how can i shift from Fluid Engine to Classic Editor?

Hate hate hate this. Squarespace user for probably 15 years now. The very reason I use this is because sections are easy. I just finished exhaustively learning and now this serious grade five FE arrives to make everything impossible. Constantly having to switch back to classic is seriously annoying. 

I've been using SquareKicker, which is super simple to adjust layouts easily. Why SS didn't simply buy them out and integrate and bam, we're done: same easy SS layouts and simple tweaking for mobile. 

Honestly I have come to detest SS. Hundred million company and can't provide simply module building upgrades in any real way. Why, for example, did SquareKicker kick SS's ass with a small 5 person team? How did that ever happen? Why do I have to pay them the same amount as SS every month to add little tweaks necessary to a site in 2022? 

The misstep in FE just makes me growl. It's so annoying, and buggy, and ugh....I just can't. 

Does anyone know if you can mix between classic mode sections and FE? 

2 hours ago, crabcakes said:

Does anyone know if you can mix between classic mode sections and FE? 

Yes, you can have both types of page sections! Use a classic section to retain the classic editor features and a Fluid Engine section to use the newer features!

Thank Paul. Strangely for about two hours I am unable to add a classic section (I get the spinning circle) so I'm getting support. 

The rendering on mobile is horrible. Wow. Do we now have to sit on the sidelines for a month until this thing is useable? Not only that but editing is unbelievably slow once you add a FE block. I just can't believe this...I want to leave in frustration. 

I wish I had the answer for how NOT to work in Fluid Engine ever again as well. I have run multiple squarespace sites for years in complete avoidance of wordpress and others because with squarespace I could always count on looking good in any view - desktop, mobile etc. Worked on a page last night that took twice as long as it should have and looked absolutely horrific on mobile because I didn't realize that I have to SETUP BOTH now...I feel like I'm in a wordpress nightmare not the place I've grown to love through the years.

Please let me turn this off and use the classic editor for ALL sites even the new ones because I can't stand it. Also the little upgrade button on every single section has to go away...please....

13 hours ago, crabcakes said:

The rendering on mobile is horrible. Wow. Do we now have to sit on the sidelines for a month until this thing is useable? Not only that but editing is unbelievably slow once you add a FE block. I just can't believe this...I want to leave in frustration. 

Yes! SO SLOW! I thought something was terribly wrong with my computer last night as I was trying to edit and add product to one page only last night. Thought for kicks I'd give the FE a try and literally have never been so frustrated ....I came to squarespace and stayed because it WASN'T frustrating.

Yes and here I am some 15 hours later and I still cannot edit in classic mode, but just get squarespace's spinning ball.  I've lost a day's worth of work and what's amazing is there is no sign of any of these problems in the public forums (perhaps in the circle forums). 

I do hope that we can turn this off. It should be optional for sure. We don't all have the time to fully test this roll out for SP. And that's how the current plan appears. That we are doing the functional testing. 

I also spent a number of hours working with Fluid Engine and find that it removed many of the things previously separated SP from other simple web platforms. I know SP as a feature rich, simple to use platform that would predictably produce reliable results, with enough flexibility to take it to the next level if you had more web skills, while still being a no brainer to hand off or recommend to clients with little to no tech skills to manage. 

Not having to worry about the mobile experience was huge. That is no longer the case. It's time consuming and fussy to get consistent layouts and reproduce things as others have said. All in all it's way more fussy and time consuming to work with without any gains from my perspective as someone comfortable working with CSS. 

Other platforms (WIX) do this far better and begs the question why not use WIX if this is the audience you are now targeting? And yes WIX can be time consuming tweaking all the layouts and fussing with the mobile experience too but they've been doing this kind of user interface for a lot longer and have it sorted out -far better than the current state of FE.

I liked SP because it was different from WIX.  I like WIX for what they've done too -but I chose SP.  I've known people in the SP community wondering if they should change to WP due to other challenges, now this FE rollout might just make their decisions easier. There were definite advantages SP had over WIX, that now appear gone, at least at the drag and drop level of development.  Ugh. Please give us back the classic editor. Please consider keeping that as an option as well so we don't have to babysit the mobile experience on every page, with every edit. It's something I chose over WIX that I know my clients like. And yes I know WIX is not necessarily the only alternative to SP but I mention it here because they have a drag and drop editor, it's biggest thing that separated it from SP in my humble opinion. There are a tonne of alternatives out there -many very good web platforms to choose from. In the fairly fast, flexible (design and function), easy-to-use, reliable, mobile-first category SP had an edge. 

On 7/22/2022 at 4:06 PM, valerie.cline said:

I do hope that we can turn this off. It should be optional for sure. We don't all have the time to fully test this roll out for SP. And that's how the current plan appears. That we are doing the functional testing. 

I also spent a number of hours working with Fluid Engine and find that it removed many of the things previously separated SP from other simple web platforms. I know SP as a feature rich, simple to use platform that would predictably produce reliable results, with enough flexibility to take it to the next level if you had more web skills, while still being a no brainer to hand off or recommend to clients with little to no tech skills to manage. 

Not having to worry about the mobile experience was huge. That is no longer the case. It's time consuming and fussy to get consistent layouts and reproduce things as others have said. All in all it's way more fussy and time consuming to work with without any gains from my perspective as someone comfortable working with CSS. 

Other platforms (WIX) do this far better and begs the question why not use WIX if this is the audience you are now targeting? And yes WIX can be time consuming tweaking all the layouts and fussing with the mobile experience too but they've been doing this kind of user interface for a lot longer and have it sorted out -far better than the current state of FE.

I liked SP because it was different from WIX.  I like WIX for what they've done too -but I chose SP.  I've known people in the SP community wondering if they should change to WP due to other challenges, now this FE rollout might just make their decisions easier. There were definite advantages SP had over WIX, that now appear gone, at least at the drag and drop level of development.  Ugh. Please give us back the classic editor. Please consider keeping that as an option as well so we don't have to babysit the mobile experience on every page, with every edit. It's something I chose over WIX that I know my clients like. And yes I know WIX is not necessarily the only alternative to SP but I mention it here because they have a drag and drop editor, it's biggest thing that separated it from SP in my humble opinion. There are a tonne of alternatives out there -many very good web platforms to choose from. In the fairly fast, flexible (design and function), easy-to-use, reliable, mobile-first category SP had an edge. 

Please submit this in its entirety to Squarespace support ...only if enough do might they listen ... 

On 7/8/2022 at 11:49 AM, Physicsowls said:

@tinabee - I just had the same issue but when I spoke to support found out that you can still use the old editor but it's not obvious at first. When you go to add a  section make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom till you see: The above sections use the new Fluid Engine editor. Looking for sections built with our Classic Editor?

Then click that link and now all the sections will build in the Classic Editor! I was panicking for a while but so grateful this is still an option 🙂 

Ahhh, THANK YOU!

Thank you. Don't know how it's possible that Fluid editor is worse than the old one.

@SquareSpace, turn off the Fluid Engine disaster. What a HORRIBLE release! Whoever came up with this dumb and buggy idiocy needs to be fired.

The grid is way too fussy for the average user to grapple with. I have to hand a site I've just designed over to a client next week and I just know they are going to balk at the fluid engine way of doing things. I could manage it with the classic way of doing things. Add blocks where the line appears is a simple proposition but adding blaocks and then expecting a client to move it around the page is a disaster in the making. It's not all bad,  I like the fact that the mobile design is now seperate from the desktop one but the tablet view is just a dogs dinner. Theres something to the fluid engine approach but it seems a long way off being where it should be at now so should DEFINITELY be optional ( Optional to the point that if its off every module doesn't have an 'Upgrade' prompt too). Just off.

I do not have "circle labs" as a tab in my settings. Where is it? I am beyond frustrated with fluid engine and want out ASAP. The ease of square space is why I pay for it. please someone help me turn this off COMPLETELY. I don't want just the option to "add a classic block", I want it off. Please can someone help me, I don't have a circle labs tab in my settings.

@EmberMischief The 'Circle Labs' feature to which some users have referred is only available to members of the Squarespace Circle. However, you can still add classic sections without this setting, by scrolling down to the end of the list of category types:

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On 7/8/2022 at 5:49 PM, Physicsowls said:

@tinabee - I just had the same issue but when I spoke to support found out that you can still use the old editor but it's not obvious at first. When you go to add a  section make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom till you see: The above sections use the new Fluid Engine editor. Looking for sections built with our Classic Editor?

Then click that link and now all the sections will build in the Classic Editor! I was panicking for a while but so grateful this is still an option 🙂 

thx!!!!

On 7/8/2022 at 11:49 AM, Physicsowls said:

@tinabee - I just had the same issue but when I spoke to support found out that you can still use the old editor but it's not obvious at first. When you go to add a  section make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom till you see: The above sections use the new Fluid Engine editor. Looking for sections built with our Classic Editor?

Then click that link and now all the sections will build in the Classic Editor! I was panicking for a while but so grateful this is still an option 🙂 

This solution creates a NEW section using classic, however the existing section (with weeks of work on it) is still in the Fluid method. The hours I have wasted trying to get back to Classic ....which I have learned is un-doable ....(how absurd).... I will look at a new platform before I remake all my work in classic again.  If it ain't broke DON'T FIX IT!

3 minutes ago, DPike said:

The hours I have wasted trying to get back to Classic ....which I have learned is undoable

Correct. You can convert a Classic section to the newer 'Fluid Engine' editor but it is a one-way switch. You cannot convert a 'Fluid Engine' section back to a Classic section.

You can pass your feedback to Squarespace teams by contacting Squarespace Customer Care (see the forum guidelines - item 6).