Switching to Squarespace 6
I've had Sketchbook B with Squarespace since 2008. Over time, the service has improved and expanded -- adding and improving services continually. With the rollout of version 6, Squarespace unleashed a completely new system radically different than version 5.
At first, I wasn't in love with version 6. Yes, it was pretty and powerful, but I found it too difficult to modify the standard templates and it was too much of a departure from version 5. I kept Sketchbook B on Squarespace 5.
But over time, new templates were added and I started to see the benefits of switching to version 6. I decided to move the site over.
The new Sketchbook B site is based on Squarespace's "Five" template. I'm planning on adding a different header picture for each page and make some other adjustments, but I'm happy with how it looks. And I wanted to go ahead and flip the switch to Squarespace 6.
A couple of notes about Squarespace 6:
Easy import. Importing my older site was simple. Squarespace allows you to import a version 5 site and even keeps the URLs the same. My portfolio page didn't convert well, but I didn't have to completely start over. I did choose to rebuild some sections of my site to take advantage of some Squarespace 6 features.
Squarespace 6 also lets you import Wordpress, Tumblr and more. I can't vouch for how good those imports are, though.
Social. Squarespace 6 has great integration with social channels like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram and more.
Responsive. The site looks good on a computer, tablet or smartphone with no additional modification required.
Powerful. Squarespace 6 is powerful without being overly complicated. I wouldn't go so far as to call it intuitive though. It took me a little while to figure things out. But once I did, I was impressed with what the platform could do. And Squarespace offers great help and tutorials.
Worth the money. Squarespace isn't free. I have lots of people ask why I pay for Squarespace when I could get other solutions for free. But Squarespace gives me the power and flexibility I need at a reasonable cost of either $10 or $20 per month depending on your plan. If I was just blogging, maybe a solution like Tumblr or Wordpress might work. (In fact, Wanted in Columbia and Music Recycled are hosted with Tumblr.) But with the blog, font downloads and portfolio, Squarespace is a perfect solution for me.
Mobile Apps. Squarespace has a great mobile app for updating your site. But they also recently added a Note app that allows you to quick post to Squarespace and a bunch of other services. And they offer a portfolio app that takes your galleries and makes them a mobile portfolio on your iPhone or iPad.
Rough Edges. There are some rough edges. I've had some minor issues. Most of my issues are part of the learning curve for a new system. However, I watched Squarespace continually improve version 4 and 5 and I know they will continue to polish and improve version 6.