How to Create Dynamic Slideshows for Products, Photos, and Testimonials on Squarespace with Section Slider
Are your website visitors scrolling past your most important content—your product gallery, portfolio showcase, or customer testimonials—without giving them the attention they deserve? Creating engaging displays that capture attention and encourage exploration is crucial for keeping visitors engaged on your site. With SquareKicker's Section Slider tool, you can transform ordinary Squarespace sections into interactive carousels, promo banners, and storytelling features that visitors can't help but explore.
The Section Slider goes far beyond typical slideshow functionality by giving you complete control over transitions, playback options, and responsive behavior. This powerful tool allows you to group multiple sections together and transform them into polished, dynamic displays that elevate your entire website experience.
How to Add Section Slider to Your Squarespace Site
Adding the Section Slider to your website is straightforward with SquareKicker's intuitive interface:
Design your sections (you can continue to customize them)
Open your SquareKicker Extension
Navigate to the Advanced tab
Select Section Slider from the menu
Enable the Slider and indicate the number of sections you want to include
Choose your transition type and playback settings
Customize visibility options for different devices
Preview your slider and adjust settings as needed
Five Transition Types for Every Design Need
The Section Slider offers five unique transition types, each creating a different user experience tailored to your content and brand personality:
Slide: Classic Slideshow Movement
The Slide transition provides that familiar horizontal slide movement that's perfect for text-heavy content where you want smooth, predictable transitions between sections. You can customize how many slides appear per view, which automatically adjusts the width of each section to create the perfect layout for your content.
Fade: Elegant Dissolve Effects
Fade creates gentle transitions that dissolve between sections, providing an elegant experience that works beautifully for photography portfolios or product displays.
Parallax: Premium Depth and Movement
Parallax adds sophisticated depth as sections transition with layered movements, creating that premium, modern feel visitors love. This transition type offers a cinematic experience that feels contemporary and high-end.
Peekaboo: Build Anticipation
Peekaboo provides visitors with a sneak peek of upcoming content, building anticipation and creating visual interest. You can drag the slider in the Extension to set a custom width, revealing just part of the next section. This works particularly well for testimonials, where social proof can sell your brand better than your own copy.
Scroll: Continuous Automatic Movement
Scroll enables continuous automatic movement, perfect for showcasing multiple items or creating eye-catching banner displays. You can adjust both the scroll speed and direction for that perfect browsing experience. This transition is ideal for nonprofits wanting to promote sponsors or design studios showcasing awards and achievements.
Complete Playback Control
The Section Slider gives you full control over how visitors interact with your content:
Autoplay Options: Set sections to transition automatically with customizable speed and delay settings. Slow it down for a cinematic effect or speed it up for faster transitions. You can even choose whether the slideshow moves left or right.
Manual Navigation: Add navigation arrows for visitor control, giving users the power to browse at their own pace through your content.
Pagination: Provide a visual progress map with simple dots for a minimalist look or numbers for additional clarity. Pagination appears at the bottom of your section and uses colors based on your section theme.
Loop Functionality: Create continuous cycling through your content without an obvious starting position, perfect for ongoing displays.
Responsive Design with Device Visibility
The Section Slider gives you device visibility control across device types. You can enable the slider on specific devices only, ensuring your design works perfectly whether visitors are browsing on desktop, tablet, or mobile.
This tool isn't compatible with the Visibility tool for individual sections, but you can customize visibility for the entire slider grouping, giving you precise control over how your content appears across screen sizes.
Pro Tips for Editing Your Section Slider
When working in Squarespace edit mode, you can continue customizing the sections included in your slider. Use your arrow keys to navigate between sections to edit content while the slider is active.
Here's a handy shortcut: click on any section included in the slider, open the Extension and navigate to Section Slider, and you'll be instantly taken to the Section Slider settings for the leading section, making adjustments quick and efficient.
Design Ideas and Inspiration
The Section Slider opens up endless creative possibilities for your Squarespace website:
Product Showcases: Use the Slide transition with manual navigation to let visitors browse your product lineup at their own pace.
Photography Portfolio: Apply the Fade transition for elegant movement between your best work, creating a gallery experience that feels premium and polished.
Customer Testimonials: Implement Peekaboo to build anticipation for social proof, encouraging visitors to read through multiple testimonials.
Brand Story: Use Parallax transitions to create a cinematic journey through your company's history or process.
Sponsor Recognition: Employ the Scroll transition for continuous movement through partner logos or awards.
Service Highlights: Combine multiple transition types throughout your site to create varied, engaging experiences.
Advanced Design Combinations
The real magic happens when you combine Section Slider with other SquareKicker features. Consider pairing your slider with scroll effects, custom backgrounds, or hover animations to create truly unique experiences that set your website apart from standard Squarespace sites.
Transform Static Sections into Dynamic Experiences
With five transition types, flexible layout options, comprehensive playback controls, and responsive design considerations, the Section Slider gives you everything needed to transform your Squarespace sections into engaging, interactive experiences that keep visitors exploring your content longer.
Whether you're showcasing products, highlighting testimonials, or telling your brand story, the Section Slider ensures your most important content gets the attention it deserves while creating memorable experiences for your vistors.
Ready to transform your static sections into dynamic, engaging displays? Start your free 14-day SquareKicker trial today and discover how the Section Slider can elevate your Squarespace site – no credit card required!
