# DriftLess Product Reference

## What DriftLess is

DriftLess is a guided no-code website builder for independent makers. It is designed for people who know their work but do not want to begin with website code, a blank canvas, or a template catalog. Starting requires no technical skills, account, card, or payment.

The primary audience includes jewelers, ceramicists, woodworkers, furniture makers, textile artists, and other independent studios. The normal outcome is a credible website that presents real work, helps visitors understand and trust the maker, and gives them a clear next action. Selling can be added later when the maker wants it.

## The maker journey

1. The maker starts as a guest or while signed in. The first core brief part asks for the maker or studio name.
2. The other three core parts ask what the maker makes, the visitor goal and business path, and a logo or photographs. Five publication-fact groups cover where the maker operates and accepts customers, official identity, public legal contact, privacy practices, and applicable customer terms or responsibilities. Truthful answers such as not registered, not applicable, or I do not have this yet can be saved; applicable missing facts block publishing, not the private preview.
3. DriftLess prepares a real private website with working pages and navigation before requiring an account.
4. The maker reviews it, then creates a free account only when they want to keep and improve it. The temporary project and remaining credit balance move to that account.
5. Studio provides the private preview, Needs your input, What DriftLess remembers, Change the look, Photos & logo, the visual editor, and Tools for reviewing versions and the site.
6. An active Live or Practice plan is required to publish the reviewed version.
7. Later website-version edits and guided updates stay private until the maker publishes another update. Selling settings have their own product and customer-action state.
8. Selling remains optional and is set up separately.

## Guest continuation and recovery

A generated guest website stays available in the same browser for 24 hours. Create the free account from that result before the window ends to keep the exact website. An unfinished brief saved locally in the browser is not a cross-device backup. Use the same browser to resume it, or the same signed-in account after claiming the website. If claiming fails, keep the result open and contact support before restarting.

Cancel website creation stops the current work; it does not cancel a subscription or remove a published website. Wait for the resulting Studio state before starting again. If a version stops before review, Studio explains which answers, media, versions, and inspectable draft remain. Use Recover from saved work or the offered draft action. Recovery may create a new version; review any credit confirmation shown rather than assuming every retry is free.

## Guided improvements and versions

DriftLess keeps the maker brief, corrections, confirmed facts, design foundation, and previous versions with the project. A focused question should improve information that matters to a visitor, such as the available work, commission process, delivery, classes, care, contact path, or supplied policy.

Saving answers in Needs your input or images in Photos & logo is free. A saved fact or photograph is not automatically applied to the current website version. Review the included changes, maximum credit cost, and available balance in Studio, then give final confirmation to start the quoted generated update. Inspect the new private version separately before publishing it.

Change the look includes the Free Style room for supported websites. Its curated color, typography, image-prominence, and spacing controls make a separate private preview without AI work or credits. Compare that preview with the retained version and choose which to keep. A generated visual update uses the separate reviewed and quoted Studio flow. Versions under Tools lets the maker inspect or select an available private version; selecting one does not change the live website.

## Visual no-code editor

The maker opens the visual editor from Studio. The editor places the private website preview beside safe controls and supports the following actions when the generated page exposes the relevant editable field:

- Move between website pages.
- Edit visible text directly.
- Choose a previously supplied photograph or upload a new one.
- Add alternative text for visitors who cannot see an image.
- Move or hide supported sections.
- Duplicate or remove supported repeatable items.
- Review unsaved changes and save deliberately.

Manual edits are free and do not start AI work. There is no inline AI rewrite in this editor. A manual save leaves a private candidate for rebuilding and review in Studio before Publish. AI-written changes and any generated rebuild need a separate credit quote and final confirmation; the free save does not include that generated work. The visual editor does not require HTML, CSS, JavaScript, deployment configuration, or payment secrets. Saving an edit does not publish the change.

## Publishing and live-site management

Publishing copies the specific reviewed website version to a public DriftLess address. Nothing is published automatically. After publishing:

- The live website appears in My Sites.
- The maker can open the public website, return to Studio to edit it, manage selling, publish an approved update, or take the website offline.
- New photographs, copy, visual directions, and guided improvements remain private until another explicit publish action.
- The live site is not marked updated merely because a private edit was saved.

Publication blockers are different from recommendations. Complete the applicable jurisdiction, identity, public contact, customer terms, privacy, and material-rights facts truthfully, apply them to the reviewed version when requested, and check its customer action. Public DriftLess addresses are provided by the platform; there is no maker custom-domain setup in the current product. Private projects stay in Studio rather than the live-only My Sites list. Deleting a project is separate from taking its site offline and is irreversible.

Draft accounts can generate and improve one private website. They may buy the smallest Touch-Up credit pack once across the life of the account, but buying that pack does not unlock publishing. Live and Practice can publish to a public DriftLess address; Practice adds a second saved site, maker-owned HTTPS payment links, and restricted GitHub export.

## Account, billing, and closure

Account settings cover profile details, email, timezone, notifications, available sign-in methods, passkeys, two-factor authentication and recovery codes, and sessions. Use the same sign-in method used to create the account. If access fails, use the configured recovery method; never send passwords, authenticator or recovery codes, or identity documents to support.

Account billing shows DriftLess subscription and credit payments, not payments for maker products. Active Live and Practice subscriptions have Cancel subscription. Follow the available action and check its confirmed status. A failed request is not a confirmed cancellation. Scheduled cancellation keeps paid access through the end of the current billing period and credits already added remain available.

Taking a site offline or deactivating an account does not cancel a subscription. Deactivation preserves account data and blocks sign-in. Account profile offers a JSON account-data export, not a website backup. Account deletion has a 30-day cancellation window; follow the visible billing guidance before closing the account. Some financial records may need to remain. Account closure, deleting a project, stopping a generation, and taking a site offline are distinct actions.

## Optional self-hosted path

Self-hosted path is under Account → Projects. On Practice, the maker can connect GitHub and send an eligible informational static website to a private repository. Repeating the action updates the same repository. The export contains public HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other static website assets; it does not contain DriftLess account data, prompts, version history, editing controls, buyer data, or server-side selling infrastructure. Websites using enquiries or payment links remain hosted on DriftLess for now. Sending files to GitHub does not deploy them. The repository owner manages external hosting, domains, deployments, security headers, and future maintenance.

## Optional selling through enquiries or payment links

After seeing the private website, the maker can choose enquiries, add a maker-confirmed public HTTPS payment link they control, postpone selling setup, or show the work without online selling. DriftLess does not open or connect a payment account.

Enquiries use a monitored public email. Visitors ask about the work or a commission, then agree the quote, any deposit, delivery, and payment arrangement directly with the maker. A payment-provider account is not required for this path. An existing payment link is optional; it must be public HTTPS without embedded login credentials, and the rules do not require a particular provider. Maker confirmation is self-attestation, not verification of a business or payment account. DriftLess does not supply an invoice, deposit, order-list, or native buyer-checkout workflow.

The maker supplies real products, images, descriptions, prices, availability, delivery options, policies, and the public customer destination. A product-specific link overrides the store default. Currency remains a Selling setting, including on the enquiry path; check that the displayed currency and prices match any external payment link. Hidden and sold-out pieces must not offer a misleading purchase action. A saved photograph or answer does not start a generated update: applying selected material to a website version has its own Studio review, quote, and confirmation. Separately check current Selling product and action settings. The generated site presents one ready customer action, not competing enquiry and payment buttons.

The maker named on the website is the seller. The maker remains responsible for truthful identity and legal information, products, prices, availability, fulfilment, delivery, returns, and refund obligations. For payment-link sales, the maker's provider processes payment and refunds and handles payment records, disputes, chargebacks, merchant identity checks, and payouts under its own terms. DriftLess generates, edits, and hosts the website; it does not receive automatic order status from a maker-supplied link, move buyer money, issue maker-sale refunds, or take a transaction fee. Card and bank data remain with the provider. DriftLess does not guarantee delivery.

For an order, delivery, return, or refund problem, the buyer contacts the maker using the email shown on the website first. For a payment dispute, the buyer also uses the contact or dispute instructions on the payment-provider receipt. DriftLess support cannot issue a refund for a maker sale. DriftLess may unpublish a site for fraud, impersonation, or illegal content. Unpublishing is a hosting and safety action; it does not cancel payment, issue a refund, decide a dispute, or resolve the sale. Reports should include the site address and factual evidence, never card, bank, login, or identity-document details.

DriftLess may reject an obviously fictional identity entry, but it does not check an official company register, verify the maker as a business, or perform merchant identity checks.

## Truthful-content boundary

DriftLess organizes and presents facts the maker provides. It does not invent stock, prices, availability, collections, testimonials, policies, commission openings, delivery promises, customer claims, or romanticized studio history. Unknown business information stays absent until the maker supplies it.

Clearly labelled example or demo websites are product demonstrations, not real shops or customer testimonials. Demo labels do not offer a way to bypass publication requirements. DriftLess does not guarantee sales, rankings, traffic, or conversion results.

## Public pages

- https://driftless.chat/
- https://driftless.chat/makers
- https://driftless.chat/features
- https://driftless.chat/gallery
- https://driftless.chat/prompts
- https://driftless.chat/pricing
- https://driftless.chat/docs
- https://driftless.chat/docs/start-here
- https://driftless.chat/docs/start-here/continue-a-draft
- https://driftless.chat/docs/authored-results
- https://driftless.chat/docs/authored-results/edit-your-website-without-code
- https://driftless.chat/docs/authored-results/manage-photos-and-pieces
- https://driftless.chat/docs/publishing-ownership
- https://driftless.chat/docs/publishing-ownership/self-hosted-path
- https://driftless.chat/docs/selling-orders
- https://driftless.chat/docs/selling-orders/sell-through-enquiries
- https://driftless.chat/docs/selling-orders/sell-with-secure-payment-links
- https://driftless.chat/docs/accounts-plans
- https://driftless.chat/docs/accounts-plans/manage-profile-and-security
- https://driftless.chat/docs/accounts-plans/manage-your-plan-and-billing
- https://driftless.chat/docs/accounts-plans/export-or-close-your-account
- https://driftless.chat/docs/trust-privacy
- https://driftless.chat/docs/troubleshooting
- https://driftless.chat/faq
- https://driftless.chat/privacy
- https://driftless.chat/terms
- https://driftless.chat/sitemap.xml

Support: support@driftless.chat