TEMPLATES option missing from design menu?

I want to change templates and cannot for the life of me find where that section is.

All official Squarespace guides say that it's under 'Design', but I don't see it anywhere.

Also, why isn't there just a quick search option in the editor platform? Eliminates the need for the user to memorise the structure of the editor. It has terrible UX flow for people looking to make task-oriented changes. 

You are using Squarespace 7.1, the new version of Squarespace that they are currently testing. 

All sites in version 7.1 share the same template so that option isn't available. For more information see:

https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028367571-Version-7-1-style-and-design-options#toc-templates-in-version-7-1

Good  I like this....   QUOTE.."add a new page with starter layout,  and create a new section to change a pages feel"...  the variants are limitless. Thank you 7.1..... and Paul2009

I'm having this same issue. How do I edit my background image when there is no longer an option to do so? 

My website is stuck with the background image from 7.0, and I would like to change it.

So how do you actually change the template then?

I'm having the same template problem. If you have to choose a new design by starting a new trial doesn't that mean you have to pay for another site?

Also, I have a template that I like and selected which is from 7.0 (I am now in 7.1). It is showing up in the dashboard but won't show up to edit under Design, nothing is showing up to edit. ?

The procedure for moving from 7.0 to 7.1 or the other way round  is the same. I would do it this way

1. Spend time looking at the demos of templates until you find the  template you want to use.

2. Start a new two week trial with that template, no payment is needed, and your account log on does not change, you are simply adding a second site on your dashboard. 

3. Build the new site, you have two weeks, and if you know you want to keep it and are not ready to go live at that time, you will still need to activate it with a credit card. Choose your billing plan that fits your needs.  I think You will have the option of a new free domain if you want it at time which can actually be a second one. 

4. When ready to move sites, use the Domain transfer option in the config of the new site. Moving one Squarespace domain to a new site is a pretty quick operation. 

5. New site up and running, cancel the old site, not your account just the site, and at that moment you will receive a credit for any time left on your billing period, be it a month or a year. 

Note during the time you have both sites in your dashboard you have to go to whichever site you want to edit. Your Dashboard will have thumbnails of each site you have with a button that says website on the right. Click it or the thumbnail to get to the edit function. I currently have seven of those six 7.0 and one 7.1 and have no trouble moving from one to the other. 

thank you!

will this be changing again? for me this is definitely a reason to cancel my account... far to complicate for a real successful creative process.... 

I  don't expect any change. 7.0 and 7.1 are very different platforms. Any 7.1 template can be made to look like any other without a master change template switch. You simply use style tweaks, which includes fonts, color schemes,  and layout pages inside your existing site. 

If you miss having the template change feature that is in 7.0 I will tell you that those template families can be so drastically different from each other that the template change function was not something you would necessarily want to use. It could be easier just to start from scratch. 

4 minutes ago, derricksrandomviews said:

Any 7.1 template can be made to look like any other without a master change template switch.

One huge advantage to this change in v7.1 is that if you find a piece of code that has been created for v7.1 it has a much greater chance of working with your site.

Unlike v7.0. I see so many people struggling when they find a piece of code that does x and then it doesn't work because it wasn't designed for their template.

8 minutes ago, creedon said:

One huge advantage to this change in v7.1 is that if you find a piece of code that has been created for v7.1 it has a much greater chance of working with your site.

Unlike v7.0. I see so many people struggling when they find a piece of code that does x and then it doesn't work because it wasn't designed for their template.

Boy,  that is the truth. What works for Avenue won't work for Wexley and vice versa, etc. 

On 1/27/2021 at 3:41 PM, derricksrandomviews said:

I  don't expect any change. 7.0 and 7.1 are very different platforms. Any 7.1 template can be made to look like any other without a master change template switch. You simply use style tweaks, which includes fonts, color schemes,  and layout pages inside your existing site. 

If you miss having the template change feature that is in 7.0 I will tell you that those template families can be so drastically different from each other that the template change function was not something you would necessarily want to use. It could be easier just to start from scratch. 

My only problem with 7.1 is that the mobile view jumbles up the content, AND they do not automatically adjust distance from each other when I add or remove content in between. Desktop version may be looking fine, but once in mobile view, there are often spacing issues, items get placed far below where they should, or images get separated from their associated text, while getting grouped together with other images. I've spent a lot of time reorganizing the mobile version after the desktop version is complete. For this reason alone, I have to switch back to 7.0 (I usually use Brine Template with without any of these problems). Do you think I'm just going about it the wrong way? Or is this the same experience on your end?

It depends on the template and how you organize it.  I had a heck of a time with the first SS website I built using Avenue. I made a blank page and staggered an image to the left and text block to the right (this was before the image card setting) and then the opposite on the next line down. Mobile moved everything around, stacked an image block then two text blocs and then an image block. Mobile couldn't put the blocks side by side so they got stacked just not in a logical order, not to me anyway.  I re-did the page to make both desktop and mobile look logical if not exactly alike. I think you have to realize that regardless of what platform and in the case of 7.0 regardless of which template, you have to be willing to work at it and if necessary make adjustments on your own. Squarespace in my opinion is still the most intuitive platform on which to build a good looking site out there, and I have used a bunch of them in my years when I was  a network business owner, from using Microsoft Publisher for an online newsletter and various platforms as a website builder. And that being said I think the Brine Family of templates is still over all the  best Squarespace has to offer. I have built a number of sites on Brine and they look current, after all, that is the template family that inspired the look of 7.1 to begin with. 

I've been having this exact problem but I paid for a yearly subscription so what do you mean that I cannot change the template now and there's only one? I was told I could easily change the template any time I want by someone back in 2020 who made a course I did showing how to build a website on squarespace. If I knew this was the case I wouldn't have paid $300 for a subscription??

What am I supposed to do now? I don't want the template I have 

This is discouraging. There's barely anything I can change with the "site styles". 

On 1/12/2021 at 8:48 PM, derricksrandomviews said:

5. New site up and running, cancel the old site, not your account just the site, and at that moment you will receive a credit for any time left on your billing period, be it a month or a year. 

The Squarespace website states that there are no refunds after 14 days. Yet your comment says otherwise Derrick.

1 hour ago, Mizu21 said:

The Squarespace website states that there are no refunds after 14 days.

This is correct but, if you are upgrading from a 7.0 website to a 7.1 website, you should be eligible for a proportional refund on the 7.0 site (at the time of writing).

When you've paid for your 7.1 site and cancelled billing on your old 7.0 site, use this form to request a refund. 

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I am appalled that Squarespace is (or at least seems to be) so complicated. I used to use Blogspot in 2007 and there was no need to take a training course. You just played with it and taught yourself. I have avoided using Word Press because I read that it is a higher learning curve than SS. Really? I chose SS because I am a non-techie, a *writer and photographer* with a camera on automatic! I write. I am not interested in fancy website design. But I have to be in control of content, not giving it up to Google. Just give me something barebones enough to start a basic text-based website without a lot of bell and whistles.

I have a free two-week trial and can't figure out the most basic thing such as how to add a photo or change the template. Now I see that it is impossible to change templates at this stage. Maybe it is impossible to add a photo too. Blogger never made it so difficult. Now, it is true that I am almost 70 and have zero talent or interest in computers beyond it being a fancy word processor and layout assistant for a limited number of design options. But this is ridiculous. My  associate tells me that SS changed some fundamental and it totally fouled up her business website. My guess is it was the change from 7.0 to 7.1.

Is there a way to chose 7.0 instead? I don't like being part of an experiment. Please return to what has stood the test of time.

19 minutes ago, HermesPan said:

I am appalled that Squarespace is (or at least seems to be) so complicated. I used to use Blogspot in 2007 and there was no need to take a training course. You just played with it and taught yourself. I have avoided using Word Press because I read that it is a higher learning curve than SS. Really? I chose SS because I am a non-techie, a *writer and photographer* with a camera on automatic! I write. I am not interested in fancy website design. But I have to be in control of content, not giving it up to Google. Just give me something barebones enough to start a basic text-based website without a lot of bell and whistles.

I have a free two-week trial and can't figure out the most basic thing such as how to add a photo or change the template. Now I see that it is impossible to change templates at this stage. Maybe it is impossible to add a photo too. Blogger never made it so difficult. Now, it is true that I am almost 70 and have zero talent or interest in computers beyond it being a fancy word processor and layout assistant for a limited number of design options. But this is ridiculous. My  associate tells me that SS changed some fundamental and it totally fouled up her business website. My guess is it was the change from 7.0 to 7.1.

Is there a way to chose 7.0 instead? I don't like being part of an experiment. Please return to what has stood the test of time.

You can start a new trial site on a 7.0 template by going to this link https://www.squarespace.com/templates/browse/v7