Building a website is a fun and exciting period for most small business owners. Taking your ideas and values and publishing can be a thrill. When you design a Squarespace website, this is no different so it can be disappointing when you’ve spent hours creating a website and you notice that visitors aren’t seeing the same Squarespace template that you’ve been working on.
What causes this and how can you fix it?
The Template System
Squarespace works on a template system where you have to install a template, then make basic changes to the website’s look and style within a preview area before you publish the website to the public. If you’ve got a different look or style than your public website, then it is more than likely that you’ve not set the template you’re working on to live.
The difference between live and preview is easy. Live is what the public can see, preview is the development mode of your website.
You can set the template as live by accessing your website and then clicking on the ‘Set as Live Template’. This can be found in the bottom-right corner of any page of your website when you’ve logged in.
How can I Tell if Squarespace Template is Using Preview
If you’re not sure whether or not your Squarespace website is in Preview mode or live mode. Then there are two options. You can log into your Squarespace website and see if the option exists to make the website live (easy option). However, if you don’t trust that, then you can also access your website from another device without logging into your website.
If you would like customers to see the template that they can currently see and don’t like the new template, then you can always cancel the preview site. This is done by clicking on the ‘Cancel Preview’ that can be found on any page when you’re logged into the website.
What About Other Contributors
If you’re working as part of a team, they will have the same problems as your customers. They will see the live template and not the preview. However, if they log in and click on the Templates section and then the preview button of the template you’re working on, they will be taken to the preview of the template. On this screen, all the changes that you’ve made will be visible too.
Final Word: Why Do Visitors See a Different Squarespace Template Than I See?
Visitors will see a different Squarespace template than you because you’ve not made the new template live yet. As soon as you make the template live, everyone will see the same website design.