Do you love that we now can customize the mobile view in Squarespace Fluid Engine, but it’s also a bit of a pain because content blocks are stacked in the order you added them in desktop view? And generally - as much as we love this feature - it still feels a little unintuitive?
The other day I polled my Instagram audience on topics to blog about and Claire at Delight Design Studio asked: “Can you give us tips for designing in desktop view that require the least futzing in mobile view?”
Great question, Claire! Here are five tips and there is a video above with a walk-through:
1. Remember what can and what cannot be changed.
In mobile view we can change the POSITION, SIZE and ALIGNMENT of content blocks. Do not make changes to the actual content, like reword it, or resize the font, or change the text alignment, this will also change it in desktop view.
2. Add content blocks in the correct order.
Because blocks are stacked in the order that they were added in desktop view, it is worth giving that order some thought before jumping into the design. It will save some time to map it out a bit before adding the blocks.
3. Use the up and down arrows to move blocks in mobile view.
You might already do this automatically but my instinct is still to move the blocks around. I always have to remind myself to use the arrows instead as they make it a lot easier!
4. Use saved sections that are already optimized.
What’s not to love about saved sections? There will be common layouts that you repeat in your designs - optimize them in mobile view and then save them! Next time you want to use this layout simply add the saved section and voila - it’s already mobile optimized.
5. Use text scaling for headlines.
Text scaling is a very nifty feature to ensure that a text block is always on one line. This is useful for headlines and short taglines, it helps avoid weird wrapping or mutliple line breaks in mobile view.
6. Use Classic Editor for Simple Layouts.
If you are a Circle Member you can still add Classic Editor sections - make use of them! They are already mobile optimized and for simpler layouts still worth using.
