New Deploy System and pre-rendering

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1

Hi there,

When deploying with the new system i see that the pre-rendering option have disapear.

Is this normal ? If yes what will be the impact for pre-rendered Apps ?

Regards,

2

HI @sylvainsinay,

The option to pre-render pages has been removed for two main reasons:

  1. It slowed down product development by creating overly strict limitations.
  2. Contrary to popular belief, better SEO performance can be achieved without this option.

This simplification makes the build process more consistent and uniform. Now, all generated versions will automatically include metadata, ensuring indexing by search engines and allowing previews when links are shared.

By removing default “pre-rendering,” the complexity of non-standard configurations is eliminated. Although this option may have offered some benefits, it also had drawbacks for SEO, such as search engines double-checking content and metadata after JavaScript execution.

For the vast majority of applications, this simplification ensures indexing happens quickly enough. However, in specific cases like news sites or marketplaces with frequent updates, other solutions provide even higher performance. Alternatives such as static sites (HTML, CSS, JavaScript without a framework) or “server-side rendering” yield very good results, though they involve additional technical constraints, like the need for a permanently active server for “server-side rendering” (no CDN usage possible).

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all technical solution that perfectly meets all requirements without compromise. This is a choice of standardization that aligns with long-term goals, aiming to bring WeWeb in line with current best practices among developers while ensuring simplified and sustainable maintenance.

3

As said in Slack, it’s a total disaster for us.

pre-Rendering was what makes Weweb unique in No-Code industry.

Did you communicate anything about this breaking change before to run it ?

1 Like
4

@flo while i do generally share your opinion. this seems to make static collections obsolete as those pages are also not static (pre-rendered) anymore… it even gives us the disadvantage of possibly outdated data when the project is not republished from time to time. without any benefits

also, are those changes in preparation of future roadmap stuff like SSR or was this decision made independently from this topic?