Last week, we took a look at what’s new with Squarespace 7.1. Check that out here, if you haven’t already.

My conclusion is that while 7.1 has a few areas with updated interfaces (and will not let you import or export content!), we can consider 7.1 to be a sort of new template.

First, you can no longer export your content in 7.1, if you’d like to move your site elsewhere. (Or move it even back to Squarespace 7.0 or just take it offline.) Of course you can copy and paste and download all of your content, but for anyone with a blog or products or many pages, this would be time-consuming. If this is a concern or you feel weird about not being able to quickly access all of your content, you need a 7.0 template. Here’s the link to the templates and a link to my guide on how to choose the right one.

If you don’t mind not being able to export your content, you may still want to choose a Squarespace 7.0 template. Not every feature that you want may be included in the new version. (Or you’ll need to be prepared to use some custom code or hire a designer to make these adjustments.)

You won’t find these in the 7.1 template

Parallax scrolling

Brine is still the only template family with parallax scrolling. See parallax in motion here. If you want that effect, you won’t find it in 7.1.

cover pages

Cover pages are such an easy way to make a page that has a different layout from the rest of your website, to perhaps collect emails or promote an event, or to create a special home page. They aren’t included in 7.1.

The slide gallery

There aren’t gallery pages in Squarespace 7.1, but the new gallery sections are really great, and they can be designed to look like all of the previous gallery pages, except the slide gallery.

Blog sidebars and whole website sidebars

If you want your blog to have a sidebar (which is really common, and useful) you need to pick a template from one of these Squarespace 7.0 families: Avenue, Bedford, Five, Forte, Galapagos, Ishimoto, Montauk, Skye, Wells, or Wexley. Five, Supply and Wells have sidebars through the website.

right-aligned logos

There is no way (without custom code) to place your logo on the right side of your header in 7.1.

This could be a problem, depending on your audience. We tend to place the greatest importance on information that is where we start reading a page. People who grew up with languages that read left from right tend to look first at the top left hand corner of a website. This is why most websites from countries with left-to-right languages place the logo on the left. If your audience reads from right to left, you may want to consider this.

Styling by button size

Unlike earlier templates, 7.1 won’t allow you to style each size of your buttons separately. (Again, this can be changed using some CSS.) This may not be a dealbreaker for you, but maybe it is. I don’t know your life. I do find it useful to style buttons differently for different uses (like to download a PDF or to travel to a different page.) I’m not sure why this feature was removed.

A handy template tool

I’ve put together a set of easy-to-follow charts that show which template has which features, including the 7.1 template. Sign up for my newsletter for your free download!

What’s Missing in Squarespace 7.1

By Nicole Bemboom