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Jun 25, 2025 09:35 PM
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Archive blocks in Squarespace efficiently organize links to blog posts, events, and products. They are text-only, auto-update, and can be customized in layout and sorting. Ideal for clean navigation, they support multiple blocks for complex sorting but cannot display images.
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Archive Blocks in Squarespace: A Complete Guide
Archive blocks efficiently organize links to blog posts, events, and products on your Squarespace site.
Key Points
- Archive blocks organize links to blog posts, events, and products efficiently
- These blocks are text-only and can't display images or videos
- You can customize the grouping and sorting of content in various ways
- To include content from different pages, you need multiple archive blocks
- Archive blocks update automatically when you change your content
What Are Archive Blocks?
Archive blocks in Squarespace are text-based tools that organize and display links to your website's content. Think of them as smart navigation lists that pull from your blog posts, events, or products automatically.
Unlike summary blocks (which can show images and excerpts), archive blocks keep things simple with text-only links. This makes them perfect for creating clean, organized navigation menus.
How to Set Up Archive Blocks
You'll need an active collection page (like a blog or events page) before you can add an archive block. Here's how to do it:
- Add the block: Edit your page, click the add block button, and select "Archive"
- Choose your source: Click the pencil icon to open settings and select which page to pull content from
- Pick your layout: Use the 'Display' dropdown to choose how your links appear
- Set grouping and sorting: Use 'Group By' to organize content (by date, author, etc.) and 'Sort By' to control the display order
The block preview updates as you make changes, so you can see exactly how it'll look.
Layout Options Explained
Squarespace gives you three layout choices for archive blocks:
Index Layout: Creates organized sections with headings based on your grouping criteria. Good for detailed categorization where you want clear sections.
List Layout: Shows a simple list of links without heavy grouping. Perfect for straightforward navigation.
Dropdown Layout: Puts everything into a dropdown menu. Great for saving space while keeping all your links accessible.
Making Archive Blocks Work Better
Here are some practical tips I've learned over the years:
Use multiple blocks for complex sorting: If you want to show the same content grouped different ways (by date and by category, for example), add two archive blocks to the same page.
Check readability: Make sure your text alignment and spacing work well on both desktop and mobile. Archive blocks can get cramped on smaller screens.
Remember they auto-update: When you publish new blog posts or events, your archive blocks update automatically. This saves you from manually updating navigation lists.
Combine with other blocks: Archive blocks work well alongside summary blocks. Use archive blocks for clean text navigation and summary blocks when you want to show images and excerpts.
Common Questions
Can I add images to archive blocks?
No, archive blocks are text-only. If you want images, use summary blocks instead.
How much content can an archive block handle?
Up to 50 groups with 100 items per group. That's plenty for most websites.
Can I show content from multiple pages in one block?
No, each archive block pulls from one page only. You'll need separate blocks for different content sources.
What sorting options do I have?
You can sort by date, author, category, or tag, depending on your content type and grouping choice.
Quick Definitions
Archive Block: A Squarespace tool that creates organized lists of links to your content
Group By: How you want to categorize your content (by date, author, category, etc.)
Sort By: The order your content appears within each group (newest first, alphabetical, etc.)
The Bottom Line
Archive blocks are one of Squarespace's most useful organizational tools. They keep your navigation clean, update automatically, and give visitors multiple ways to find your content.
The key is matching the right layout to your needs. Use index layout for detailed organization, list layout for simplicity, and dropdown layout when space is tight. Most importantly, test how they look and work on different devices before going live.