live site

Cause: Items are drafts, not published.

Solution 1: Enable "Auto-publish" in connection settings.

Solution 2: Manually publish in Webflow:

1. Go to Webflow CMS
2. Select items to publish
3. Click Publish button

"Item was deleted from Webflow" warning

Cause: Content mapping exists but Webflow item was deleted.

Fix: ILLIXIS automatically cleans up the mapping and creates a new item on next publish.

API Limits & Costs

Webflow API is included with all paid plans. No per-request charges.

Free plan limits:

• 60 requests/minute
• Basic API access

Paid plan limits:

• 120 requests/minute
• Full API access
• Faster sync operations

No usage costs - API access is part of your Webflow plan.

Security & Permissions

What ILLIXIS can do:

• Read site info
• Read collection structure
• Create/update/delete items in connected collection
• Publish items to live site

What ILLIXIS cannot do:

• Modify site structure
• Change collection schemas
• Access other collections (only the one you configure)
• Modify site settings
• Access billing info

Token security:

• Stored encrypted in ILLIXIS database
• Never exposed in UI or logs
• Transmitted only via HTTPS
• Scoped to minimal required permissions

Use Cases

1. Publish ILLIXIS articles to Webflow blog

Generate content briefs → Write articles → Publish directly to Webflow CMS.

No copy-paste. No manual upload.

2. Import existing Webflow content

Pull published items into ILLIXIS for content audits, quality analysis, and optimization.

3. Multi-site management

Connect multiple Webflow sites. Manage all content from ILLIXIS.

4. Draft workflow

Create articles as drafts in Webflow. Review in Webflow Editor before publishing.

Related Features

• Content Hub: Central content management across all sources
• Content Quality Grading: Analyze imported Webflow content for issues
• Content Decay Detection: Track ranking drops for Webflow-hosted pages
• Maya Recommendations: Get strategic insights for Webflow content

Lead Form Publishing

Webflow connector supports publishing lead magnets (quizzes, calculators, assessments) to a dedicated "Lead Forms" collection.

Setup:

ILLIXIS auto-creates a "Lead Forms" collection if it doesn't exist.

Form publishing:

1. Create lead magnet in ILLIXIS
2. Click Publish to CMS
3. Select Webflow connection
4. Form is created as collection item with embedded HTML

Collection schema:

• name - Form display name
• slug - URL-friendly identifier
• form-content - Form HTML
• form-id - ILLIXIS tracking ID

Embedding forms:

Use Webflow's Collection List to display forms on your site. The form-content field contains ready-to-use HTML.

Advanced Configuration

Auto-Publish Setting

Enable to publish items to live site immediately:

1. Edit Webflow connection
2. Check "Auto-publish items"
3. Save

All future publishes go live automatically. Disable for draft-first workflow.

URL Pattern Detection

ILLIXIS auto-detects article URL patterns from published content.

Pattern examples:

• /{slug}/ - Root-level articles
• /blog/{slug}/ - Blog subfolder
• /articles/{slug}/ - Custom path

Used to build full URLs when displaying content in ILLIXIS.

Sync Logging

All sync operations are logged.

View sync history:

1. Go to connection settings
2. Click View Sync Logs
3. See success/failure rates, error details, timing

Sync log data:

• Operation type (pull/push)
• Records processed/failed
• Duration
• Error messages
• Timestamp

Use for debugging sync issues.

Best Practices

1. Test with draft mode first

Create a few test articles as drafts before enabling auto-publish.

2. Use Domain Properties in GSC

If tracking SEO for Webflow site, connect Domain Property in Google Search Console (covers all subdomains/protocols).

3. Map custom fields correctly

Webflow templates vary. Verify field slugs match your collection schema before first publish.

4. Monitor rate limits

If publishing in bulk, expect throttling. Operations complete, just take longer.

5. Keep API token secure

Don't share tokens. Regenerate if compromised. Update in ILLIXIS immediately.

6. Verify published items

After first publish, check Webflow CMS to confirm field mapping is correct.

Content Handling Details

Slugs:

• Auto-generated from title if not provided
• Lowercase, hyphens only, max 100 characters

Images:

• Webflow fetches images from the provided URL during publishing
• Supported formats: JPG, PNG, WebP
• Localhost image URLs are automatically stripped

Support

Webflow API issues:

• Check Webflow status page: status.webflow.com
• Review API docs: developers.webflow.com

ILLIXIS connector issues:

• Check sync logs in connection settings
• Verify field mappings
• Test connection to confirm access

Common fixes:

• Regenerate API token
• Update field mapping
• Wait 60 seconds if rate limited
• Check required fields in collection