How to Keep Your Navigation Bar on a Single Line in Squarespace 7.1
A highly performing website is based on a good structure of the navigation bar. But on the other hand, a scrunched menu can be an annoyance to the user and may damage your brand’s visual reputation on larger devices.
Well, if you’ve ever scratched you’re head trying to figure out how to make your Squarespace 7.1 navigation stay on one clean professional line, look no further, this is the answer: simple, clean, and scalable CSS.
Why a Single-Line Navigation Bar Matters
A one-line menu is not only a design choice – it’s just a general UX best practice. Here’s why:
Makes a first impression with an organized, professional look
Joints won't stack up or get misaligned
Enhances desktop legibility and visual order of elements
Preserves design consistency across devices
No matter if you are an architect, musician, web developer, or business owner, you need to have a clean, strong menu stand for yourself.
Why Navigation Menus Break Into Multiple Lines
This problem commonly occurs because of:
You don't have flexbox rules in your header styles
Too much padding, margins, or very large font sizes
Too many menu items without responsive spacing logic
The container is tight, so it's wrapping the text behind it.
Thankfully, all of these can be fixed with some additional CSS.
Step-by-Step Solution: Lock Your Menu to One Line
Let’s walk through a complete implementation you can apply in Squarespace 7.1.
Step 1: Apply Flexbox with No Wrapping
Navigate to Pages → Custom code → Custom CSS, and paste the following code:
/* Primary header navigation styles */
.header-nav {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: nowrap; /* Prevents line breaks */
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
overflow-x: auto; /* Enables horizontal scroll if content overflows */
}
.header-nav-list {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: nowrap;
gap: 20px; /* Controls spacing between items */
}
.header-nav-item {
white-space: nowrap; /* Ensures individual links don't break into lines */
}
This creates a flexible, horizontally scrolling navigation system that prevents automatic line breaks, even on narrower screens.
Step 2: Optimize Font Size and Padding (Optional)
If your navigation is still too wide to fit in the header container, slightly reduce the font size or padding:
.header-nav-item a {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 10px 15px;
}
These micro-adjustments help ensure that your navigation remains elegant and compact without sacrificing usability.
Step 3: Add Responsive Adjustments for Mobile
Although Squarespace automatically converts menus to a hamburger icon on smaller screens, you can enforce responsive behavior manually if needed:
@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {
.header-nav {
flex-wrap: wrap; /* Allows wrap on smaller devices if required */
}
}
Summary: How to Implement
| Action | Where to Apply |
|---|---|
| Add flexbox layout & no-wrap | Design → Custom CSS |
| Adjust padding/font if needed | Within the same Custom CSS panel |
| Optional responsive logic | Use @media queries in the Custom CSS area |
Additional Customization Options
Want to tailor the look and feel further? Here are optional enhancements:
| Customization | Example |
|---|---|
| Adjust icon spacing | Modify gap value in .header-nav-list |
| Add hover interactions | Use :hover pseudo-class for color or animation effects |
| Enable subtle scroll | Use overflow-x: auto for very wide menus |
| Hide overflow completely | Use overflow-x: hidden for tighter designs |
Pro Tip
If your navigation bar contains more items than can reasonably fit on a single line, consider:
Consolidating links into dropdowns
Rewriting label text to be more concise
Switching to a mega menu layout for advanced designs
Clean navigation = better UX = stronger conversions.
Final Thoughts
A frictionless single-line navigation bar is not just about style; it is a way to provide cleaner, faster, and more professional navigation. As someone building a creative portfolio, online store, or service-based business, your site's first impression is made with the header.
With a little bit of custom CSS and Flexbox, you can make sure your Squarespace 7.1 navigation stays sleek and scrollable when space is at a premium. A few tweaks for font sizes and responsive behavior, and your menu will look great on all devices and without splintering into a jumble of lines.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Squarespace nav bar on two lines or more- why is this happening?
It’s usually due to having too many menu items, oversized padding/margins, or no flex-wrap: nowrap declared in your CSS. The problem is also compounded by the small container width.
2. Will this hack work on any Squarespace 7.1 template?
Yes! This is a general CSS targeting that should work on most of the Squarespace 7.1 websites. If your template uses other class names, you might have to tweak the selectors.
3. What if I don’t know how to locate my site header or navigation class names?
Inspect Element (right click your nav bar) in your browser to see what classes you have on something like. header-nav, .header-nav-list, and .header-nav-item. These help you use CSS in a focused way.
4. How does this affect mobile browsing or the hamburger menu?
No – You see Squarespace will auto transform to mobile menu if the screen width is 767px and below. There’s a media query included here which makes sure the nav will wrap on smaller screens if required, but won’t break anything.
5. What if my navigation is still too long even with this CSS?
A: Try these:
Reduce font size or padding
Shorten link text
Combine some items into dropdowns
Consider a mega menu for complex layouts
6. Can I add animation or effects to the navigation items?
Yes! Use: hover and transition CSS properties to create smooth hover effects like color change, underline, or scale animations for a more interactive menu.
7. Will adding overflow-x: auto add a horizontal scroll bar?
It may appear if your menu overflows the container, especially on narrow viewports. This is intentional — it prevents the items from wrapping, allowing users to scroll horizontally if needed.