What's the best Squarespace 7.1 template?

The good news is that when Squarespace launched 7.1 they eliminated templates and template families, so there’s no template to choose! All Squarespace 7.1 sites are built on the same template and all Squarespace 7.1 sites offer the same functionalities. In the past, different templates had different features. Not so any more.

For example, my website is built on Squarespace 7.0 using a template from the Brine family. This was considered the most versatile family of templates, offering layout possibilities that other templates didn’t. This is not longer relevant with Squarespace 7.1.

So why does it say Templates at the top of the Squarespace homepage and why does it offer me different templates, such as Lusaka, Pulaski, Pazari etc?

Squarespace tries to make it easier for customers to choose a layout for their new website by offering different layout designs for different types of business. But the underlying template is exactly the same for all of them. They all offer the same layout possibilities, the same ecommerce functionalities, Member Areas and so on. This was not the case with Squarespace 7.0.

So, if you are new to Squarespace, by all means pick one of the ‘templates’ Squarespace offer to get you started with your site, but it really doesn’t matter which one you pick, they can all build the site of your dreams. The only limit is your imagination!

Really, Squarespace can build any kind of website I want?

From a design perspective, pretty much yes. You may need to understand code in order to customise elements that are not native to the platform, but pretty much any design is possible with Squarespace. Just remember, design is often the difference between a professionally-build site and a DIY site. Understanding colours, typography, balance, shapes, white space and other essentials of good design are hard to master. Which is why you’re probably better off putting your Squarespace site in the hands of a professional, especially if your business brand and notoreity is at stake.

One last question, why is your website still on Squarespace 7.0?

My website is still on Squarespace 7.0 because unfortunately the wonderful people at Squarespace didn’t make it easy to transfer a 7.0 site over to a 7.1 site. You see, Squarespace 7.1 is built on an entirely new framework, so switching isn’t so simple. So, I need to start my site again from scratch and I just haven’t found the time to do that. There is a plugin out there (not created by Squarespace) that I understand can help transfer most of my content over, but again I just haven’t found a moment to look into it. I will probably wait until I do a new photo shoot in Spring 2022 to start again on Squarespace 7.1. In the meantime, all my new client sites are built on 7.1 and I am continually updating 7.0 sites for clients whose sites pre-date the new framework and who are not yet ready, like me, to start afresh on 7.1.

So, it is better to switch from Squarespace 7.0 to 7.1?

Not necessarily, it’s up to you. My site is working perfectly well on 7.0 and there’s nothing I want to do that I can’t do. However, given that I like to give my site a bit of an update every 12 or 18 months anyway, I will probably take that opportunity to move to Squarespace 7.1 at that point. 7.1 is where new features are being added all the time and it does have some design functionalities that 7.0 doesn’t. That said, Squarespace will continue to support sites on 7.0 for a long time to come, so I am not worried about things starting to malfunction or for my SEO to be impacted. It’s purely a desire to be up to date with the latest version and new functionalities.

If you are currently on Squarespace 7.0 and are wondering if you should move to Squarespace 7.1, my advice would be to make the move when your site needs a design upgrade and you have the funds/time to invest in that. Or, if your site has less than 10 pages and not many blog posts, then by all means make the switch. Just remember to note all your existing page urls so that you replicate them perfectly on the new site.