Finsweet: Attributes, Client first, Components

Finsweet is becoming the essential toolkit to push Webflow much further than what the native platform offers, without turning your site into a gas factory or requiring you to become a front end developer.

Finsweet, in concrete terms, what does that change for a Webflow site?

Finsweet is not “one” tool, but a set of extensions designed for Webflow and for the modern web. The objective is simple: to save time, to make projects cleaner in terms of CSS and HTML code, and to offer a better experience for the end user.

In practice, Finsweet is mainly based on three main building blocks that will live in your Webflow project:

• Finsweet Attributes
  
  
• Client-First
  
  
• Finsweet Components
  
  

Finsweet Attributes is an open source library that allows you to add advanced functionalities to a Webflow site, such as filtering, sorting, search or CMS sliders, by adding simple specific HTML attributes (fs-...) to the right elements in the Designer. You get powerful extensions without writing complicated JavaScript.

Client-First is a CSS class system and structure guide for Webflow. It defines a clear method for naming your classes, organizing each section of each page, documenting your styles, and keeping a project readable for any developer or marketer who arrives at it, even without an advanced level of code.

Finsweet Components is a ready-to-use JavaScript component library, integrated into Webflow via an official application. You'll find sliders, carousels, marquees, social media feeds, and other interactive elements that are interactive, visually configurable and stylable with the style panel just like any other element.

These three tools address three different needs in a Webflow project: structure (classes and pages), functionalities (attributes, scripts, logic) and the rapid creation of reusable components.

In which cases does Finsweet have a real impact on a Webflow project?

You don't need a huge site for Finsweet to be useful. As soon as your project goes beyond a simple “one page”, using a system like Client-First and extensions like Attributes can make a difference over time.

Finsweet is particularly interesting when you have:

• A large CMS collection, with a list of articles, resources, products, or offers to filter and sort.
  
  
• Multiple pages with reused sections, repeated elements, custom styles that you want to keep consistent.
  
  
• A team that collaborates on the same Webflow project, or the prospect of changing agencies or developers.
  
  
• A need for slightly advanced interfaces for the user, for example smarter forms or lists that can be filtered on the front side without reloading a page.
  
  

The more your site grows, the more a clear class system, well-structured components, and well-configured attributes prevent you from wasting time “looking for the right class” or fixing style bugs on a section that you copied ten times.

Finsweet Attributes: advanced features without writing JavaScript

What Finsweet Attributes brings to a Webflow page

Finsweet Attributes is designed as a no-code extension of Webflow. You add some specific HTML attributes to the right elements, and you unlock behaviors that Webflow does not offer natively or only in part.

Some typical examples in a project:

• Filter a list or collection of blog posts by category, content type, color, tag, or other CMS field.
  
  
• Add a “load more” button to progressively show items in a collection, rather than displaying everything at once.
  
  
• Create a slider powered by a CMS collection, with dynamic elements, without writing a line of code.
  
  
• Manage forms that are more advanced for the user, for example with conditional fields, clearer error messages, or improved display after submission.
  
  

You stay in the Webflow Designer, you manipulate divs, classes, sections, and lists as usual, but you add a layer of logic via attributes.

How does Attributes work in Webflow on the HTML side, classes and script

The operation remains quite simple for a Webflow developer or an integrator who has the basics of HTML and CSS.

The general idea is as follows:

1. You add the Finsweet Attributes script to your Webflow project, via the custom code of the site or page, like any external library.
   
   
2. You identify the elements that need to react: a list collection, a button, a form field, or an element wrapper.
   
   
3. You add specific attributes to these elements, for example fs-cmsfilter-element="list” or fs-formsubmit-element="success-message” depending on the solution chosen.
   
   

The script then reads these attributes from the published HTML and applies the correct behavior on the JavaScript side. For you, the process therefore comes down to: choosing the solution, adding attributes, testing on the published page.

The benefit is that you keep control over your classes, the CSS style system, and the structure of the divs. You can even combine the use of Attributes with Client-First to keep your code clean, organized, and documented.

Examples of using Attributes in a client project

Imagine an online resource or training site in Webflow. You have a content collection with categories, levels and formats (article, video, checklist). You create a CMS list on your page, configured according to Client-First, then you add filter attributes on the buttons and on the list. Result: the user clicks, the content is updated, without reloading the page.

Another example: a page with offers or customer cases. You want to show projects by sector, company size, or service type. You link a collection to a list, you add the right sorting and filter attributes, you keep your design, your custom styles, your color palette, and you add a real level of customization to the user experience.

You can also play on the forms. For example, a quote request form that displays different fields depending on the type of project, or that manages a clearer confirmation. Accessibility is better, the form is more adapted to each user and you can connect all this to your CRM tools.

Client-First: a class system to maintain control over each page

Why does a class system change everything in Webflow

Webflow already allows you to create very advanced CSS classes and styles. The problem is that a project can quickly become illegible as soon as several people intervene, or when the site develops over twenty, thirty, fifty pages.

Client-First, developed by Finsweet, answers this problem by proposing a system for naming and organizing classes designed for the lifetime of the project. The aim is to make the code understandable for a non-technical user, while giving Webflow developers a clear framework.

With Client-First, you no longer wonder “what am I going to call this class”. You apply clear logic, based on the structure of the section, the role of the element, and the purpose of the style. You can easily search for a class in the Styles panel, you immediately understand what it does, even if you are not the person who created it.

The role of rems and size in the Client-First system

Client-First encourages the use of rem to manage size texts and sometimes the size of other elements. This choice is not a technical detail. It makes it possible to link visual coherence to a simple system: changing the base size in CSS influences all the elements that use this unit.

Concretely, you keep a personalized but coherent style grid. You can define a hierarchy of titles, paragraphs, buttons, with sizes in rem adapted to the average of your audience, while leaving room for more personalized styles on a few specific elements.

For an SME or a small business, this means more rapid changes. When adjusting the size of the texts in your project, you don't have to go through every page. You change the base class and your whole system follows.

Integrate Client-First into an existing Webflow project

You can adopt Client-First on a project that is already in production. There is no need to rename everything at once.

You can start with a single page, often the style page or a key page like “Home” or “Resources.” You structure the sections with Client-First classes, you adjust the CSS styles, you align the lists, the forms, the main interactive elements.

Gradually, you create internal documentation for your project. A “style guide” page centralizes the important classes, the color palette, and the components used everywhere. You know what layout classes to apply to a new section, what text classes to use to keep the design consistent.

Finsweet Components: ready-to-use interactive elements

What Finsweet Components adds to Webflow

Finsweet Components is an official application available in the Webflow ecosystem. It allows you to build complex JavaScript components, directly in the visual interface, without you having to manage the code or scripts in detail.

The Components library offers sliders, carousels, brands, Instagram or YouTube feeds, dynamic sections powered by CMS collections. You choose a component from the library, you generate it, then you style it with the Webflow Styles panel like any div.

The integration is designed to remain “native”: you keep your classes, your system style, your colors, your personalized design. JavaScript scripts and logic remain managed by Finsweet.

How to integrate Components into your design process

In a Webflow project structured with Client-First, Finsweet Components becomes an additional productivity layer. You start by defining the structure of the page, the sections, the classes, the CSS style system. Then, you add Components where advanced interaction is needed.

You can combine Components with Finsweet Attributes to go even further. For example, a filterable list collection that is itself displayed in a slider component. Or an interactive component that you enrich with attributes for search, sorting, or customization.

The important thing is to maintain control over the overall system. The component should not be a “black box”. You need to understand its purpose, the main classes, the key elements, in order to be able to adapt it to the needs of your project.

When things get complicated with Finsweet: what to keep in mind

Finsweet doesn't solve everything. If the basis of your Webflow project is flawed, Finsweet can even make things more unclear.

Difficulties often occur when:

• You are mixing several class logics. For example, a part of the site in Client-First, another with improvised classes, and yet another with the classes of a template. The CSS system is getting confusing, the internal documentation is no longer keeping up.
  
  
• You're adding Finsweet attributes everywhere without a clear scenario. After a while, you don't know why this list has this attribute, or what happens if you duplicate the section on another page.
  
  
• You stack Components with external scripts, custom code embeds, and complex animations without checking the impact on performance and accessibility.
  
  

Another sensitive area concerns accessibility. Finsweet also offers resources oriented to “accessible components” that remind us that the goal is to make the web usable by everyone, with good practices on forms, modals and keyboard interactions.

Even with Components and Attributes, you have to keep this dimension in mind. A slider that moves too fast, a complicated form, a text color that is not easy to read, and you are losing part of your audience.

The key is always the same: starting from the business objective and the user. What should the person do on this page? What is the easiest path for her? The Finsweet tools are there to serve this journey, not to “add effects” just because it is possible.

Finsweet and your Webflow projects: how to move from tool to strategy

Finsweet, with Attributes, Client-First, and Components, is not just a series of technical extensions for Webflow. It's a comprehensive system that touches on page structure, CSS code, how you create your lists and collections, and the quality of the user experience.

Used methodically, Finsweet allows you to:

• Save time creating pages and interactive elements.
  
  
• Keep a project readable over time, even if several Webflow developers are involved.
  
  
• Document your project and accelerate the training of people who join the team.
  
  

But as always on the web, the difference is in how you design the system. Finsweet does not replace a digital strategy, positioning, good content, a reflection on the structure of the pages and on the objectives of each section.

If you want to go further and implement Finsweet in a serious way in your Webflow project, this is typically the kind of subject on which Scroll agency can help you. We can audit your existing project, clarify the class system, structure the collections, define the right Components and Attributes to use, then build a site that remains efficient and scalable, without losing yourself in the technique.