img src='http://rss.buysellads.com/img.php?z=1259904k=f7b7931ec28da9e4ff2580bfd4eddb18a=20181c=785534819' border='0' alt='' //a/pbr /pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Icon.png" alt="" title="Icon" width="183" height="182" class="alignright size-full wp-image-20184" //p
pIf you#8217;ve ever needed to a href="http://www.squarespace.com/"build a website/a on a quick deadline, then you know how difficult it is to make one from scratch. If you#8217;re anything like me and don#8217;t keep your web design skills sharp, or you don#8217;t have a web design background at all, then you#8217;ll be scrambling for help./p
pFortunately, there are systems that take much of the workload off your hands. Every content management system (CMS) has a different feel. Some features work great for a particular audience, while those same features aren#8217;t the right fit for other users./p
pIf you#8217;re a developer, then you might work with Ruby on Rails, WordPress, or custom roll your own CMS, but for those of us that are less code savvy Squarespace offers a solution that allows us to create a website without having to fiddle with CSS or databases. You can get your website launched in a hurry with Squarespace, with professional results, and a quality design. For those with web design chops, you can customize Squarespace quite a bit. Let#8217;s take a closer look./p
pemJump down to the bottom of this post for the Squarespace giveaway. One of three winners will grab a full year of their Business class service for free (a $432 value for each winner)./em/p
pspan id="more-20181"/span/p
h3Using Squarespace to Build a Presentation Site/h3
pUsing Squarespace I built a small site to promote a recent presentation I did for International Freelancers Day called #8220;a href="http://freelanceswitch.squarespace.com/"How to Profitably Grow Beyond a Business of One/a#8220;. It was originally released as only a video presentation. I thought it would be nice to present the original video, but also put up the notes from the talk as linked pages. Each page flows through the presentation giving another view into the content./p
pemI got to know Squarspace#8217;s system well while making this site./em/p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/presentation-site.png" alt="" title="presentation-site" width="550" height="418" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20187" //p
h3So How Does Squarespace Work?/h3
pa href="http://www.squarespace.com/"Squarespace/a is made of easy to use components. Let#8217;s take a look at how to build a simple site, which will give us a good feel for this content management system./p
pIt#8217;s good to plan your site before getting started. You might want to sketch a wireframe. For a simple site like the one I built, I didn#8217;t bother with opening up Photoshop. Ideally, your content is ready to go before you start building as well./p
h4Getting Familiar with Squarespace amp; Basic Settings/h4
pIf you#8217;re the type of person that just wants to jump into a new system, then Squarespace is really made for you. It#8217;s easy to just dive in and play with it to get a feel for how the main features work./p
pI#8217;m one of those people who actually pulls out the manual when I get a new technology toy though. When I got my Wii I actually read the manual before firing it up. If you#8217;re like me, then it#8217;s worthwhile to watch a few of the a href="http://help.squarespace.com/customer/portal/articles/14410-squarespace-platform-overview-video-"beginner videos/a Squarespace has to offer, which I did as preparation before I dug in./p
pOne of the first areas to get familiar with is Squarespace#8217;s backend. Under Structure click on Website Settings. Here you can set the site#8217;s Title, Site Subtitle, and the Footer info./p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/website-settings.png" alt="" title="website-settings" width="550" height="492" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20190" //p
h4Using Squarespace Templates/h4
pAt this point I was really excited to start working with Squarespace. A big feature of this system is how easily you can get a well designed site set up. So it was time to check out their templates./p
pWhen logged into Squarespace, you#8217;ll see that the user interface runs along the top. You can click on Style to open up the Appearance Editor. It#8217;s super easy to scroll through themes, click on them, and test out how they look. I settled on Blueprint for the template to use for this site./p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/themes.png" alt="" title="themes" width="550" height="384" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20191" //p
pThere are multiple options in the Appearance Editor. One option is to copy a template, so that you can have your own template to customize. I named mine #8220;switch.#8221;/p
pNow jump over to the Banner amp; Navigation tab. Here you can set the column option that fits this template, as well as the navigation style. For this site I set it up as two columns, with the sidebar on the right side. I kept the navigation to one level, as this is a small site. I placed the navigation in the sidebar./p
pemNote: One option I didn#8217;t use for this site was adding a Banner image, but you can do this here./em/p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/columns.png" alt="" title="columns" width="550" height="203" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20192" //p
pNow jump over to the Fonts, Colors amp; Sizes tab. Here you can easily adjust numerous parameters of various elements without needing to know any CSS. I made some changes to the Heading color, font, and style, as well as a few other minor adjustments here. It#8217;s as simple as clicking a few buttons./p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fonts.png" alt="" title="fonts" width="550" height="203" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20193" //p
pThere is quite a bit you can do without needing to know CSS, but if you are a web designer, then you can make use of the Custom CSS tab. I used it to make a few minor style adjustments to add a bold look to emphasized text, as well as change the horizontal rule style./p
pemNote: While I made minor use of the Custom CSS tab, there really is no limit to using this./em/p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/custom-css.png" alt="" title="custom-css" width="550" height="240" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20194" //p
pNow let#8217;s look at how to structure your site and add content into Squarespace./p
h4Site Architecture/h4
pClick on Website Management in the top left of the Squarespace nav. This will bring up the configuration options. Now choose Architecture, which is where you can plan the structure of your site./p
pI added the various pages of the presentation here. It#8217;s as simple as clicking on Add Page and then choosing the HTML component. These settings are really straightforward to set up./p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/architecture.png" alt="" title="architecture" width="550" height="399" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20196" //p
pWith the main pages set up, we can now add in content. Let#8217;s take a look at how easy it is to do that./p
h4Adding Content/h4
pFrom the Architecture section you can click Sidebar 1 gt; Presentation Links gt; strongBeam Up Your Crew/strong, to go to that page. Once there click on the Edit Page link (located at the top of your content)./p
pThis brings up a content editor. You can use the WYSIWYG editor (shown below), RAW HTML (which I prefer), as well as a couple more options./p
pYou can enter text as you would in any document editor (like Microsoft Word)./p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/wysiwyg.png" alt="" title="wysiwyg" width="550" height="367" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20197" //p
pIt#8217;s easy to add images here as well, just by clicking on the little icon that looks like an image. From there you can easily upload, resize, set alignment, add links, and place the image into your page./p
pLet#8217;s take a look at adding video. A main feature of our Home page is a video. Let#8217;s jump over there and hit the Edit Page button, bringing up that page#8217;s Content Editor./p
pFirst grab the Embed code from the video you want to place there. If you#8217;re using a YouTube video, you can find the Embed code after clicking Share, which is located below the video on YouTube. With this code copied, jump into the page you want to insert the video./p
pNow click Edit Page to open up the WYSIWYG editor. Click the place where you want to insert the video, then click the video icon, and paste the code into the Insert Video field (as shown below). Click Save amp; Close and your all set. It#8217;s that simple./p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/video-insert.png" alt="" title="video-insert" width="550" height="387" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20198" //p
h4Using the HTML Widget/h4
pWe#8217;ve covered most of the basics of this site build. You can of course customize a site much further with Squarespace. I found it helpful to use the HTML Widget./p
pYou can use it to insert code into any section of your site. I used it to insert a branded image for FreelanceSwitch into the sidebar. You can control what pages it shows up on easily. I set it to show up on all pages. I also turned on the Powered by Squarespace widget as well. Both of these are controlled in the Architecture section./p
pTo add content to this go to any page you want it to show on, make sure you#8217;ve selected Content in the top right Squarespace Navigation panel, and hit Edit Widget HTML. You can add HTML here as shown. It#8217;s the same window that we use for editing content./p
pimg src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/html-widget.png" alt="" title="html-widget" width="550" height="391" class="aligncenter imageborder size-full wp-image-20199" //p
h3Squarespace Features/h3
pI only touched on a few of the possibilities you can use Squarespace to build a site with. Here are a some additional features:/p
ul
liMany more widgets. You can use widgets to add features to your site, such as: social buttons, site search, blogging, and more building blocks./li
liThere is an advanced Code Injection feature to further customize your site./li
liForm Building amp; Data Collection features./li
liCloud Hosting of your site./li
liSquarespace Mobile, a href="http://iphone.appstorm.net/reviews/internet-reviews/squarespace-the-easy-way-to-blog/"iPhone/a and iPad Apps./li
liAbility to add a custom domain name./li
liAdvanced Statistic Tracking./li
liGalleries and Slideshows to a href="http://www.squarespace.com/photography"create a photography website/a or design portfolio./li
/ul
h3My Experience with Squarespace/h3
pMy experience with using Squarespace was great. It#8217;s really easy to use and ideal for building a site like the one I set up. I found the interface intuitive and the system got the job done quickly./p
pI do have a couple small gripes, and of course I didn#8217;t have the chance to use every feature of Squarespace./p
pAs Editor of FreelanceSwitch, I work in the backend of WordPress everyday. The Content Editor in Squarespace has similar functionality, but I like the size of the text in the backend of WordPress a bit better./p
pAnother small issue was found in the Blueprint theme. The strongSTRONG/strong HTML tag didn#8217;t have a font weight of bold in that default theme. So it#8217;s something that I had to add in the Custom CSS area. I#8217;m sure they#8217;ll fix this minor issue with that theme in the near future. I didn#8217;t notice any other small CSS issues though./p
pemOverall, Squarespace is a fun system to work with, which is rare to say about a CMS./em/p
h3What are the Downsides?/h3
pAs with anything, there are some drawbacks to using Squarespace. The two main things that I could see are that:/p
ul
listrongYou#8217;ll need to find some other email solution/strong #8211; While most web hosts will create an email and hosting package for you, when you are setting the site up with Squarespace, you are going to have to sort out email some other way. Gmail is a great solution for email though. It#8217;s what we use here at Envato./li
listrongThere#8217;s no FTP/strong #8211; The lack of FTP isn#8217;t horrible. Their browser file uploader works well. But for those times when you want to upload multiple files at once FTP would be nice to have./li
/ul
h3Is Squarespace Right for You?/h3
pIf you#8217;re setting up your freelance business site, putting together a client presentation, or a similar site, then I can confidently recommend Squarespace to you. If you have little coding skills, then it#8217;s a very helpful system for building a site./p
pIf you#8217;re an experienced developer, then Squarespace isn#8217;t aimed at you. While it does have the ability to tap into its structure and CSS, it doesn#8217;t have its database open to developers. It#8217;s a tradeoff really. Every CMS has a different focus and market. Squarespace is made to be easy to work with. Removing complicated options makes it easier for non-code savvy users to get up and running with the system./p
pIf you#8217;re more of a designer with some web chops like me, but don#8217;t have the time to spend ages customizing a site, then Squarespace is a good option to have in your arsenal for building client sites, or to use on your own promotional site. The time you#8217;ll save working in Squarespace is well worth its cost./p
pYou can try the system yourself with a a href="http://www.squarespace.com/pricing/"14 day free trial/a. Also, be sure to see the giveaway below, which gives you a chance to win a full year of Squarespace for free./p
h3Squarespace Giveaway Details/h3
pNow for the details of the a href="http://www.squarespace.com/"Squarespace/a giveaway. One of three winners will grab a full year of their Business class service for free (a $432 value for each winner)./p
h4How to Enter/h4
ul
liTo enter sign up for a free 14 day trial./li
liCreate a website with Sqaurespace./li
liPlace a link to your site in the comments below./li
/ul
pa href="http://www.squarespace.com/?channel=pamp;subchannel=freelanceswitch" style="margin:20px;"img src="http://freelanceswitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/get-started.png" alt="" title="get-started" width="257" height="44" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-20259" //a/p
pemWe#8217;ll be choosing winners based on merit. There is no limit to the type of site you can create. If you haven#8217;t built a site for your freelance business yet, this is an excellent time to do that. Wow us with your creativity! strongThe deadline to enter is Tuesday, November 8th 2011 before Midnight EST/strong. We#8217;ll update this post with the three winners#8217; information the week after the deadline./em/p
h4Terms and Conditions/h4
ul
liThis competition is not open to Envato or Squarespace employees./li
liEntries are accepted worldwide./li
liIf you do not respond within 7 days to a notification that you have won a prize, we reserve the right to select another winner./li
/ul
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