Module 1 · 1.1

English

What the AI Builder is and when it fits

Module 1: Before you start · Reading time: 9 minutes

Learning objective: After this lesson you can explain how the AI Builder works and what it can and cannot build. You can also judge whether it suits your plan or whether another route is better.

Key concepts: AI Builder, description, first version, builder, chat, edit, informational website, widget, contact form, webshop, login area, portability

What the AI Builder does

The AI Builder is a website builder in which an AI does the first round of work. You describe in plain language what you do, who you do it for and where. Or you give the address of your current site. Within a few minutes (usually two to four) a complete site is ready: usually three to six pages, with text, photos, a menu, a contact form and a house style. This is called the first version.

After that you carry on working in the builder. On the left is a rail with panels (Chat, Pages, Blocks, Media, Menu, Articles, Branding, Security, SEO, and at the bottom Memory, Versions and Settings). On the right you see your site as a visitor sees it. You can change it in two ways:

Yourself: in the preview you click on a piece of text or a button and type. You can also choose photos, drag sections around and pick colours. This is free.
Through the AI: in the chat you type an instruction, such as "make the heading shorter" or "add a page about how we work". The AI makes a proposal that you keep or discard. Each instruction like this costs one edit (lesson 1.2).

The text on your site is written and edited by an AI model from OpenAI. Your site and email are hosted on WebOké servers in the Netherlands. You start the builder in My WebOké, through the AI Builder menu item directly below Dashboard (or through My Sitebuilders, AI Builder tab).

What the AI Builder gives you is a fast site without plugins and without updates you have to keep up with yourself. With a package, your site sits as ordinary HTML files on your own domain.

What it is good at

The AI Builder is made for informational websites: a site that tells people who you are, what you do, what it costs and how to get in touch. For example:

a freelancer or small business (painter, coach, photographer, hairdresser, consultant);
a club, association or foundation with news and an events calendar;
a portfolio or a simple blog.

Take Schildersbedrijf Example: a painter with two employees in a small village. He wants to show what he does (interior and exterior painting, wallpapering), a few photos of his work, the area he covers and a form for requesting a quote. He has no time for plugins and updates. This is exactly what the AI Builder is meant for.

What it does not build

Being honest about limits now saves you a move later. The AI Builder makes websites, not apps or platforms. It cannot build:

A webshop with a shopping cart and checkout. You can show products with a price, but visitors cannot order and pay on your site themselves.
Logins: accounts or profiles for visitors, a members' area.
A database of its own or anything that stores or sends visitor input, such as an order or a shared score.
A booking calendar of its own in which visitors book a time themselves.

The contact form has limits too. It has at most eight fields, of these types: text, choice (a drop-down menu), email, phone, long text, date and number. There is no field for uploading a file (a photo of the job, a CV). If Schildersbedrijf Example wants to receive photos of a wall, he asks in the confirmation for the customer to send them by email or WhatsApp.

There are also fixed limits per site: at most 30 pages, 40 sections per page, 300 photos and 200 articles. There is no export function or conversion to WordPress. With a package, the HTML files are in your own hosting package and you can download them, but if you want to move to WordPress later, you rebuild the site there using your own text and photos.

What is possible with a widget

Much of what the builder does not do itself, you can arrange with a widget: a piece of another service that you place on your site. For quite a few services the link is enough and the builder creates the player or form itself, for example YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, Google Maps (the address is enough), Calendly, Google Calendar, Instagram, TikTok, Typeform, Tally, Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, Jotform, a Mailchimp sign-up form, Eventbrite and Zenchef. For other services (such as Salonized, Formitable, Treatwell or Trustpilot) you paste the code that service gives you.

This way you can still:

let people book appointments with a booking service such as Calendly or a salon scheduler;
let people send in files through a form from another service that allows uploads;
show an ordering or payment module from an external service.

Keep two things in mind. A widget only loads once the visitor consents to cookies of that kind, and the service is added to your cookie notice and privacy statement automatically (module 7). And on the free site, only widgets from well-known services work, without a form or custom script (lesson 1.2). You learn how to place the widget itself in lesson 4.3.

When another route fits better

A few examples:

You want	Better choice
A shop with a cart, stock, shipping and payment	A webshop, for example WordPress with WooCommerce (see our webshop course) or a hosted shop platform
A site with members who log in, or lots of plugins and custom work	WordPress on a hosting package (see our WordPress course)
Dragging every block by hand yourself, without AI	The Drag-and-drop Builder that comes with a hosting package
Showing a few services, receiving quote requests and being easy to reach	The AI Builder

You can combine them. The bakery near Schildersbedrijf Example wants a tidy site showing its range, and also wants customers to be able to order cakes. An informational site made with the AI Builder, plus an order form or ordering module from another service as a widget, may be enough. If she really wants a shop with hundreds of products and a checkout, a webshop is better, and the AI Builder is not part of that.

Also think about the way out: if you keep your domain name and email in your own name, you can switch builders later without customers losing track of you.

In the builder: see for yourself

In My WebOké, open AI Builder.
On the start screen, click Help (top right of the start card). You will see Help with the AI Builder: all features grouped and searchable.
Search for "widget" and for "form" and read what it says.
Not sure whether something is possible? Ask in the builder's chat. Questions do not cost any edits and do not change anything on your site.

Summary

The AI Builder turns a description or an existing site into a complete first version; after that you change everything yourself or through the chat.
It is made for informational websites, not for a webshop with checkout, logins, a database of its own or a booking calendar of its own.
The contact form has at most eight fields and no file upload.
Many extras (bookings, video, maps, forms with uploads) can be arranged with a widget from another service.
If your plan does not fit, choose WordPress, a webshop or another builder; combining is possible.

Quiz

Exercise

Exercise D1.1: Does the AI Builder suit your plan? Assess your own plan using what you learned in this lesson.

Checklist:

[ ] you have written down in a few sentences what your site needs to do;
[ ] you have compared every feature you need with the list "what it does not build";
[ ] for every feature the builder does not do itself, you have found a widget or another service;
[ ] you have checked at least one point of doubt in Help with the AI Builder or in the chat;
[ ] you have considered whether WordPress, a webshop or another builder fits better.

Questions:

What does your site need to do, in three sentences?
Which features in your plan does the AI Builder not build itself, and how will you solve them?
What is your choice, and why does another route fit less well?

After "done" you will see a sample answer: Schildersbedrijf Example wants services, photos of work, a service area and quote requests; receiving photos from customers is not possible in the contact form, so he asks them in the confirmation email to send them by email; the choice is the AI Builder, because no shop or login is needed and he does not want to maintain plugins.

Exercise D1.1: Does the AI Builder suit your plan?

You do this exercise yourself; no one checks it. Tick off what you've done and mark the exercise as done.

you've written down in a few sentences what your site needs to do
you've compared every feature you need with the list "what it doesn't build"
for every function the builder doesn't handle itself, you've found a widget or another service
you've checked at least one point of doubt in Help with the AI Builder or in the chat
you've considered whether WordPress, a webshop or another builder would suit you better

What does your site need to do, in three sentences?

Which functions in your plan does the AI Builder not build itself, and how will you solve them?

What's your choice, and why does another route suit you less well?

Your ticks and notes only stay in this browser; we don't send them anywhere. If you're signed in, we only save in My courses that you've done the exercise.

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