What’s new
We ship constantly. Here’s what’s changed recently.
Website Builder: blog import, photo styles and footers
Import your Squarespace blog
Bring your blog over from Squarespace: export it there, upload the file, and your posts, images, categories and dates come across. Redirects from your old post URLs are set up for you, so links and search results keep working.
Your blog can live at /blog
A Blog page can now use the /blog address, and blog settings let you pick a default post header and show newer and older post links at the bottom of each post.
Circle and oval photos
About and Text sections can show their photo as a circle or an oval.
Testimonial quote cards
A new Quote card testimonial layout shows each quote in a card next to a shaped photo. Choose the card style (rounded, pill or arch), its color and its text color.
Any color over background photos
Every section that could darken its background photo can now lighten it with white, gray or any color you choose. Text switches to dark automatically over a light overlay.
Rounded corners on photos and cards
A Corner rounding setting in Theme rounds the corners of photos and cards across your whole site, from square to softly rounded.
Captions under portfolio photos
Portfolio galleries can show each photo's caption underneath it, aligned left, center or right. Blog galleries can use photo shapes and captions too.
Footer image and text
Footer columns can hold a small image, such as a logo or drawing, chosen from your library, and a column of text. You can also add a line under the columns. The image keeps its proportions at every screen size.
Schedulers and forms from other sites load
Embedded schedulers and forms from other services now show and size themselves correctly, in the editor and on your live site. Post headers also have separate settings for showing the date and the category.
Portfolio heading alignment on the live site
A portfolio heading set to left or right could show centered on your live site. It now matches the editor.
Team
PayPal team payments no longer count as a sale
Paying a team member by PayPal email opened a checkout that PayPal treated as a sale of goods, asking for shipping and charging them a fee. Pay now copies their email and amount and opens PayPal's send money page instead. Invoice emails link there too.
Scheduled posts, and more control over what gets posted
Scheduled posts publish on time again
Since August, posts you scheduled could sit without ever publishing, with no message telling you. They now go out at their scheduled time. A post that's less than a day late publishes right away.
Missed posts come back as Unpublished
A post that's more than a day late won't suddenly appear on your feed. It returns to Drafts marked Unpublished, with the date it was scheduled for, ready to reschedule. A post that fails to publish comes back the same way, with the reason. Your Social dashboard shows how many are waiting.
Edit Schedule works
Changing the time of a scheduled post always failed with a message saying the post no longer existed. You can now change the date, time and timezone.
Post Now only changes the post you are publishing
Post Now could mark a different draft from the same session as posted, so it disappeared from Drafts, and two different posts could merge into one in your history. Now only the post you publish changes, and it leaves Drafts wherever you posted it from. Using Post Now on a scheduled post cancels its schedule so it won't post twice.
Keep a client's photos off social media
Turn on "Don't use this client's photos on social media" on a contact. Their sessions and galleries leave your Social To-Do and photo pickers, and can't be drafted, scheduled or published, including posts already scheduled. Posts that are already live stay up, so remove those on the platform itself.
Mark as Private now applies everywhere
Marking a session private only hid it on the Social Sessions page, while Social To-Do, galleries and the post picker still offered it. A private session is now kept out of all of them and can't be posted.
Choose the order of your booking page
Reorder Booking Page
Packages were always listed alphabetically. On Service Packages, use Reorder Booking Page to drag your packages and groups into the order you want, with your most popular first. Your main booking page and group pages both follow it, and new packages start at the end of the list.
Quick Fill shows your real hours
On a package's Availability tab, Quick Fill always showed 5:00 PM and a change you hadn't applied was lost behind a success message. It now shows your saved hours, and Save asks about changes you haven't applied. Editing one day also no longer changes the other days filled at the same time.
Know whether an invoice really went out
"Sent" now means an email was sent
Invoices could show as sent when no email had gone out, for example after a manual booking, a failed send or a payment. An invoice is now marked sent only after its email goes out. Anything else shows as Not Sent, with its own filter in your invoice list. Older invoices keep their status, and their activity says when there is no email on record.
See delivery and opens on an invoice
An invoice's activity now shows who it was sent to, the date and time, whether it was delivered and whether it was opened. Your own copy and automatic opens from mail privacy features aren't counted.
Saving a proposal no longer books it
Save Changes on a proposal you had already emailed could relabel it as manually booked and confirm the session. Only the Book Manually button does that now.
Website builder improvements
Pages no longer go live blank
Pages you added before going live could appear empty on your live site, even though the preview looked right. Going live now publishes what the preview shows, and existing blank pages were repaired automatically. The builder also explains the orange dot on a page and offers Publish all changes.
Unpublished changes show as soon as you edit
The editor could keep saying a page matched your live site, with Publish changes greyed out, until you reloaded. It now updates as soon as your edit saves.
Show photos without cropping
About, Text, Process and Image Strip sections can now use an Original (no crop) image shape, so each photo keeps its own proportions. Process sections also have an image width setting, and the Instagram feed's Portrait shape is now 4:5 to match Instagram.
Clearer SEO checks on legal pages
Policy pages showed "Thin content (0 words)" no matter how much text they had, and prompted for things like keyphrases. They now get their real word count and a short checklist: title, description, heading and length. AI suggestions are written for a policy page too.
Booking links follow your URL changes
Changing a package or group's booking URL now updates the links to it across your website: buttons, cards, menus, blog posts and redirects. The old booking URL itself stops working, so update any links you've shared outside your site.
Booking links on cards open the right page
Links to a booking page from cards, highlights, Learn more and header buttons could open a "Not Available" page. They now go to your booking page, and you can choose booking pages as redirect targets.
Redirects that saved but never worked
A redirect loaded as pending could stay switched off after you gave it a new address. It now works once saved. An old address that matches its new one is kept and labeled Same URL instead of being cleared.
Domain & SSL checks itself
While your SSL certificate is being issued, the Domain & SSL window rechecks on its own and turns green when it is ready. You can also reach the old-URL redirects from there.
Dashes stay while you type a URL
Category and package booking URLs removed a dash as soon as you typed it, which made two-word URLs hard to enter. The dash now stays.
Team
Typing in team payment info and invoices
Payment Information and Edit Invoice on a team member's page lost your place after every character, so you could only type one letter at a time. They now work normally.
Link to your blog posts
Blog posts in every link picker
When you link a button, a section or a word in your text, your blog posts are now listed alongside your pages. The header and footer menus can link to a blog post too.
New websites come with a Journal page
Every template now includes a Journal page that lists your blog posts. It starts out of the menu, so add it to your header whenever you're ready to share your writing.
Choose where each package is listed
List a package only on its group pages
In a package's Status settings, choose where clients can find it: on your main booking page, only on the pages of the groups it belongs to, or hidden. Use "Only on group pages" to give coaching sessions or consultations their own booking page without listing them on your main one.
Hidden packages can be booked from their link again
A package hidden from your booking page couldn't be opened from its own booking link either, even though the setting said it could. Hidden packages now open and book from their direct link.
Link to any package or group page from your website
The website builder's link lists now include every package clients can book online, including ones shown only on group pages or hidden from your booking page, plus each group's own page, so you can link a button or text straight to your Coaching page or a single package.
Links follow a page when you change its URL
Changing a page URL updates every link to it
When you change a page's URL in the website builder, every link to that page now updates with it: buttons, links in your text, header and footer menu items, the cookie banner's Learn more link, and links in your blog posts. Pages you've already published are updated too, without needing to publish them again.
Old page URLs redirect to the new one
Links from outside your site, like search results, social posts and emails, can't be updated, so the old URL now sends visitors to the page's new URL with a permanent (301) redirect. You'll see it in your redirects list. If you later create a new page at that old URL, the new page takes it back.
Soft background color, and safer page deletes
Use the soft background color on any section
Some sections, like Services and Testimonials, use a soft background by default: your theme's background color with a touch of your text color mixed in. It's now a swatch in every section color picker, named Soft background, and it follows your theme if you change colors. Picking any theme color also shows its hex code.
Deleting a page asks first, and works with long titles
On pages with long titles, the trash can in the Pages list could end up out of view. The icons now appear over the title when you hover, and deleting a page opens a confirmation box showing which page you're about to delete.
A full-width layout for pricing
Full-width pricing rows, with an optional photo
Pricing sections have a new layout, Full-width rows. Each package's name and description run the full width, with its features listed one per line below. Choose whether the price sits beside the name or at the bottom with the button, add a photo to any package on the left, right, or full width above it, and write a longer description with bold text and bullet or checkmark lists.
Empty bullets that could not be deleted
Some text boxes could end up with an empty bullet at the end of a list that could not be clicked or deleted. Empty bullets now never show on your site, and they are removed when you click out of the text box.
Hero photos, section spacing, and photos from your library
Crop and position Hero photos
Hero photos in the Image + overlapping card and Framed layouts can now be cropped. Layouts whose photo changes shape with the screen (full-screen, Split, Bottom text, slideshows, and collage, duo and panel photos) get a focal point instead: drag it to the part of the photo that must stay in view, so it looks right on phones too.
A clearer full-screen Hero, and a card on either side
The full-screen Hero layout now starts with a background photo and fills the screen, so it no longer looks like the Typographic layout. In the Image + overlapping card layout, choose whether the card sits on the left or the right.
Spacing and text area options for Services
Choose how much space goes between Services cards, pick a color for each card's text area, or turn the text box off so the text sits on the section background.
Compact spacing for Highlights and Process
Highlights and Process sections have a Spacing setting. Compact halves the space above and below the section and tightens the gaps inside it. Highlights also has Tight, for the least space above and below.
Add photos you already uploaded to a portfolio gallery
In a portfolio gallery's Manage images window, click Choose from library to pick photos already on your website, several at a time. Photos that are already in the gallery are marked Added.
Logo sizes, easier alt text, and smoother blog editing
Logo size choices
Choose Small, Medium or Large right under your logo on the Theme tab. The header grows to fit a larger logo, and on phones a large logo scales down so it doesn't crowd the menu. For an exact size, the slider under Site › Header now goes up to 120px.
See all of your alt text
Alt text boxes in Image SEO and the media library now grow to show the whole description, so you can read and check it without scrolling sideways.
Long blog posts scroll properly in the editor
On a long post, scrolling moved the whole editor, so the content list and its + button disappeared off the top. The content list, preview and settings now each scroll on their own, like the page editor.
Content for one portfolio page at a time
Add sections to a single portfolio page
On a portfolio with a page for each collection (for example, one page per featured wedding), a section added while viewing one of those pages went on the overview page instead, so it never showed where you added it. Each collection page now has its own sections: select it in the page list and click + to add a vendor list, story or anything else to that page only. Sections that were placed on the overview by mistake are listed under Overview page only, with a Move here button.
Contact forms for each website, and Process photo cropping
Choose which session types each contact form offers
In a website's Contact Form section, tick the session types that form should offer in its Session Type dropdown, so your weddings site can list only wedding sessions. Leave them all unticked to offer every session type, as before.
See which website an inquiry came from
Inquiries sent from your website contact forms now show which website and page they came from, in the Leads list, on the lead board and in the lead's details, and in the new-inquiry email. This applies to inquiries received from now on.
Crop photos in the Process section
Each step's photo in a Process section can now be cropped to the shape you chose for the section, like photos elsewhere on your site.
Drop several photos into an image strip
Add many image strip photos at once
Drag and drop several photos onto an image strip, or pick several with Choose photos. Each one becomes its own photo in the strip, with a count while they upload. If any don't upload, you'll see how many so you can try them again.
Website Builder: scrolling image strips, photo panel focus, and better blog posts
Image strips with any number of photos
Image strips now take as many photos as you like, each in its own shape (vertical, square or horizontal) with its own crop. Extra photos scroll sideways with arrows, or a swipe on phones. Turn on "Same height for every photo" for an even row.
Shapes and cropping for Editorial photos
Choose the shape of the Editorial section's large and second photo, and crop both.
Photo panels header: keep the right part of each photo in view
Use the target button on each panel photo to choose the part that must stay visible, and pick a Short, Standard or Tall header. Photos also no longer sit hidden behind the text under your headline, so far more of each photo shows.
Blog post header, preview and undo
Style each post's header: cover photo, another image, a solid color or none, plus text color, height, alignment, and whether the date, category and excerpt show. Add a line above the title and choose which line is the post's main heading (H1). Preview shows the post as it looks on your site, drafts included, and Undo (or Cmd/Ctrl+Z) works in the post editor.
Multi-session packages, scheduling, and invoices
Package sessions show the right names, dates and prices
A session's page could show the sessions of a multi-session package with names and prices shifted onto the wrong dates when they had been booked in a different order. Each session now always shows its own name, date and price.
Customizing a booked package updates every session in it
Renaming, repricing or changing the length of a session in Customize Package now reaches that session wherever you open the package from. Sessions you remove stay removed when the proposal is updated, and sessions you add get their own session, ready to schedule. A session you renamed on its own page keeps your name.
Book a package and schedule every session later
When booking a package, tick "Schedule all sessions later" to book it without a date. Your client can schedule each session from their portal. Sessions you added in Customize can now also be the one you schedule first.
Sessions your client schedules appear on your Google Calendar
When a client scheduled one of their package's remaining sessions from their portal, it was saved but never added to your Google Calendar. It now is.
Mini sessions respect your calendar
Mini session times now skip anything on your connected Google Calendar and your blocked times, like regular bookings already did. Slots are spaced by the session length plus your buffer, so a 25-minute session with a 5-minute buffer starts on the hour and half hour.
Taxable amount on invoices
Invoices that charge tax now show the amount the tax was charged on, between the subtotal and the tax. With automatic tax it's the exact figure from the tax calculation.
Tax only on taxable items after customizing a package
Changing a booked package in Customize recalculated its invoice tax on the whole subtotal, including items that aren't taxable, like travel fees. It now taxes only the taxable items.
Every invoice line needs a tax category
Some lines were given a made-up category that tax rules don't recognize. They were taxed, but labelled Exempt. Lines now use the session's or product's own category, and a line without one says "Taxed – choose a category" so you can set it.
Update Package and manual bookings
Removing a session's line in Update Package now offers to remove the unscheduled session too, items you add there show in the session's Package Details, and payment amounts always show cents. Booking manually from a draft proposal now shows "Booked Manually" instead of "Proposal Sent".
Social posting pages
Hiding a session from Social, previewing or editing a scheduled post, and "View post history" after posting could stop with an error. Fixed.
Brand Studio template, duplicate pages, and smarter image names
Brand Studio template
A clean, modern template for branding, headshot, event and product photographers. It comes with a full site: a home page, a page for each service, a portfolio with a page per collection, About and Contact.
Photo panels header
A new Hero layout shows two to five photos side by side, split by slanted lines, with your headline over a soft fade. The fade adjusts to how much text you have, and on phones the header shrinks so your headline shows without scrolling.
Header button and button lettering
Add a button such as "Let's Work Together" at the right of your menu (Header settings). Buttons can also use spaced capital letters instead of normal lettering (Theme > Buttons).
Duplicate a page
Hover a page in the page list and click the copy icon to start a new page from an existing one. The copy is added right after the original, kept out of your menu until you're ready.
Suggested image file names
In Image SEO, Suggest file names fills in a file name prefix and suffix for each photo, based on your page's focus keyphrase and the photo's alt text. File names now appear in the image's address itself, where search engines read them.
Faster images on your website
Photos uploaded to your website now load in the right size for each screen, with smaller, faster versions on phones.
Separate text for each portfolio page
Text and other sections on a portfolio overview page no longer repeat on every collection page. Turn on "Also show on each category page" for anything you want on both.
Easier blog posts
New posts start with a text section. The post header is now in the Post content list, where you can edit the title or hide the header, and a Hero added to a post no longer pushes its headline below the screen.
Paste keeps your links
Pasting into a website text box now keeps links, bold, italics and lists, so a vendor list copied from another document arrives ready to use.
Balanced masonry galleries
Masonry galleries no longer leave one column much shorter than the others.
New websites keep the template colors
A new website used to switch to default coral and blue when you hadn't set brand colors. It now keeps the template's own colors unless you've set your brand colors.
Website Builder: new sections, smarter new pages, and one H1 per page
Highlights and "As seen in" logos
A new Highlights section shows big numbers (years of experience, weddings captured, publications), icons with a title and description, or both. Pick from built-in icons or upload your own, and choose the icon size and color from your theme. The Logos style shows client or magazine logos in a row, in gray until hovered if you like, in four sizes. Any item can link to a page or another site, and numbers can count up as visitors scroll to them.
FAQ section
Questions that open to show the answer, in four styles: simple lines, cards, heading on the left with questions on the right, or always open in two columns. Answers stay readable to search engines when closed, and your FAQ can appear as questions directly in Google results.
Process section and Process page
Walk clients through working with you, step by step: each step has an optional image, a small label, a title, text and a checklist, with numbered circles and a connecting line. Images can alternate sides automatically or stay on one side.
Editorial and Scrolling Text sections
Editorial gives you magazine-style layouts: a staggered portrait-and-text layout, centered text over two overlapping photos, or an oversized title with an overlapping image pair, plus an optional signature line. Scrolling Text adds a band of words (like Founder / Photographer) that drifts across the page.
New pages start ready to edit, in your site's style
Adding a Home, About, Pricing, Portfolio, Process, FAQ, Blog or Contact page now starts it with sample sections instead of a blank page. On sites made from a template, the sample text fits your kind of photography and the layouts match your template's look. New sections you add pick up your site's existing styles too. Choose Blank page to start empty.
Show your portfolio categories anywhere
A Portfolio section on your home page (or any page) can now show category tiles from your Portfolio page, without rebuilding anything. Pick which categories to include, and each tile opens that category. Category names can also sit on the photo, in any corner or the middle, with adjustable darkening.
Text on portfolio category pages
Each category page can now have its own text, above or below the photos. It's great for search engines, which want more than a page of images, and it's used as the page's search description if you haven't written one.
More control over Services cards
Choose 2, 3 or 4 cards per row, and whether a short row starts at the left, is centered, or stretches to fill. Landscape image cards (wide photo on top) replace the old side-by-side cards, and magazine rows let you put each image on the left or right, or alternate.
Every page gets one clear main heading (H1)
Search engines lean on a page's main heading to understand it. Pages without a Hero used to have none. Now every page gets exactly one: the Hero, or else the first heading on the page, and on category pages the category name. The Page tab shows which text it is, lets you choose a different heading, and offers Add a page title if a page has none. Your SEO score now checks for it, too.
Search engines now see your category page, not the tile overview
A portfolio category page first loaded as the overview of all categories before switching to the one you opened, so search engines could read the wrong content. Category pages now load as themselves from the start.
Gallery visit log, download tracking, and clearer reminders
See every visit to a gallery
A gallery's Visitors tab now lists each visit with the time, the client's name and email when known, and what they saw: the gallery itself, the registration form, the password page, or an expired or missing link. So you can tell when a client stopped at registration or came back later, not just how many views there were. Your own visits aren't counted. Visits are recorded from today onward.
Gallery visits alert
Turn on Gallery visits in Settings > Alerts to get an email when a client opens a gallery, either after each visit or as a daily digest. It's off unless you turn it on.
Single-photo downloads now show who downloaded
Downloads of a single photo were always logged as anonymous, even on galleries that require registration. They now record the registered client's email.
Clearer "not opened" reminders
Many mail apps open emails on their own, so a reminder could say a gallery wasn't opened while the Activity tab said "Opened". The reminder now says when the email was opened but the gallery itself hasn't been viewed, and the Activity badge reads "Email opened" or "Link clicked". A registration, download or favorite now also counts as opening the gallery.
Link and Resend buttons in a gallery's Downloads panel
Both buttons did nothing when clicked. They work again.
Security updates
We updated several of the app's underlying libraries to pick up their latest security fixes. Nothing changes in how the app works.
Website Builder: color and size for any words, homepage previews, and more
Color and size for selected words
In any text box, select a few words or a whole paragraph and use the new Text color and Text size buttons on the toolbar. Pick one of your theme colors or any custom color, and Small, Large, Extra large or Huge. Sizes scale with the section's text, and Normal or Default puts things back.
Your theme colors in every color picker
Every color choice in the Website Builder (backgrounds, buttons, form fields, text styles) now shows your theme colors first, with a custom color picker for anything else. No more typing hex codes. Theme colors you pick follow along if you change your theme later.
See each website at a glance
The Websites list now shows a live preview of each site's homepage, header included, instead of just its cover photo.
More ways to style Services cards
On full-image cards, place the title and text at the top, middle or bottom, aligned left, center or right. On other cards, put the title and text above or below the photo and give that caption its own background and text colors. Every card style can now use the heading or body font for its titles, in four sizes.
Duplicate a section
Hover a section in the page's section list and click the copy icon to duplicate it. The copy appears right below the original, ready to edit. It works in blog posts too.
Portfolio categories as separate pages, and links that open in a new tab
Separate pages for portfolio categories
How visitors browse categories now has three choices: filter tabs, cover tiles that open in place, or separate pages, where each category (a featured wedding, a type of session) opens its own page with its own text and search settings. On the home page, choosing separate pages asks you to name the page they'll live under, like Featured Weddings, and moves them there with their photos. Your home section keeps showing the same tiles.
"Open in a new tab" for every link
Buttons, card links, process steps, menu items and links inside text now have an Open in a new tab option, so visitors don't leave your site when they follow a link elsewhere. Links to other websites start with it turned on; links to your own pages start with it off.
Process step buttons and dropdown menus
A Process step's button and a menu item that opens a dropdown always opened in the same tab, even when they pointed to another website. They now follow the same new-tab setting as every other link.
Website Builder: section colors that match your theme, and more layout control
Section backgrounds follow your theme colors
Sections with a softer background (Contact Form, Services, Pricing cards and others) used a fixed light gray, even on a dark theme, so white text could sit on gray. They now use a shade mixed from your own theme colors, along with the borders and secondary text, and choosing "theme default" gives that matching shade.
Pricing card colors, borders and spacing
Set the package card background and text color, the highlighted package's color and text color, the space between cards, and whether cards have boxes, no borders, or just lines between them. The highlighted package style (banner, ribbon, outline and more) now also shows on your published site, and text on the highlighted card picks a readable color automatically.
Contact Form layout
Place the form on the left, center or right, or add a photo beside it on either side. With contact details turned on, they move beside or under the form to match. The heading alignment setting now applies on your published site too.
FAQ question and answer colors
Answers now use your theme's text color, and you can set separate colors for questions and answers.
Handwriting fonts for the Editorial signature
Choose from ten handwriting fonts for the signature line, each previewed with your own signature. Editorial sections without photos now show just the text, with no empty image box, and the caption no longer runs into the overlapping photo.
Transparent logos stay transparent
PNG logos no longer get a background
Images uploaded to your website were all converted to a format that can't store transparency, so logos and other PNGs with transparent backgrounds showed up on a solid background. Transparent images now keep their transparency. Logos you uploaded before this fix still have the background; upload them again to get the transparent version.
Text colors that stick in every section
Heading and text colors in Collage and other sections
In the Collage, Image Carousel, Newsletter, Embed and Instagram Feed sections, and the small text above an Editorial heading, the heading and intro text ignored the color, size and spacing you set, so they couldn't be changed. They now follow your settings like every other section.
Coloring a whole bulleted list
Selecting an entire bulleted list and changing its color or size could remove the bullets. The list now keeps its bullets and takes the new color or size.
Sessions with a date but no time
"Error sending proposal" on sessions without a start time
If a session had a date but no start time yet, saving it or sending its proposal failed with an error mentioning session_date_time. Those sessions now save and send normally and keep their date. Sessions already affected were repaired automatically.
Alerts, every questionnaire in one place, and payment plans that add up
Alerts: choose which client activity emails you get
Settings has a new Alerts tab that gathers every email we send you about client activity. Contract signed, proposal completed, questionnaire submitted, payment received and email problems can come right away, wait for your daily digest, or be turned off. Gallery downloads, favorites and shared-link visits come as one summary after each visit instead of one email per click. Reminders, such as a gallery nobody has opened or a questionnaire still unanswered close to the session, go in a single daily digest at the time you choose. Your own visits to your galleries don't count. Everything you already received stays on unless you change it.
Every questionnaire for a session, in one place
A session can have several questionnaires, like a booking questionnaire, a planning questionnaire and a feedback one afterwards. The session page now has one Questionnaires list showing all of them: answered (with the date), sent and awaiting answers, or attached but not started. Click one to read the answers. Send a questionnaire from there, already addressed to the session's client. On a contact's page, each session lists its questionnaires by name, including ones sent after booking.
Questionnaire answers showing twice
Answers from an online booking appeared twice on the session page, and answers from a proposal with more than one questionnaire were copied under each of them. Each questionnaire's answers are now kept once, and existing ones were tidied up automatically.
Payment plans that don't add up to the invoice
Changing an invoice's total could leave a payment plan that no longer matched: a $5 deposit on a $0 invoice showed your client "$5 now, -$5 later". The invoice editor, including inside a proposal, now shows a warning with a button to fix it, and you can't save, send or book until it's fixed (drafts still save). Clients are never asked for, or charged, more than the invoice's balance, and a $0 invoice now says nothing is due.
Notification emails take you to the right page
Emails about a signed contract, a completed questionnaire, a payment or a completed proposal used to say to look in your dashboard, where those details aren't. They now say where to find them, and the button opens the page: the client's answers for a questionnaire, otherwise the session.
Vendor sharing: your @handle, your default terms, and real formatting
In Share with vendors, if your Photography credit has no Instagram handle yet, add it right there and it's used for every gallery. Edit your default usage terms straight from the share panel, or save custom terms as your new default. Terms and photo licenses now use the same editor as your emails, with bold, headings, lists and links, and Insert business name still fills in your name for vendors and clients.
Online bookings: approvals, payments, video calls and the details in between
Bookings are only confirmed once they really are
Online bookings used to be marked Confirmed the moment a client submitted them, before any payment, even on packages that need your approval. They now show as Proposal Sent until payment comes through, Inquiry while they wait for your approval, and Confirmed when they're complete. If nothing is due, they're confirmed straight away.
Approve or decline booking requests
For packages that need your approval, the session page now has Approve and Decline buttons, and your dashboard lists every request waiting on you. Approving confirms the session and sends your client their confirmation. Declining cancels it and frees up the time.
A friendlier note for sessions you approve personally
Instead of a "Requires approval" badge on the package, clients now see a short note in your brand colours when they pick a time, explaining that you confirm each booking personally and they'll hear from you by email. The button reads Send Booking Request, and the emails say "request received" rather than "confirmed".
Video links on the session, in the calendar and in the email
Zoom and Google Meet links now appear on the session page, in your Google Calendar event, in your client's calendar invite and in the confirmation email. For packages that need approval, the meeting is created when you approve, so a declined request never gets one. From the session page you can create a link, make a new one, or email it to your client. If a link can't be created, you're told why.
Zoom stays connected
Your Zoom connection is now refreshed well before Zoom would expire it. If Zoom ever does end the connection, you'll get an email with a one-click Reconnect, rather than finding out when a session is missing its link.
Confirmation emails go out once the booking is complete
When a client pays online, their confirmation, and your new-booking email, now arrive once the payment goes through rather than before they reach the payment page. A client who leaves without paying no longer gets a "Session Confirmed" email, and after an hour the unpaid booking is released so the time is free again.
Times can no longer be double-booked
Two clients booking the same time at once could both get it, and sessions you'd added yourself didn't always block online booking times. Every booking is now checked against your calendar and blocked times at the moment it's made. Cancelled and declined bookings also free up their time, which they didn't before.
Booked sessions match the ones you create
Online bookings now save the same details as sessions you create yourself: the session type (no more "Select type"), the delivery date from your package, included images, the package's fixed location or a mini session's venue, and every session in a multi-session package (the ones not yet booked show as Unscheduled).
Invoices match what clients were shown
The invoice created by an online booking now uses exactly the prices, discount, tax and payment terms your client saw, including packages priced only by a base price, which could come out at $0. Payment reminders from your package now apply, and your invoice notes appear instead of the client's booking message.
Signed contracts stay as signed
The contract a client signs while booking is now kept exactly as signed, so viewing it later shows what they agreed to, with their drawn signature, even if you've since edited the template.
Workflows run at the right moment
Workflows triggered by a booking now run once the booking is confirmed rather than the moment it's submitted. Contract signed and questionnaire completed triggers now fire for online bookings, and conditions based on contract or questionnaire status now work.
Several questionnaires on one package
If a package has more than one questionnaire, clients now see and answer all of them when booking. Each set of answers is saved to its own questionnaire, and responses no longer appear twice.
Client reschedules and cancellations update your calendar
When a client reschedules, your Google Calendar event moves with it, and a mini session moves to the new date's venue. When they cancel, or you decline a request, the event is removed. The emails you get now use the client's name instead of "A client".
Email buttons open the session
Review Request and View Session buttons in your emails now open that session in Studio Lifesaver, even if you have to log in first, instead of leaving you on the dashboard.
Smaller fixes
Clients outside the US no longer see the wrong day's times. A client who books with a differently capitalised email is matched to their existing contact instead of creating a duplicate. Calendar event titles no longer repeat the client's name. Location notes no longer fill up with Google's place categories.
Gallery sharing, vendor galleries, and opt-ins on your lead form
Share links for any gallery
From a gallery's new Sharing tab, make a link for one person that shows the whole gallery, just the sections you choose, or hand-picked images, with its own download setting (none, web size or full resolution). Links can be emailed, resent, edited or turned off at any time. Select images on the Images tab and choose Share to start one from those.
Highlights
Turn on "Add favorites to Highlights gallery" next to auto-sync to Social, and your favorites appear in a Highlights tab in the gallery, ready to share on their own.
Share galleries with vendors and the venue
Share with vendors lists the vendors and venue on the session. Pick some or all of them, choose what they can see and download, and send. Each one gets their own link, and sharing again updates it rather than adding another. When choosing specific images, a full-size picker lets you filter by section, star rating, colour label and picks, then select everything shown at once. Vendors see a credits list ready to copy, with names and @handles.
Image usage terms, with optional agreement
Vendor links show your image usage terms, which they can read and print. Set your default once, or change it for a particular vendor or gallery. Optionally require vendors to agree before they can download; you'll see when each one agreed.
Vendor pages
Turn on vendor pages and each vendor and venue gets one private page listing every gallery you've shared with them, showing each client's name and event date.
Photo license for your clients
Add a photo license, as text or a PDF, that clients can view and print from their gallery. Use your default, a different one, or none, per gallery.
Opt-in checkboxes on your lead form
The optional checkboxes you can add to booking pages, such as marketing emails or text updates, can now go on your lead form too: Settings, Lead Form, Consent Checkboxes. They show on your lead form and on Website Builder contact forms, and each answer is saved to the contact's history.
Lead form Preview shows your changes before you save
Preview now shows the form as it is on screen, unsaved changes included, and shows the minimal version when Minimal Embed is on. Your live form doesn't change until you save, and nothing submitted in a preview is sent. The Minimal Embed switch also displays correctly now.
No more unexpected sign-outs
You could be signed out well before the 60-minute inactivity limit, with no warning: a brief connection blip or a server restart could end your session. You now stay signed in through those, and you're only signed out after an hour without activity (with a warning first) or if your login is genuinely no longer valid.
Expired social connections say so
A Facebook or Instagram connection that had stopped working could still show as Connected on the Profiles page, while posting found no accounts to use. It now shows as Expired, with a Reconnect button.
Large gallery uploads, and clearer upload errors
Big uploads no longer stop partway through
Uploading several hundred photos at once could stall and report the rest as unreadable — in one case 260 of 360 went up and the remainder failed. The browser was being asked to open every selected file at the same time, which Safari gives up on past a few hundred. Each photo is now opened once, at the moment it uploads, with a small number in flight at a time. Upload links are also refreshed as the run goes rather than all at the start, so they can't expire mid-upload, and a photo that fails is retried before it's reported.
Upload problems explain themselves
If a photo doesn't make it, you now get a plain-language reason and the exact steps to finish the job — reload, re-select the same photos, and choose Skip Duplicates — instead of a status code. Uploads also start straight away rather than waiting for the whole selection to be read first, and one slow photo no longer holds up the rest.
Team members can invoice all their open jobs at once
Invoice every open job in one step
In the team portal, team members with two or more finished jobs that haven't been invoiced yet can now invoice them all at once. They review the hours for each job, add any expenses, and submit either one combined invoice with a line for each job or a separate invoice for each. You get one email listing every job and the total.
Combined team invoices on your Team page
Combined invoices show on the team member's page with their number, jobs and total, and you can select a whole combined invoice at once when recording a payment.
Invoices & Payments in the team portal
Team members have a new Invoices & Payments page in their portal: every invoice and its status, every payment they've received, what they're still waiting on, and their total earned for the year (tips included), with earlier years a click away.
Pages refresh when you come back to them
Your dashboard, Finance and Team pages now update when you return to the tab, so a team member's new invoice or a payment shows up without reloading. The team portal does the same for team members.
New location and vendor types stay selected
When you added a new type while creating a location or vendor, the type was created but the field went back to "Select Type". The new type is now selected for you.
Brand name, business address and billing fixes
Brand Name in Branding settings
Set the name your clients see on emails, proposals, invoices, contracts and your client portal under Settings → Business Settings → Brand Name. Leave it blank to use your Company/Studio Name.
Clients see your studio name, not your personal name
Some proposal emails, receipts, reminders and contracts could show your own name instead of your Company Name, especially if you'd changed your logo or colors before filling in your Company Name. Every client-facing email and page now uses your Brand Name, or your Company Name when that's blank.
One business address, with a line for your suite or unit
Your business address is now a single set of fields in Business Settings: street, an optional second line for a suite or unit, city, state and ZIP. Your invoices, contracts, booking pages, invoice emails and sales tax location all use it, so updating it in one place updates it everywhere. If we couldn't move your old address over automatically, you'll see a note in Business Settings asking you to check it.
Invoices show your current address
Invoices your clients saw could show the address you entered when you subscribed, even after you updated your address in Settings. They now show the address from Business Settings.
Update Payment Method opens Stripe
The Update Payment Method button under Account → Billing & Payments led to an error page. It now opens Stripe's secure billing page, where you can update your card and see your billing history.
Replies to your email copies reach your client
If you get a copy of the emails you send clients, replying to your copy now goes to the client instead of to Studio Lifesaver.
Booking links and venue names
Booking links show the address that actually works
Service Packages showed each package's booking link as yourdomain.com/your-session, and links in that form had stopped opening the booking page. Packages now show the yourdomain.com/book/your-session form, and links you've already shared in the old form (including printed QR codes) open the booking page again. Booking buttons you add in the Website Builder use the working form too.
Booked sessions keep the venue name
When a client booked online, the session saved only the venue's street address, so the session page showed an address with no name and your Google Calendar event had no location at all. New bookings now save the venue properly, with its name and address on the session and in your calendar.
Sending email from your own address
Sending from your own address: use a custom email domain
Single email verification has been retired. Emails to your clients go out from a Studio Lifesaver address with your business name, and replies come straight to you. To send from your own address (like you@yourstudio.com), set up a custom email domain in Email & Domain Settings. If you verified your email before, it keeps working.
Invoices send without verifying your email first
Sending an invoice used to stop with an error if you hadn't verified your email or set up an email domain. Invoices now send either way, the same as every other email.
Refund notices and calendar invitations could fail to send
Refund notices and calendar event invitations had the same problem gallery emails did: they failed if your address wasn't verified for sending. They now go out either way, and replies come to you.
Replies to contracts and team reminders come to you
Replying to a contract email, or to an invoice reminder sent to a team member, went to Studio Lifesaver instead of you. Replies now come straight to you.
Saving your business address for email verification
Saving the business address SendGrid asks for during email verification failed every time. It now saves.
Notifications you should have been getting
Several emails to you were never being sent: payments made through your client portal, signed contracts, completed questionnaires and completed proposals, and sessions a client rescheduled or cancelled from their booking. They all arrive now.
Password reset emails work again
The link in the "Reset your password" email didn't work, and the email greeted you with a web address instead of your name. The link now works, the email has a cleaner layout, and it comes from Studio Lifesaver.
A cleaner look for our emails to you
Welcome, email verification, security code, trial, upgrade, renewal and subscription emails now share one clean layout with the Studio Lifesaver logo. Standalone contract emails to your clients now show your logo and brand color.
Plan and billing buttons in emails
The "Choose your plan" and "Manage my subscription" buttons in trial and renewal emails opened your dashboard instead of your subscription page. They now go straight there.
Every email now has the same clean layout
Every email we send, to you or to your clients, now uses one clean layout and one font. Emails to your clients carry your logo and brand color, greet them by first name, and filled-in details like names, dates and amounts look like the rest of the text instead of bold or a different size. Your saved email templates and custom workflow emails get the same treatment automatically when they're sent, and the starter templates are simpler.
Client emails come from you, and replies always reach you
Every email to a client now comes from your own address when you've set up a custom email domain, and from a Studio Lifesaver address with your business name when you haven't. Either way, when a client hits Reply it goes to you, never to Studio Lifesaver.
Your logo shows up in Gmail
Some logos were stored in a way Gmail and many other mail apps won't display, so client emails went out without one. Logos now show in every mail app.
Payment and session reminders sent your saved template again
Automatic payment and session reminders using a template you'd saved went out with an empty message, and subjects could show raw fields like {{invoice.number}}. They now send your template with every field filled in, and the payment reminder's link opens the invoice.
Buttons in emails go where they say
Several email buttons opened a blank page or the wrong place: View in Dashboard on new bookings, View in Leads pipeline, Reconnect your calendar, View in App on team invoices, the download link for digital orders, and the link in incomplete-booking reminders. They all open the right page now.
Refund emails show your branding
Refund confirmations went out without your logo, business name or brand color. They now include all three.
Client portal password reset emails
When a client asked to reset their client portal password, the email never went out. It does now.
Get a copy of every email to your clients
Turn on "Send me a copy of every email to my clients" in Email & Domain Settings and you'll get a copy of every invoice, gallery, reminder, receipt and other client email. Your copy is sent once the client's email has gone out, so if a copy doesn't arrive, you'll know that email didn't send.
Clearer incomplete-booking reminders
Reminders about unfinished online bookings now make clear that the time isn't reserved until the client finishes booking. Unfinished bookings never block your calendar.
Session lengths spelled out
Session lengths in emails now read like "1 hour 30 minutes" instead of "1h 30m".
More than one way to log in, and auto-favorites that happen on upload
Set up more than one two-factor method
You can now have an authenticator app, text messages and email codes set up at the same time. Pick which one is your default in Account settings. At login, if your default isn't working, click "Try another way" on the code screen to use any of the others, or get a code by email.
Your backup codes are shown when you turn on two-factor
Backup codes were created when you turned on two-factor login but never shown to you. They now appear when you finish setup so you can save them. If you turned on two-factor before today, use Regenerate Codes in Account settings to get a set you can see.
Auto-favorites now happen when you upload
Photos matching your Auto-Favorite rule (star rating, color label or flag) weren't reliably marked as Photographer Picks or sent to Social when you uploaded them, only when you clicked Scan Existing Images. They now are, within a minute or so of the upload finishing. Flags from the Lightroom plugin also match the Flagged rule now. For galleries you've already uploaded, click Scan Existing Images once in the gallery's Settings.
Copying yourself on a gallery email
If you added your own email address as a CC when sending a gallery, your clients got the email but you might not have: your own spam filter can hold an email that appears to come from you. Your address now gets its own copy, sent from Studio Lifesaver, the same way "Send me a copy" works.
Team invitations for jobs happening today
In the team portal, an invitation for a session dated today showed up under Past Sessions with no way to accept it. It now shows as a pending invitation until the day is over. Team invitations are also always sent by email, and the unused text-message option has been removed from team members' settings.
No more false error when removing a team member from a session
Removing a team member from a session worked but showed a "failed" message. That's fixed.
Set each team member's rate for every role
When adding or editing a team member, roles were added at $0 with no way to change the rate. Each role now has its own Flat or Hourly rate you can set, starting from the role's default, and the same role can't be added twice.
Resend All Invitations works again
On a team member's page, the Resend All Invitations button under Pending Invitations did nothing. It now emails them their portal link, where every pending job is waiting.
Logging in from any page takes you to your dashboard
Logging in from pages like About, Changelog or Learn left you signed in but still on that page. You now go straight to your dashboard.
Clearer empty Sessions tabs
An empty Sessions tab now says what's empty, like "No upcoming sessions", with a Create New Session button, instead of suggesting you'd never created a session.
Gallery emails could fail to send
If your email address isn't verified for sending, gallery emails to your clients failed while your own copy still arrived. They now go out from Studio Lifesaver's address with your name on them, and when a client hits Reply, it comes straight to you. If your address is verified, emails still come from you.
Automatic payment and session reminders
The same problem could stop automatic payment reminders and session reminders from reaching your clients. They now send the same way as gallery emails.
Questionnaire results, all in one place
A Questionnaires page for every answer
The new Questionnaires page in the sidebar lists every questionnaire your clients have answered: ones you sent on their own, ones inside proposals, and ones filled out during online booking. Search by client or session, filter by questionnaire or status, and click any one to read the answers, with Image Choice picks shown as pictures. You can send a questionnaire to any contact, or a new one, right from the page, and each contact's page now lists their questionnaires too.
You now get an email when a client submits a questionnaire
When you sent a questionnaire on its own (not inside a proposal), you weren't told when the client filled it out. You now get an email with all of their answers and a link straight to them.
Every question type works for your clients
Image Choice, Time, Vendor, Venue, Hashtags and Vendor List questions showed up with nowhere to answer on the client's questionnaire, proposal and booking pages. They now work everywhere, along with the Other option on choice questions and Text/Explanation blocks.
Can't get your text code? Get one by email
If you use text-message codes to log in and a text doesn't arrive, click "Email me a code instead" on the code screen to get one by email.
Type-ahead state picker and data security details
Pick a state by typing
Every State field — contacts, your business and tax nexus address, booking pages, print store checkout, venues and more — is now a quick type-ahead picker. Type “G” for Georgia, “W” to see the W states, “Wi” for Wisconsin, or a code like “GA”, then press Enter. States are saved as standard two-letter codes, so tax and print shipping always get a state they recognize. Existing addresses keep working exactly as they are.
Saving your business address from Email settings
Verifying your sender email asks for your business address, and saving that address could fail with an error. It now saves normally.
Clearer details on how your data is protected
Our Privacy Policy and Terms now spell out how your data is secured: it’s encrypted in transit, encrypted at rest in our database and photo storage, and access tokens for connected services like QuickBooks and social media get an extra layer of encryption.
Invoice totals you can trust
Saved invoices now match exactly what you saw
With automatic tax on, an invoice could save with a different tax amount than the form showed: Exempt lines like travel fees were sometimes taxed when the invoice was created. Now the subtotal, tax and total you see when you click Save are exactly what's saved, and Exempt lines are never taxed. If you created auto-tax invoices with Exempt lines recently, open them and click Save to correct the total.
Tax matched to what you sell
Automatic tax now tells the tax service what kind of item each line is, such as a session, digital files or prints, so each line is taxed at the right rate for its type.
Invoice list refreshes when you close an invoice
After saving an invoice and closing it with the X, or after cancelling the email preview from Save & Send, the Finance list could show the old total or miss the new invoice until you reloaded the page. It now refreshes right away.
AI tagging controls, updated privacy terms, and sales tax fixes
Turn AI photo tagging off, for your account or for one client
AI photo tagging adds keyword tags like “outdoor” or “golden hour” to photos in your Social library to help you find photos and write posts. You can now turn it off entirely in Settings, or leave it on and exclude individual clients with “Don’t use AI on this client’s photos” on their contact (or in the Social Clients tab). Excluded photos are never sent for AI analysis, and captions are written without them. Tags you already have stay until you delete them.
Clear answers about AI and your photos: no facial recognition
Our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy now describe exactly what AI tagging does: a small, resized copy of a photo in your Social library is sent to Google Gemini (or Anthropic Claude as a backup), and keywords come back. There is no facial recognition, no face templates or biometric data, and nothing that identifies who anyone is. Full client galleries are never tagged. The policies had still named a service we no longer use, and they now list every provider we actually work with.
You choose whether ad-measurement cookies load
The cookie banner has a new Marketing option for the Meta (Facebook) pixel we use to measure our own ads. It’s off unless you turn it on, and a Global Privacy Control signal from your browser always turns it off. Because our policies changed, everyone will see the cookie banner once more, even if you answered it recently.
Cookie settings buttons and switches were hard or impossible to see
Several buttons in the cookie banner and on the Privacy Settings page — including Save Preferences, Accept All, Download My Data and account deletion — were white on white, and the on/off switches were hard to read. They’re now clearly visible, with an On/Off label on every switch.
New invoices could charge the wrong sales tax
With automatic sales tax on, invoices for most clients skipped the TaxJar calculation and charged your default tax rate instead, because the client’s address was read from an old field. And after you changed your business (nexus) state, new invoices could keep charging the old state’s rate. Invoices now use the client’s current mailing address and your current nexus, including a correct 0% when you don’t collect tax in the client’s state. Existing invoices are unchanged.
Your tax nexus now always follows your business address
Changing your business address in Settings, or during subscription checkout, now always updates the tax nexus used for your invoices. Before, the update could fail without any warning, leaving invoices taxed for the old address. If you changed your business address recently, open Settings → Tax Nexus Address and click Save once to be sure.
Group emails, additional contacts, and 16:9 header images
Extra recipients on a proposal weren’t receiving it
If you added a second person to a proposal — say, both halves of a couple — only your main client actually got it. Resending a proposal (which is also how a manually-booked proposal goes out the first time) dropped every extra To and CC address, and an address typed into the To or CC box without clicking “+ Add” was silently discarded. The preview only showed the main client too, so there was no sign anything was wrong. Every address now goes out, anything left in those boxes is included when you send, and the preview lists everyone on To, CC and BCC.
One email to everyone, so they can see who else got it
Proposals, invoices, questionnaires and gallery emails now go out as a single email with everyone on To and CC visible to each other — the way you'd send it yourself. Invoices and galleries used to go out as a separate email per person, with a “[CC]” label on the copies. The gallery send screen also has a CC box now. “Send me a copy” arrives as a blind copy, so your clients never see it.
Additional contacts on a session: spouses, planners and more
Add anyone who should be on every email about a session — a spouse, a parent, a wedding planner — and choose whether each one is on To or CC. Add them in the first step of New Session or on the session page at any time. They’re filled in automatically whenever you send a proposal, invoice, questionnaire or gallery, and you can still remove anyone before sending.
Automatic emails include the whole group
Session reminders, payment reminders, payment receipts, booking confirmations, refund confirmations, calendar invites and your workflow emails now go to a session’s additional contacts too, in the same single email as your main client.
Session reminders weren’t sending for most sessions
Automatic session reminders were only sent for sessions created in an older version of the app — anything created since was quietly skipped. They now go out for every confirmed session, on the day you’ve set in the package. There’s no catch-up: reminders whose day has already passed won’t be sent late.
Sending a questionnaire from a session said it worked when it hadn’t
Sending a questionnaire from the session page showed “Questionnaire sent successfully!” without actually sending anything. It sends now, to everyone you choose — and if something ever does go wrong, you’ll see an error instead of a false success.
A false “Payment Schedule Table” warning before sending a proposal
Some contract templates triggered a warning that the Payment Schedule Table couldn’t be filled in, and nothing you entered would clear it. It was a false alarm — your client’s contract always showed the table correctly — and it no longer appears.
Contract warnings now show where to fix each field
When a contract really does have a field that can’t be filled in, the warning now says where to fix it — the invoice details in your proposal, the client’s contact record, or your business profile. “Go back & complete” scrolls straight to the right section of the proposal and outlines it.
Header images are 16:9 everywhere
Header images used to be cropped and shown at half a dozen different shapes, so a photo you cropped carefully in one place looked different in the next. Every header image — proposals, sessions, packages, your default header, client portal headers and lead forms — is now cropped and shown at 16:9. What you crop is exactly what your client sees. Your client’s proposal now shows the header at a proper size across the top of the page, not a thin strip. Headers you cropped before this may be trimmed at the edges; if one looks off, just upload it again.
The session page shows the header your client sees
The session page used to show a different header image from the one on your client’s proposal. It now shows the proposal’s header in a card at the top of the right-hand column, out of the way of the session details. Changing it there changes the proposal too, so the two always match. If a session has no header of its own, the package image is used first and then your default header.
Dashboard finance totals, package sessions, and contract addresses
Dashboard finance numbers didn’t match the Finance page
The dashboard's Overdue tile could count more invoices than the Finance page's Overdue tab, because it included invoices for cancelled sessions. The Outstanding card at the top only looked at the first 20 unpaid invoices, so it could come in lower than the total of what you're actually owed. Everything now uses the same rules as the Finance page, so the dashboard, the tiles and the Finance tabs all agree.
Due Next 30 Days and Total Outstanding
“Upcoming This Quarter” is now “Due Next 30 Days” — a rolling window, so it no longer reads $0 at the end of a quarter when payments are about to come due. “Upcoming This Year” is now “Total Outstanding”: every open invoice, including ones due next year or with no due date yet, and it always matches the Outstanding card.
Sessions removed from a package came back anyway
When booking from a multi-session package, removing a session under “Customize package” — say, the engagement shoot from a wedding package — only changed the price. The booking still offered to schedule it, created it in your sessions list, and sending the proposal would re-create it. Removed sessions now stay removed.
Choose which package session you’re booking
For multi-session packages, New Session now shows which session you're scheduling now, with a “You're scheduling now” picker to change it, and lists only the other sessions below. If you remove the package's main session (like maternity from a First Year package), the next remaining session becomes the one you're booking, instead of the removed one still being counted.
Client address was blank in the contract preview
{{client.address}} showed up empty when previewing or customizing a contract for a session, even when the client had an address on file. The preview now fills it in from the client's contact record, formatted the same way as on the contract your client receives.
Mini sessions book properly, and one link can show a set of sessions
Mini session dates are now honoured when clients book online
If you set up a package as a Mini Session with specific dates, your booking page wasn't using them — clients saw an ordinary open calendar and could pick any day, any time, and type in their own location. Your mini session dates now drive the booking page: clients choose from the dates you set, at the times inside your window, and the venue comes from the date they pick rather than being something they enter. Sold-out and past dates are shown but can't be chosen.
Mini session dates show as a list, not a calendar
Because mini session dates are often weeks or months apart, a calendar hid half of them behind a “next month” arrow. Clients now see every date you're offering at once, each with its venue, its times, and how many slots are left.
Name each mini session date, and keep the venue name
Each date can now carry its own name — “Piedmont Park Minis”, “High Museum Minis” — which is what clients see when choosing between them. Picking a venue also keeps the place's name alongside its address, instead of showing clients a bare postcode.
Groups: one link that shows a chosen set of sessions
Service Packages now have a Groups tab. Put your consultation calls in one group and this year's mini session dates in another, and each group gets its own shareable link showing only those sessions — so you can send someone straight to your mini session dates without them wading through everything else. A session can belong to more than one group, and your main booking page shows them as sections. When a season is over, hide the group and it disappears from your booking page while the sessions themselves stay untouched.
Rescheduling a mini session stays inside your dates
A client rescheduling a mini session could previously move it to any date at all. They now choose from the same mini session dates you're offering, with their current slot marked — or you can turn rescheduling off entirely and handle those by hand.
Duplicate session names and booking links are now caught
Two sessions sharing a name are impossible to tell apart in a list, and two sharing a booking link made that link ambiguous. Both are now refused when you save, with a message naming the session already using it. Duplicating a session suggests a free name and link rather than leaving you to fix a clash.
Discount codes, gift certificates, and invoice accuracy
Discount codes work when booking online again
The booking page had only one code box, and it only ever checked gift certificates — so a perfectly good discount code came back as “Invalid or expired gift certificate code”. Discount codes now have their own box, are checked against your own rules for dates and usage limits, and reduce what the client actually pays.
Tax is now charged on the discounted amount
When automatic tax calculation is switched on, a discount wasn't reducing the tax — a 50%-off code on a $100 session still charged tax on the full $100. Tax now follows the amount actually being paid, both when a client books and when you create an invoice by hand. Worth re-checking any recent discounted invoice.
Gift certificates could not be created or redeemed
Creating a gift certificate reported an error even though it had been saved, the Discounts & Gift Certificates page could go blank, and certificates couldn't be applied by a client at checkout. All three came from one missing field and are fixed. Redeeming one now also reduces its balance where you can see it, marks it partly or fully used, and records which booking it went toward. Viewing a certificate finally shows its code, ready to copy.
Contracts were showing clients raw placeholders
A contract presented during online booking arrived with its merge fields unfilled — clients were asked to sign a document reading “{{client.name}}”. Contracts are now filled in before the client sees them, using the same information as your proposals: name, address, session type and location, duration, price, retainer, tax and payment schedule. What the client signs is also saved as it appeared, so editing a template later never rewrites a contract someone already signed.
Bookings with nothing left to pay can be completed
If a discount or gift certificate covered the whole amount, the booking couldn't be finished — it either asked for card details for $0.00 or reported that online payments weren't available. A booking with nothing due now completes without a payment step. A gift certificate also can't be spent against a zero balance any more, so its value isn't burned for nothing.
Invoices now show the discount, the payment, and what is really left
On a discounted invoice the discount line was missing in several places, leaving a subtotal and total that didn't add up. After a part-payment the invoice kept showing the full amount as outstanding and still called itself paid. Invoices now show the discount and the code that produced it, what's been paid, the true balance due, and which scheduled payments are settled — the same way on your side, on the client's invoice, and in the client portal.
Opt-in checkboxes: naming, channels, and a clear current status
Give each opt-in a short name of your own
The wording a client reads is a full sentence — fine on a booking page, unwieldy as a list name or a column heading. Each opt-in can now carry a short name for your own use, like “Marketing email” or “SMS updates”, shown wherever you manage them. Renaming or rewording an opt-in never splits its history: the answers people have already given stay attached to it.
Say what each opt-in actually permits
Opt-ins aren't all about messaging — photo usage, a referral programme, bringing a pet. Each one now records whether it permits contact by email, by text message, or neither. Only the first two will ever feed a mailing list; the rest are recorded on the contact and left out. Opt-ins created before this stay unclassified until you choose, rather than being guessed at, and are excluded from mailing lists in the meantime.
A reminder about what belongs in a contract
Consent checkboxes are optional by design and never block a booking, so anyone who leaves one unticked books anyway. That makes them the wrong place for anything a client must agree to, like a liability or safety acknowledgement — that belongs in your contract, which is signed and can be required. The editor now says so where it's relevant.
A contact’s Consent section now leads with where they stand today
It used to list every answer a client had ever given, newest first, without saying which one counted — so someone who declined twice and later opted in showed three entries and no answer to the only question that matters: are they on the list? Each opt-in now shows its current status, the most recent answer winning, with the earlier answers kept in a history underneath so you can still see exactly when someone changed their mind.
Consent on a session read as opted in either way
The consent summary on a session showed a tick or a dash beneath a green header, so a declined checkbox looked much like an accepted one — the answers were recorded correctly, they just weren't presented clearly. It now says “Opted in” or “Declined” outright, matching the contact page.
Ask clients for marketing consent while they book
Write your own opt-in checkboxes on any service package
Service Packages now have a Consent Checkboxes section where you write the wording yourself — "Email me about future sessions", "Text me when mini-session dates open", whatever matches how you actually market. Clients see them while booking that package. They're always optional, unchecked by default, and never block a booking.
Every answer is recorded, including the declines
An answer is saved whether the client ticks the box or leaves it alone, so "they said no" and "they were never asked" never look the same in your records — which is the distinction that matters if you're ever asked to show why someone was on a marketing list. Each answer is stored with its date and with the exact wording the client saw, so editing or deleting a checkbox later never rewrites what past clients actually agreed to.
See what each client agreed to, and when
Contacts now have a Consent section listing every response newest first — the checkbox wording, which package it came from, the date, and a clear Opted in or Declined badge. The answers given during a particular booking also show on that session.
Split-payment invoices now show the correct amount after a partial payment or gift certificate
The next installment could show more than was actually owed
On an invoice with multiple scheduled payments, once a gift certificate or other partial payment had been applied toward an installment, the client's invoice page kept showing — and charging — that installment's full original amount instead of what was actually left to pay, even though the invoice's own balance-due total was correct. The next installment now reflects the true remaining amount, on the page and at checkout.
Gallery downloads restored, and big uploads no longer interrupt the app
Download buttons in client galleries did nothing
Clicking download on a photo in a client gallery produced no file and no error message — it simply appeared to do nothing. An update on August 24th changed the address your galleries used to request photos, and every download request quietly went nowhere. Downloads work again across all your galleries, and the address is now worked out automatically so this particular failure can't come back.
Clients couldn't sign in to the client portal
Signing in, resetting a password, or opening a client portal invitation link all failed with a "Not Found" message. This had the same cause as the gallery download problem — an update on August 24th changed the address those pages used to reach the server. Sign-in, password resets, and invitation links all work again.
Publishing a large batch could interrupt the app partway through
Uploading a lot of photos at once — especially from the Lightroom plugin, which sends them one at a time — could use more memory than the server had and force a restart mid-upload, leaving the rest of the batch unprocessed. Photos are now prepared using a small fraction of the memory they needed before, and the number being processed at once is limited across the whole app instead of per batch. A 200-photo publish now runs comfortably start to finish. Your original files are untouched, and the web and thumbnail versions look exactly as they did.
A clearer to-do list, and downloads that tell you when something goes wrong
Active Tasks now show which client and session they belong to
Tasks created by your workflows carry generic titles like "Send pre-session check-in email" — useful, until you have several sessions running and can't tell which one a task is about. Each task on your dashboard now shows the client and the session it belongs to, including the session date and time, so you can tell at a glance what needs doing and for whom. Tasks that aren't tied to a session are unchanged.
Failed gallery downloads now explain themselves
If a photo download failed, the download icon simply stopped spinning and nothing happened — leaving your client with no idea whether to wait, retry, or contact you. Failed downloads now show a short, plain-language message, and where you've set a studio contact email, it points your client to it.
Invoice fix: split payments showing to clients when they were turned off
Client invoices showed a payment schedule you never set
An invoice saved with Split Payments turned off and a custom due date could still show your client two installments — the default from the session's booking package — and hide the due date you'd set. The Pay button charged the full total regardless, so a client could select a $100 installment and then be asked for the whole balance. Your client's view now matches exactly what you set on the invoice.
Turning off Split Payments now clears the schedule for good
Unchecking Split Payments left the old schedule stored on the invoice behind the scenes, where it could resurface on your client's view. It's now cleared when you save. If an installment has already been paid, the schedule is left alone so your payment history is never lost.
Publish straight from Lightroom, and faster gallery uploads
Lightroom Classic plugin
Publish photos directly from Lightroom Classic into a Studio Lifesaver gallery — no browser upload needed. Create a new gallery or attach to one that already exists (like one created when you booked the session), right from Lightroom's Publish panel. Set it up from Settings → Integrations → Lightroom Plugin, which walks you through downloading the plugin, installing it, and generating a Connection Key — a revocable credential the plugin uses instead of your account password.
Link any gallery to a client and session, anytime
Creating a new gallery now starts by searching for a client, then choosing one of their sessions shown with dates — much easier to navigate than one long list of sessions that often share the same name. Already have a gallery that isn't linked yet (say, one created from Lightroom, or one you meant to attach at booking)? You can now link it to a client and session — or change an existing link — right from the gallery's Settings tab, or attach an existing gallery to a session from the session's own page.
Faster processing for large galleries
After you upload photos, Studio Lifesaver generates the web and thumbnail sizes your clients actually see. That now happens for multiple photos at once instead of strictly one at a time, meaningfully speeding up big uploads like a full wedding.
QuickBooks settings showing up for accounts that never connected QuickBooks
The category and account mapping sections — including a nag about unmapped categories — were appearing even if you'd never connected QuickBooks. That section is also now collapsed by default, so it doesn't push your other Integrations settings out of view.
Choosing your H1, routing, and mobile speed fixes
Choose which line of your Hero is the H1
If your Hero section has both an eyebrow and a main heading, you can now pick which one search engines treat as your page's H1 — independent of which one looks biggest. Model your title tag around your location and specialty while keeping your preferred line visually dominant, or leave it as-is.
Content pages could still fall back to the booking screen during a brief backend hiccup
A previous fix caught routing checks that timed out, but missed ones that came back with an outright error response — which can happen for a few seconds during routine backend restarts. Those were wrongly treated as a confirmed "this isn't a real page" answer, so pages like /about or /contact could briefly show the generic booking screen with a plain "Client Portal" title instead of your real content. Now treated the same safe way as a timeout: when we're not sure, your real page wins.
Hero background photo wasn't sized for mobile
Your homepage's main photo was always sending the full, largest version of the image — even to a phone on a slow connection. It now sends an appropriately-sized version based on screen size, the same way every other image on your site already does. This was the single biggest factor in a poor mobile speed score.
Faster connection to your photo storage
Fixed a mismatch that had your site preparing a fast connection to the wrong step of your photo delivery. It now connects early to the step that actually matters, shaving meaningful time off how quickly your images can start loading.
Smaller, more modern site code
Published sites were shipping a small amount of extra compatibility code for browser versions that are no longer in real use. Trimmed, for a slightly faster page load on every visit.
Business info, structured data, and site speed
Business Info: phone, address, and areas served
Add a phone number and address to your Site Settings — pulled from your existing Business Settings, so you never have to enter it twice — plus a new list of the cities and regions you serve. This now powers a clickable phone/email in your footer and richer info in your site's search-engine listing.
Richer search-engine listing info
Every published site now includes your business phone, address, and service areas in its structured data, alongside your name and description — helping search engines show more complete local-business results.
Faster mobile page loads
Your homepage's main photo now loads with priority instead of competing with everything else on the page, portfolio thumbnails request an appropriately-sized image instead of a full-resolution one, and fonts no longer block the page from rendering. Aimed squarely at mobile load times, where this matters most.
Footer phone number wasn't showing on most layouts
The footer's phone/email display only worked if you'd switched to the "Columns" footer layout — every other layout, including the default, had no way to show it at all. It now shows automatically on every layout as soon as a phone number is set.
Booking page link showed the wrong URL
If your booking page lives on its own domain or subdomain, Site Settings was showing an incorrect link reconstructed from your website's own domain instead of your real booking URL. Fixed.
Business address could run together without a space
If your saved address spans two lines (street, then city/state/zip), it could display — and appear in your site's search-engine listing — with no space between them, e.g. "...Cir NAtlanta" instead of "...Cir N, Atlanta". Fixed.
Some website pages could intermittently show the wrong content
A behind-the-scenes routing check could occasionally time out on a real content page (like /about), causing it to briefly show a generic booking screen instead of the page you built — with a plain "Client Portal" title instead of your real one. Made this fail safe: a page is only ever redirected when we're certain it isn't real content, never on an inconclusive check.
Website list could get stuck in an unrecoverable error loop
If your session needed refreshing while the Websites list was loading, dismissing the error could immediately trigger the same error again with no way out. Fixed at the source so this can't loop regardless of what caused the original error.
Clearer guidance for your homepage's main heading
The Hero section's "Heading" field now explains that it becomes your page's H1 — the single most SEO-important line of text — with a nudge to include what you do and where (e.g. "Atlanta Family Photographer") rather than just a stylistic line.
Website Builder sites are now built for search engines
Every page now ships with real, readable content
Website Builder pages used to send browsers an empty shell and fill it in with JavaScript afterward — fine for a visitor, invisible to a search engine. Every page (home, your content pages, portfolio categories, and blog posts) now renders its full content on the server, so Google and every other crawler see the same page a person does.
Automatic sitemap.xml for every published site
Every published website now has a live sitemap at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml, listing every published page and blog post. It updates itself automatically as you publish new pages — nothing to generate or maintain.
Some content pages were falling back to the booking screen
A routing bug could cause a real page on your site (like /contact) to show the legacy booking-request screen instead of the page you actually built. Fixed for custom domains and studiobook.us subdomains alike.