August 2019 Squarespace Product Updates
Every week as a Squarespace Circle Member (sign-up if you regularly build client websites) we get the latest product updates sent to our email. We realized that even though this community is growing, there are a lot of other Squarespace users that don’t get these updates, so the Brad Good team wanted to compile the most important changes every month in a easy to read blog post.
If you are wondering about all of the new updates Squarespace released in August, read more below!
Week: July 29- August 4
Personalize Campaign Subject Lines
You can now personalize subject lines in Email Campaigns using mail merge tags. Add the recipient’s first name, last name, or a default title (like “Valued Customer” or “Supporter”) if the recipient doesn’t have a name in your system.
Read more about personalizing emails in Squarespace’s Help guide.
Clearer Messaging In Squarespace Domain Registration
You and your clients will now see clearer messaging in your website, parking page, or email when you register a Squarespace Domain, including:
Alerts for pending or failed registrations and a Retry button in the Domains panel, if applicable.
Emails when a registration completes or fails. Failed registration emails include the reason why it failed and recommended next steps.
A Latest Invoice button in Domains panel, so you can quickly see the most recent charge for each Squarespace Domain.
Learn more about the new messaging in their Help guides:
New Page Settings Design
As part of Squarespace’s continuing efforts to improve site usability, they updated the Page Settings modal for all page types. On a desktop, instead of appearing on the right side of the page, each page’s settings opens in the center of the browser and has a cleaner and more modern design. Settings still function the same way as before.
Quickpost Bookmarklet Discontinued
As part of improving Page Settings, Squarespace removed the Quickpost Bookmarklet and you can no longer install it. With this tool, you could publish a blog post from any browser window without having a Squarespace site open.
As an alternative, try using the Squarespace App for quick blogging from your mobile device.
Week: August 5- August 11
New SEO And Social Options In Collection Items
Settings for individual collection items—like blog posts, events, and products—now include SEO and Social tabs. Use these tabs to better control how an item appears in search engine results or social media posts.
The collection item tab that was previously named Social, where you push content to specific social sites, is now named Share.
Read more about the update in this announcement post.
Authorize Third-Party Services With Oauth
You can now use OAuth to connect third-party apps instead of the previous method of using an API Key. Now, when you select an app, you’ll be asked to allow the third-party service to access specific data before connecting.
This update makes it easier for third-party services to build custom partner integrations for merchants on Squarespace. This change also makes the Apps panel available to all sites that sell products, meaning you no longer need a Commerce Advanced plan to connect an integration.
See more about this update in this announcement post.
Login Activity In The Account Dashboard
You and your clients can now see all open login sessions in a new Login Activity panel in the Account Dashboard. This is a duplicate of the activity that’s currently in Login History within Settings > Billing & Account. Squarespace will eventually remove the Login History panel and login sessions will only be in the Account Dashboard.
Use the panel to review your site’s active login sessions and spot any suspicious logins from devices you don’t recognize. The panel tracks all logins to your own account, but not contributor logins. Learn more about reviewing and managing login sessions in their updated Help guide.
Week: August 12- August 16
Customer Accounts For Donations
You can now enable Customer Accounts for donations. With Customer Accounts, donors can view their donation history and save payment information to make donations effortlessly in the future.
This feature is available on Commerce Basic and Commerce Advanced plans. Learn more about Customer Accounts in Squarespace’s Help guide.
Updated Text Block Link Editor
The Text Block link editor has been updated to align it with other link editors on the platform. Now, when you click a link icon, you can add a URL directly to a URL box, or click the gear icon to open the full link editor.
This is mostly an aesthetic change. There are still options for linking to external sites, internal content, and uploaded files, as well as new built-in options for linking to email addresses and phone numbers.
This update also applies to the link editors in Markdown Blocks and Inline Image Block captions. Learn more about the link editor in Squarespace’s updated Help guide.
Week: August 19- August 25
7.1 Updates
Squarespace launched a new A/B test for Squarespace 7.1 with a number of improvements to the 7.1 platform:
Onboarding cards - When starting a new trial on 7.1, you’ll see onboarding cards introducing the basics of 7.1.
Updated add page workflow - When adding new pages, click Blank Page to add a blank page immediately, or click Page Layouts to choose from a wide selection of starter layouts.
Manage Items button - When editing collection pages, you’ll see a Manage Items button, specific to the type of collection (for example, Blog Pages have a Manage Posts button). Clicking the button takes you to the list of items in the collection.
Update To Transferring Domains Away From Squarespace
To better protect customers transferring their domains away from Squarespace, transfer authorization codes will now be emailed instead of appearing directly in the Domains panel. Learn more about this process in Squarespace’s Help guide.