Rivoli

Rivoli is a free Squarespace 7.1 template built as a personal blog, not a travel agency site. The demo belongs to a food and travel writer, and the structure is as lean as blogs get: the nav holds just Blog and About, plus a login link for Squarespace member accounts. The homepage opens with a wide hero and an Explore button, then splits the latest posts into two category rows, Food and Travel, each with a Read More link through to the blog, before a short author introduction with a Say Hi button. The Blog page is a standard Squarespace list layout with category filtering, and the footer repeats the two categories. If a magazine-style blog is what you are after, I would compare it with the rest of our free Squarespace templates before paying for anything.

Who it suits

Food writers, travel bloggers, lifestyle journalists and anyone who publishes regularly in two or three categories and wants the homepage to surface recent posts automatically. It also works for a recipe blog or a city guide where the writing, rather than a product, is the draw.

One honest caveat

Two pages and a blog is a thin starting point. There is no contact form, no newsletter block and no shop in the demo, and the layout only looks good once you have a dozen posts with strong photography to fill the category rows. With no custom code, the finished look depends entirely on your images and how consistently you post.

Setting it up

Choose Rivoli in Squarespace's template picker or start from the demo, rename the blog categories to match your topics, replace the sample posts and rewrite the About page in your own voice. The homepage summary blocks and every section are editable with Fluid Engine, so adding a newsletter form or a contact section is a drag and drop job rather than a rebuild.