Terminology Question: The Use of "Instance" in Web-Builder Contexts
Terminology Question: The Use of "Instance" in Web-Builder Contexts
At a glance
The post discusses the terminology used in web-building tools, specifically the use of the term "instance" to refer to elements on a page. The community member who posted the question finds this usage odd and imprecise, as they feel users may see their creations as unique rather than instances of a common component.
The comments discuss this further, with some community members arguing that the term "instance" is technically correct and that precise language is important. Others suggest that the term may not align with how users think about their creations, and that alternative terms like "elements" may be more intuitive. The discussion concludes with the suggestion that the usage of "instance" may be reconsidered if more community feedback indicates it is problematic.
Terminology question. In your App / Docs / Videos you always speak of instances if you refer to elements on the page. I understand an instance as a non-unique copy of something, often driven by some common parent. Elements on the canvas may be an instance – but often enough, they are unique – such as images.
Of course, one from the perspective of the app-creator may see elements on screen as instances of components you make available – in that sense, bitmaps indeed live in an instance of your image component.
Then again – users will likely find their creations unique and think of the "About"-Card and the "Contact" card as different items, even the underlying HTML-element has the same structure.
This just struck me as odd and unprecise – but I'm neither a native English speaker, nor a code-wizard.
Is this usage for the term instance common in visual Web-Builders?
Ok, I understood this derivation – and it undoubtedly is technically correct. But should one use this term?
Designers who build unique websites with Webstudio will certainly not imagine their website as a bunch of instances (i.e. a trivial collection of essentially the same things. Of course, they will continue talking of elements…
One creates a mismatch between what people have in their head and the official term. It appears quite clever to me, that Webflow chose the "dirty" term elements in their GUI.
