Creating a Style Guide in Webflow: A Step-By-Step Tutorial for Beginners

Introduction

Creating a style guide is an essential part of web design. In Webflow, a style guide serves as a central source of truth for all the classes used across a website. It allows you to maintain consistency as your website grows and makes it easier for new developers to understand the system setup inside your project. In this tutorial, we will walk through the process of creating a style guide in Webflow and maintaining styles as the website evolves.

Getting Started

Rather than starting from scratch, we will use a style guide starter template available in the Webflow showcase. This will save time and provide a structured foundation for our style guide. Once you have located the template, you can duplicate it and use it in your own project.

Step 1: Duplicating the Style Guide Starter Template in Webflow Showcase

1. Visit the Webflow showcase and find the style guide starter template.
2. Duplicate the template to your account.

Step 2: Adding the Style Guide to Your Project

Once you have the style guide starter template in your Webflow account, you can choose to use it in two ways:

1. Start a new website using the template by adding a new page.
2. Copy the body element of the style guide and paste it into your existing project on a new style guide page.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we will create a new page and name it "Style Guide." Then, we can paste the style guide body into this new page.

Step 3: Customizing the Style Guide to Fit Your Brand and Website

After adding the style guide to your project, the next step is to customize it to match your brand and website. This involves updating the logo, colors, and classes used throughout the style guide.

Updating the Logo and Colors

1. Navigate to the logo section in the style guide.
2. Update the logo to match your brand.
3. Scroll down to the colors section and update the color blocks to align with your brand's color palette.

Updating Typography and Buttons

1. Update the classes used for typography and buttons to reflect those used on your website.
2. For buttons, focus on updating the classes used, rather than the colors, if they have already been incorporated throughout the website.
3. Delete any unnecessary classes and add the classes that align with your website's design and branding.

Adding or Removing Sections

You may need to add or remove sections in the style guide based on your website's specific design elements. For example:

1. Deleting sections for features not utilized in your website, such as icons or spaces.
2. Adding new sections for elements not included in the starter template, such as sliders.

Creating a New Section for Sliders

1. Copy a tab from the sidebar.
2. Rename the tab to represent the new section, such as "Sliders."
3. Add a new section at the bottom of the style guide.
4. Link the new tab to the corresponding section.

Finalizing the Style Guide

After making the necessary updates and customization, ensure that all classes and colors in the style guide match your website's design and branding. By doing so, you will have a comprehensive and personalized style guide that serves as a reference for maintaining consistency across your website.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully created and customized a style guide for your website using Webflow. With the style guide in place, you have a centralized resource for all the classes used throughout your website, allowing for scalability while maintaining consistency. Furthermore, the style guide will aid in onboarding new developers by providing them with a clear understanding of the system setup within your project. As your website evolves, you can always revisit the style guide to update and modify classes to ensure alignment with your brand and design choices.

In conclusion, a well-maintained style guide is crucial for a cohesive and professional web presence, and Webflow provides the tools and flexibility to create and manage style guides effectively.