Guild Wars 2

Do you get general character XP for WvW actions?

can I split leveling up time between PVE and WvW?

or is it just PVE till 80, then WvW?

Yes, you get exp from killing/help killing invaders and defenders, taking over camps or keeps. Theoretically speaking, you could do WvWvW straight from lvl 1 to 80, but most people start after 30 or so once they have a full skill bar and some decent armors.
You’ll have a hard time in WvWvW with a low level character unless you fully know what you should be doing and following zergs led by smart commanders.

ah thats good to know.

I may just hop into WvW for a change of leveling pace here and there, but I’ll still mostly be PVE until i hit max.

I leveled my last character almost completely in WvW and just keeping up with my personal story. About the only time I did anything else was if I was really hurting for coin or my armor was falling too far behind, but that was very rare on both accounts.

So, yes you can level in WvW mostly. I would suggest to keep up on your storyline for the extra xp/gear and just because no one seems to do it.