New Website

I've switched my website host and Content Management System (CMS) again, but I think I'll be at this new one (Squarespace) for a while.  Why, you ask?

Because this is the nicest website building and management system I've seen yet.  The host and the CMS are combined.  I don't have to find a host (a computer out there on the Internet where you store files) and then choose a CMS (like Joomla, Drupal or WordPress) and install it on the host.  The host and the CMS are all bundled together in one tight-knit package.

I don't have to worry about keeping the CMS up-to-date; that just happens in the background.  That alone is an enormous relief, because I hate wasting time playing webserver monkey when all I really want to do is put stuff on my website.

Squarespace is a lot like a web-based blog provider (like Wordpress.com), except they understand that I want more than a blog, and I may even want my homepage to be a static page.  Imagine that!  If you want a static page on the homepage of your Wordpress blog, you need to use black magic.  On Squarespace, it's just an option.

Squarespace comes with lots of modules besides blogs and static pages.  Things like photo galleries, link lists, email forms and message boards are easy to add.

The content of the site is also clearly separated from the architecture and the style/appearance.  It's trivial to move stuff around on the sidebar, and it's also trivial to change the style.  There are lots of very well-made styles to choose from, and you can also edit them if you like. 

I'm also really impressed by the overall design of the user experience.  Squarespace looks and feels professional.  The built-in traffic statistics pages look gorgeous.  When was the last time you heard anyone say that?

Lastly, the customer service:  I sent in a support ticket and got a reply in less than a day!

 In summary, I'm very happy with SquareSpace.