Creating a Custom Template/Style

Alter your site appearance with a custom style, using the Style Manager to edit your elements.

Watch this tutorial as a video

Step 1 - Choose Base Template Style

Click the Paintbrush to enter Style Editing mode. Choose one of the Squarespace templates as a starting point.

NOTE: you are actually creating a custom style based on a pre-built template, not a custom template... in fact, our core templates are actually just styles of the one true Squarespace template that defines the HTML containers as well as the identifiers and classes for each (View the primary template containers - PDF file)

Step 2 - Title your Custom Style

Navigate to the Advanced page in the Appearance Editor, choose "Copy Style" when prompted. Fill in the name and author for your new template so it will be easy to reference later.

Step 3 - Edit Your Templates Styles and Layout

Use the Appearance Editor (Style Editing mode) to customize your new template.

Step 4 - Apply Your Changes

You will need to activate the style to apply all your new changes to your site appearance.

What is saved in my custom template?

Basically, styles are saved, but content is not. Everything you do in the Style Editing mode is saved, but the pages, widgets, and content is not saved. To clarify, the pages, widgets, and content on your site will stay the same no matter what template you choose...so feel free to try out different styles as much as you want without worrying about losing your content.

Can I save a copy of my template on my computer? Can I share them with others?

Yes. Go to the Template page of the Appearance Editor. Find the template you want, then click the "export" link to download an XML file that contains all of your template information.

To upload a saved template (XML file), go to the the template that you made the style for, click the "import style" link under the Template title, then follow the prompts to upload your template style file.