Custom code websites

Build a fully custom website inside TribeNest by chatting with the built-in AI builder — no installs, no terminal. Create a code site, describe what you want, edit content and code, preview, and publish, all from your dashboard.

A custom code website is a site built from real code instead of a drag-and-drop theme. It gives you total design freedom — any layout, any section, anything you can describe — while TribeNest still handles the hard parts behind the scenes: your store, checkout, memberships, ticketing, courses, and payments.

The best part: you don't need to write code, install anything, or open a terminal. You build and edit a custom code site by chatting with the AI builder right inside your TribeNest dashboard. It writes the code for you, connects it to your real products and media, and shows you the result live.

Themed site or custom code?

Most creators start with a themed site in the visual editor — it's the fastest way to a good-looking site. Choose custom code when you want a one-of-a-kind design or a layout the themes don't offer. This page is about custom code; if you'd rather point-and-click, use the visual editor instead.

Start a custom code site

Go to My Website in your dashboard. You'll see your website versions.
Click New code site.
TribeNest sets up a fresh, fully-working site for you — a complete creator website with a homepage, store, product pages, events, courses, memberships, a blog, checkout, and an account area, all ready to customize.
On the new Custom code card, click Edit code to open the builder.

That's it — you now have a real, working website. Everything from here is making it yours.

The AI builder

The builder opens with three modes across the top — AI, Code, and Content — plus a live preview you can open on the side. Most of your work happens in AI mode.

In AI mode you simply chat. Describe what you want and the builder writes and changes the code for you across the whole site. For example:

"Add an FAQ section to the home page."
"Make a new /about page with my bio and photo."
"Show my featured products on the homepage."
"Change the hero headline to 'Live in Lagos this August' and make it editable."
"Match my brand — dark background, gold buttons, bigger product images."

As it works, you'll see what it's doing in plain language — Looking up your content, Browsing your media, Editing files, and Checking for errors before it finishes. It edits across multiple files, verifies the site still builds, and your preview updates live.

It uses your real data — not placeholders

When you mention a product, event, or image, the builder pulls the real thing from your TribeNest account. Say "feature my Summer Tour event" or "use the studio photo from my media library" and it wires up your actual content — nothing to swap out later. It can also create real events (with ticket tiers), membership tiers, and forms for you as part of a request.

You can also attach media from your library to a message (the image button by the input) when you want the builder to use a specific photo or video.

See it live

Click Preview to start a live preview of your site. It opens beside the builder and updates instantly as you and the AI make changes — click around, test buttons, fill in forms, all before anything goes public.

Edit content without code — Content mode

Not every change needs the AI. Switch to Content mode to edit the text and images on your pages directly — like filling in a form.

Content mode lists every editable field on the current page. Click one to edit it — type new text, pick a new image, or choose a color — and the preview updates as you go. Click a field in the list to see it highlighted on the page, or hover a spot on the page to find it in the list.

When you're happy, click Publish in the Content panel. Content changes go live instantly — no rebuild, no waiting.

What makes something editable?

Text and images are editable in Content mode when they've been set up as fields. When you ask the AI builder to create a section, add "and make the text and images editable" — then you (or a teammate) can update that copy anytime from Content mode, with no AI and no code. Fields you set up this way are also what the Claude / ChatGPT chat connector can edit.

Edit the code directly — Code mode

If you do know how to code (or you're curious), Code mode is a full code editor in your browser — a file tree on the left, syntax highlighting, and autocomplete for the TribeNest toolkit. Edits auto-save as you type, and the preview reloads. You never have to use it, but it's there when you want fine-grained control.

Work safely with versions

Your site can have several versions, and only one is live at a time (marked Active). This lets you experiment without risk:

Duplicate a version to try a redesign on a copy, leaving your live site untouched.
Rename versions so you can tell them apart (e.g. "Summer Launch").
Delete versions you no longer need (you can't delete the active one).

You publish a version when it's ready, and you can always work on a draft version while a different one stays live.

Preview links and publishing

You've got three ways to check and ship your work, from the builder's top bar:

Preview — the live, instantly-updating preview beside the builder, just for you.
Deploy preview — builds your site and gives you a shareable link to send to bandmates or a client for feedback, without making it your live site.
Publish — makes this version your live website. TribeNest builds the site and, only if the build succeeds, deploys it to your domain. If the build has a problem, nothing changes and your current site stays up — fix it (or ask the AI to) and publish again.

Roll back anytime

Each time you publish, TribeNest saves a restore point. Open the History menu to go back to an earlier published version if something isn't right.

Keeping your site current

The Updates menu keeps your site's foundation fresh — it can pull in the latest TribeNest toolkit and the newest versions of the built-in functional pages (store, checkout, account, and so on). You can turn on auto-update to have this happen for you, with a restore point taken first so you can always roll back.

Prefer to work on your computer? (advanced)

The in-browser builder is the main way to build a custom code site — but everything you make is real code you fully own. If you'd rather work locally with your own tools, you can pull the exact same site down to your computer and edit it with Claude Code (or any editor) using the tribenest command-line tool, then publish from there. It's the same site and the same versions — just a different way in.

This is a more technical, optional path. See Editing with Claude Code if that's for you.