Squarespace: 3 Shortcuts You NEED for Fluid Engine!
Image Source: Unsplash
Have you had a chance to use Squarespace’s fluid engine yet?
Give it a try. You’ll likely find it more intuitive, streamlined, and navigable than Squarespace’s standard tools.
We at Launch Happy love fluid engine, and to help you get started, we’re providing you with three great shortcuts that will make using this tool so much easier for you.
Table of Contents in Detail Hide
Shortcut 1: Navigate to Edit Site
When you’re designing different sections of a page, this shortcut is going to be very useful. You can try it right now with a sample test page.
Click into Edit.
Hop into your test page.
Verify that you’re in the fluid engine editor.
If you are, you should see an Add Block button on the top left.
Now that you’ve navigated into fluid engine to edit the site, you can select elements (like images) and easily modify them using the next shortcuts.
Shortcut 2: Cursor Keys + Command/Ctrl
When you select an image or any other element in fluid engine, you can easily move it around using the arrow cursor keys. I love this shortcut because it saves a lot of time.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
Using the arrows natively moves the image or item around on the page.
Pressing the Command or Control key (CTRL) changes how the arrow cursor keys react.
Pressing CTRL and the up arrow at the same time will make your image smaller.
Pressing CTRL and the down arrow at the same time will make your image larger.
CTRL and right arrow make the image bigger.
CTRL and left arrow make the image smaller.
This ability to combine cursor keys with the Command/CTRL button is a cool feature that gives you full control to streamline your design process.
You can easily adjust per square on the grid.
This feature of Squarespace’s fluid engine update is really useful if you want to adjust things for pixel perfection!
Image Source: Unsplash
Shortcut 3: Shift + Cursor Up and Down
Just like the CTRL key modifies the functionality of the arrow keys, so does the SHIFT key when used with the up and down arrows.
Combining the Shift key with either the up or down arrow key enables you to move between layers of a block.
Using these key combinations, you can go up layers or back layers, making it much easier for you to organize your content, especially when you’re adding sections.
If you already know other shortcuts, give them a try in fluid engine using your test page. Some shortcuts that I’ve found work are:
Command or CTRL Shift E performs center justification of the text in a block.
Using Command or CTRL with option 3, 4, 5, or 6 will change the font size of the text in a block.
Knowing shortcuts like these and many others in Squarespace will make your development process so much smoother and easier to manage.
BONUS Shortcut: Selecting Multiple Elements
Have you ever wished you could click and drag a whole group of items on a page?
With fluid engine, you can!
In fluid engine, you can select multiple elements (like images) and drag them around as a group.
It’s really easy to click and drag to select a bunch of items and move them. If you need to add a little space on part of your page, or you want to shift your layout slightly, you’ll find this to be a useful feature. Instead of moving one item at a time, you can move them all at once.
Want To Learn More About Squarespace Fluid Engine?
If the thought of streamlining your design process is exciting but you don’t know a thing about fluid engine, Squarespace offers plenty of information to support developers, from experienced designers to newbie or part-time site builders.
If you’re still scratching your head wondering what fluid engine is, let me share a couple of things with you here to help clear up what exactly it’s all about.
The simplest way to describe fluid engine is as a drag-and-drop website editor. This method makes it easier for people of all skill levels to build Squarespace sites.
To familiarize yourself with this tool, you can watch the video Squarespace provides to take the mystery out of fluid engine.
Need Extra Help?
Launch Happy is always ready to help emerging Squarespace developers get up to speed quickly on this powerful platform. Whether you need design tips or want some SEO help, we’re here to deliver. Check out these resources:
Fluid engine starter kit to help you understand everything about this great Squarespace update
SEO starter kit to help you grow your organic traffic
Free monthly newsletter with insider info
Our helpful Squarespace SEO audit tool that gives you actionable steps to improve your site (it’s free)
This is just a sampling of the resources we make available to developers like you.
We have so many other resources on our website, and we publish new material every month, so be sure to check back often to see what’s new. From plugins to free downloadables, you’ll find what you need at our Launch Happy site. Check us out today.
