Why is it so hard to create a simple image carousel?

As per the title, I'm curious as to why simple image carousels are so difficult to make in 7.1. There are many times where I want to add one alongside some text blocks to make my page more dynamic, but there is no way to just simply upload a series of images and create one. Instead, it seems one has to create a Summary block which only allows carousels that point to other sections of your website, then create a separate non-linked blog page hosting those images, which THEN requires some code to not have the carousel be clickable so as not to navigate guests towards those non-linked blog pages? 

WHY can I not just create a simple carousel of images? 

The above method I described was derived from this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oCMV3FsIuk&ab_channel=RebeccaGraceDesigns-SquarespaceCodingExpert

As a beginner I would have had no idea how to get that carousel to work that way if not for this tutorial. But more frustratingly, I can't fathom why the Summary carousel option can't just allow for a regular series of images to be uploaded directly to it?   

I'm not sure I understood the obstacle exactly. But if you want an image gallery in the "Carousel" format next to the text blocks and upload pictures directly there, you can do it by adding a gallery block next to the text block and selecting the desired format under the Design.

Quote

If you want a slideshow in a section you choose section gallery and the option reel. You don't need to have those images click thru, that is an option. A gallery block in a blog on on a page or in a section can auto change the images. The video covers a lot of different options but the gallery block with the carousel is simple to add just about anywhere in your site. 

Gallery blocks are unfortunately not supported for portfolio sub-pages, which is what I'm trying to add the carousel to. Per the gallery block support page: 

https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206543407-Gallery-blocks

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You can add gallery blocks to areas of your site where gallery sections aren't supported, including:

• Blog posts
• Individual events
• Product items' Additional Info

It's not possible to add gallery blocks to any area with page sections, including:

• Layout pages
• Collection landing pages (blog pages, events pages, portfolio pages, store pages)
• Portfolio sub-pages
• Footers

 

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I have to assume it's some backend restriction, otherwise I cannot understand why image carousels would not be available to someone trying to create a nice visual portfolio of work. Again there is a workout but it requires making a "Summary" block carousel which can only point to other sections of your site. 

@derricksrandomviews appreciate the advice but unfortunately gallery sections are too clunky for the visual layout I'm aiming for. I'm looking for a carousel that can fit directly into an existing section, as demonstrated by the video's "Testimonial Carousel" example. Gallery sections are too much of a separate entity and make the images disjointed from the text I'm trying to connect it to. It's like when you're making a slideshow deck; I don't want the text and images on separate slides, I want them on the same slide to convey a specific narrative. 

Per my above post it seems gallery blocks are not supported on portfolio sub-pages, which then requires a roundabout solution like the "Testimonial Carousel" way. It's just so unintuitive that I was wondering why it had to be that way. 

You can create a blog in your unlinked section, use the content in a summay block placed where you want it, set it for carousel then the images and text will be in the same item, disable read more in summary block settings and use this code to disable the click-thru to the blog. Put this in the header of the blog unless it it the only summary block you will be using then it can go into custom css. 

<style>
  .summary-thumbnail-container { pointer-events: none !important; }
</style>

Much appreciated, and yes this seems to be the only way to do so in non-gallery block pages. Still quite an unintuitive solution as opposed to dropping in a gallery block and uploading images directly. Here's hoping someone on the dev team is working on this. 

On 2/2/2023 at 9:02 AM, nparkdesigns said:

I'm curious as to why simple image carousels are so difficult to make in 7.1.

To explain, this is because when Squarespace added Gallery Sections to Squarespace 7.1, they removed the Gallery Blocks from sections. 

The confusion in this thread is because although Gallery Blocks are not in General Availability (GA) to all users yet, some users do have them.

I don't have a timeline for GA but, if this is important to you, there is a third party plugin available called Squarespace Admin UI Tweaks that will should allow you to add Gallery Blocks to sections.

I hope this helps to explain. I do recommend raising the limitation with Squarespace Customer Care directly as this can sometimes speed things along.

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@paul2009 thanks for clarifying. I did bring up the issue with someone on a live chat session, but who knows if/when the issue will actually make it to someone on the dev team. Perhaps I can email someone to get Gallery Block access sooner rather than later. 

Last update to this post - after emailing the support team, they confirmed what we already know that Gallery Blocks are not allowed on certain pages like portfolio sub-pages. 

The final kicker, though, is that they told me "Circle members can add gallery blocks to all content areas in 7.1. This is one of the benefits to being a Circle Member." So this functionality exists AND is capable on 7.1....but only if you're a superuser. I am not interested, especially after how frustrating it was to format my portfolio properly, in becoming a Circle Member. Ironically, not having access to tiny features like this is making me look elsewhere for a website builder once my subscription is up. Disappointing all around.