Squarespace vs BootJetKickstrap

  • Started
  • Last post
  • 11 Responses
  • MrAbominable

    i am not a programmer. i'm not opposed to learning some programming but i'm it's not going to happen overnight. that said, i need to hack out some chimp simple web work... holding page, gallery and some sort of blog.

    a few friends swear by Squarespace. To me, non programmer, it looks like a slightly simpler 'strap. But with the caveat that it's paid. And it appears to me to be entirely proprietary.

    Will somebody with some greater experience and much more savvy better inform me on either side of this debate? If i create a Sqspce site for somebody else, am i committing them to a life of monthly fees? Must their site live on the Sqspce server?

    Thankful for any help. And bracing for the ire of the programing community.

  • MrAbominable0

    "i'm it's" grr. wish i could self-edit.

  • n8w0

    Squarespace if very simple to use and customizable with a little know how. If you want to focus on your art and not learn programming I would recommend them.

    I created this site on squarespace in about 45 minutes
    http://www.alexanderblue.com/

    You do have to pay, but you get what you pay for and your website is one of your best marketing tools so I think investing in it is well worth the price.

    If you want to learn a little programming that can go a long way I would start with lynda.com or http://www.codecademy.com/

    • compelling that you can crank that out in 45 mins!MrAbominable
    • Yo, n8w great work mate,
      love your art
      GeorgesIV
  • Fax_Benson0

    I've just redesigned a squarespace template for a client who already had a site on it. It's nice as an easy cms solution, and the templates are relatively well laid out. Making significant changes and / or adding to the basic structure is a bit of a ball-ache, though. Unless you use the full developer mode, in which case you might as well create and charge for something custom.

    There's no way to opt out of the monthly fee, as far as I'm aware.

  • d_rek0

    My thoughts on Squarespace:

    Pros
    -Pretty inclusive with site hosting, theme library, etc.
    -Pretty straightforward and easy to use and less intimidating admin dashboard than say wordpress
    -Requires less maintenance on your part in terms of updates, coding, etc.
    -You probably wont monkey with any code
    -Perfect for people with a little extra monthly budget, little to no time to do any custom coding or installs, or don't want to learn to code anything

    Cons
    -Can be inclusive to the point of being restrictive
    -Templates and themes are not easy to edit - as a matter of fact you need to apply for developer privileges to edit themes
    -Editing the templates has a learning curve, as it's all built around a proprietary templating system
    -Tied to monthly payments system

    I can't remember offhand if you have to used squarespace's hosting servers. I think you have to pay extra if you want to host your site on your own personal server, but I could be wrong about that. Either way it requires extra effort to do so.

    I'm not quite sure what your'e asking about BootJetKickstrap - do you just mean Bootstrap? It's kind of an apples-to-oranges comparison you're making here.

    • i'll have to source that hosting issue. seems like a hidden charge/cost.MrAbominable
  • MrAbominable0

    Yes, Bootstrap / Jetstrap / Kickstrap. I get that they don't do the same thing. But my understanding of Bootstrap and it's non-affiliated affiliates is that they are a gridded template based cms that had gui editing (at least Jetstrap does). And it seemed to me that it is a less spoonfed version of Squarespace. I am probably entirely wrong about that. But that's part of the initial question. Is Bootstrap something else that i'm missing or is it essentially a bare bones version of Squarespace.

    Thanks all for the feedback.

    Am i correct with regard to Squarespace that if you stop paying that you lose the site... not just editing privileges? eg. you make a site for somebody else and they are paying mo for life. or are they only having to pay every time they want to make edits to it?

    Again, thanks all for the feedback. It's helping me to wrap my head around things.

    • Bootstrap isn't a CMS. It's just a set of tools to make site development easier.hereswhatidid
  • d_rek0

    Bootstrap is a front-end framework. It's entirely up to you how you implement that framework. Using boostrap will inherently require a lot of up-front knowledge and know-how of front-end development and coding.

    Think of bootstrap as a set of building blocks. Bootstrap provides you with a lot of different types of blocks (css, jquery, etc.) to build a website. While there are a few foundational items which are core to Boostrap you can, for the most part, pick and choose which blocks you want to build your site with. You can even customize the look and ,with more effort, the way those blocks function.

    And I have no real experience with jetstrap/kickstrap. But the way a boostrap site would work with be that you are essentially using the bootstrap framework to build you're own site. This assumes you have a hosting server, working knowledge of the framework's core technologies (css, jquery, etc.), and time and energy to build a site using provided framework.

    It's a lot different than a canned-theme subscription service like Squarespace. Again you can't really compare Bootstrap to Squarespace because Bootstrap is not subscription based hosting and theme-providing service.

  • MrAbominable0

    Maybe it's the Jetstrap like skinning of Bootstrap that i'm conflating with Squarespace.

    Thanks for schooling me on the basics of Bootstrap, d_rek.

  • fadein110

    Squarespace is a hosted payed CMS service.
    Bootstrap is a framework to speed up development of sites.
    They have nothing to do with each other.
    The former is for designers/companies who have little technical knowledge and don't want to hire a web company, the latter is a framework to help web devs build sites.
    Simples.

  • exador10

    you might want to try www.webflow.com
    have had a decent go of it on that app, and it's pretty damn nice to work with..
    also, http://froont.com/

  • MrAbominable0

    Is it possible that what I'm really looking for is Adobe Muse?

    I used the trial Muse app briefly until it became part of the cloud. Does Muse crank out autonomous code that you can house on your site and not be on the hook to Adobe for hosting services and a monthly stipend (unless you want to edit)?

    Squarespace vs Muse? Anyone...

    • You can but the output is a bit funky which makes updates (outside of muse) also a bit funky.sausages
    • thanks for the warning. keep hoping there's an easy solution. heh.MrAbominable
  • MrAbominable0

    nudge, for design-o-clock. ^?