What is the best solution for hosting off-site and referencing code on a Webflow page to overcome the character limit for custom code?

To overcome Webflow’s character limits for custom code blocks (10,000 characters for site-wide, 20,000 for page-specific), the best solution is to host your code externally and load it into Webflow via URL.

1. Host Your Code on an External Server

• Use a trusted hosting platform like GitHub (with raw content delivery), GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, or Amazon S3 to host your custom JavaScript or CSS files.
• Ensure the hosted file is accessible via HTTPS and has the correct content-type (e.g., text/javascript or text/css).

2. Reference the External File in Webflow

• Open Project Settings > Custom Code (for site-wide) or go to the Page Settings > Custom Code (for page-specific).
• Use a <script src="..."></script> tag (for JavaScript) or <link rel="stylesheet" href="..."> (for CSS) to reference your external file.
• Example for JavaScript:
  <script src="https://yourdomain.com/path-to-file.js" defer></script>
• Example for CSS:
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://yourdomain.com/style.css">

3. Add Scripts in the Right Section

• Site-wide code should be placed in the head or before section under Project Settings > Custom Code.
• Page-specific code goes in the same locations in the Page Settings.
• Use the “before ” field for most JavaScript unless it must be in the head.

4. Minify or Modularize Large Code

• To reduce file size, minify your JavaScript or CSS before uploading.
• Break large scripts into modular functions and host them in multiple external files if needed.

5. Enable CORS (If Applicable)

• If hosting on your own server, ensure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) rules permit access from your Webflow domain so the files load correctly.

Summary

To bypass Webflow’s custom code character limits, host your code externally on a platform like GitHub Pages or Netlify, then reference it using a <script> or <link> tag within Webflow’s custom code areas. This approach gives you flexibility, faster edits, and no character constraints.