Version 5 of Squarespace launched this past Monday.

I've been using Squarespace as both a blogging and photo-hosting platform for just under six months now, and after mere days of the 30-day free trial, it was a service I was more than happy to continue using and happily pay for. Things seemed as if they couldn't get any better, but V5 introduces a wealth of new features and options to the core platform. Regardless, it was only this week that I realised i've yet to expand on exactly why I moved to Squarespace full-time all those months ago, so here i'm hoping to do a review of sorts of some of the additions, along with some exposition on why Squarespace is my platform of choice.

The first reason is...well, Squarespace is incredibly easy to use. Okay, so that's something touted by all the other blogging sites, but here it is undoubtedly true. That's not to say Squarespace is simplistic or lacking in features, because it's a service that caters to users of all experience. If you have no idea about coding or design you can let SS worry about it; if you know a little you can apply your knowledge into editing or modifying what you've been given, while if you're even more advanced you can create your own theme, muck around in CSS and set up an all manner of domian forwarding and security options. Squarespace can be as easy as you like or can be the equivilent of building your own site from scratch and hosting from home, whichever your most comfortable with or want it to be.

The most enticing aspect of Squarespace for me was this ease of use, but SS can be a lot more than just a 'blog platform'. Galleries can be created, forums and message boards added, guestbooks integrated and online shops built. The added benefit is the ability for numerous administrators meaning your site can be a solo-effort or a team-run operation depending on the site's aim and function. Best of all was the storage- you can have anywhere between 0.5 to 20Gb, and you can increase or decrease your bandwidth accordingly. In retrospect I think I took too much of both, but it's nice to know they're variable. The prices obviously reflect your choices and the features you choose when you register, but no contract means you can change them, upgrade or downgrade whenever. Traffic and Subscriber counts are displayed in-house with the site's own Statistics page, while RSS feeds are generated from day-one. No need for Feedburner, Stat Counter or the rest, it's all here.

So that's Squarespace in a neat summary basically. V5 doesn't make any effort to deviate or alter from the site's and service's purpose, rather, it adds lots of new features to make the experience better. The interface is alone, one of my favourite things about the service. Navigation is now easier than ever with fast java script switching- buttons along the top of the page are there for easy clicking, Content, Structure, Style and Preview with fast links to the Help section (complete with video walkthroughs) and the overall management of your site for things like comment moredation, domain forwarding and audience permissions. V5 also has a re-designed content editor (Again, the main focus is the option of WYSIWYG -what you see is what you get, real-time editing etc) but site architecture is easily configured with drag and drop modules, and the ability to add, build, style or preview thanks to the constant presence of the four previously mentioned buttons.

The style editor has also been given a significant reworking, and like the content and post editor things are displayed entirely in real-time. Colours can be changed, fonts chosen, letter spacing increased, and most excitingly, sidebar and content wrapper width adjusted thanks to a nifty little slider. For the more experienced again, these things can be coded or manually decided, or ignored completely, if you want to make your own theme rather than edit one of the pre-existing ones. New functionality has also been added to how the site works- items displayed in your sidebar can only be displayed on certain pages for example, e.g the blog archive widget won't display when users are browsing the gallery. I found this incredibly handy, especially in the instance i've just mentioned, but with audience permissions it's nice that sections can be customised more individually now rather than a collective whole. Regarding Blogging, Tags can now be added as well as Categories, and "Share This" options with links to Digg et al are there if you want them, without any work required from yourself. "Publish this post on/enable comments on day X" have also been tweaked.

I realize i'm gushing (bet that makes a change, huh?) but Squarespace is seemingly the complete opposite of Blogger, and is exactly the kind of hosting/content platform I was looking for when I decided I wanted change, without taking the time out to learn 'how to build a website'. As a service it's easy to use, it's fun and exciting, and most importantly, it works great. Regarding V5 naturally there's been a few problems (and i've encountered one myself- sorted now thanks to support!), but the update itself completely reinvigorates and refreshes  the service, and thankfully as a whole, Squarespace remains a web service that i'm more than happy to continue paying for.

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• I'm a drop out- History without the Art isn't as exciting as I envisioned earlier this year, so after much consideration (and stressing over an assesment that was long overdue) i've decided to quit. i've got a new block of coursework starting in September though, so I think i'll still be on track in regards to the overall degree.

• Before September though, i'm hoping to tackle my gaming backlog in a big way. There's plenty (and perhaps too much) to keep me busy, but with just as many games i'm wanting to replay as I do to complete, it's a task that gets bigger every week. Plans for buying a Playstation 3 probably don't help much in that regards either, but, you know.

• Harry Potter & The Order of The Phoenix (DVD)

Yeah okay, so i'm late to the series. Following Goblet of Fire-both my favourite book and film of the series- was never going to be easy, so naturally, I went into watching the film not expecting much. Inevitably loads has been left out of the film adaptation including many moments of exposition that the book provided- once again, film fans seem to get the short straw. Regardless, it was fun, looked great, and did a good job of putting print into film, though obviously improvement would be no bad thing for the film, or indeed, the future of the film franchise in general.

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• I'm also hoping to get lots of Lego-sorting done as well. As with years past, this is another summer i'm going to be spending in the garage like a big geek. As with the game backlog, this task is constant.

• Twitter redeemed itself this past week when E3 was taking place. I was watching the live conference streams but getting updates ahead of my viewing was pretty interesting, and the continued coverage from some of the users i'm following means that i'm getting most of the info from the one place. Even better? Twitter didn't crash once.

• Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)

With the entire contents of the game revealed through the game's official blog, Brawl is immediately unsurprising, and a game cursed with all the hype that came before it's european launch, inevitably sometime after the rest of the world gets the game first. Online feels incredibly wasted, while new single-player mode 'The Subspace Emissionary' is repetitive and feels tacked on.  Depth is certainly there by the huge number of unlockables and fan service, but with so much hype and a lengthy development, Brawl already feels old and uninspiring.

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• I've aged forty years overnight- i'm now growing carrots and lettuce in the back garden. For the rabbits, for my own shits and giggles, as an experiment; there's a number of reasons why I guess. Count yourselves lucky you're not getting Carrotwatch updates- currently there's no growth at all...

• Squarespace V5 launches on Monday. I may play around with the site's appearance or what not- if things aren't displaying, it's probably my fault.

• The 2008 Mercury Music Prize nominees are announced next week I think. My predictions? Portishead, Ting Tings, Duffy/Adele, Radiohead and possibly Estelle.

• Finally, I recently posted this over on my Tumblog, fifty words or less. It's rather awesome though, so here it is again for any who haven't seen it. Human Skateboard by PES: