Squarespace sites: what the builder handles, where its documented limits are and which bounded jobs fit

What Squarespace handles for you

Squarespace is a hosted site builder with template-led design. The same account holds the pages, the blog, form blocks with their storage options, a store, member sites with pricing plans, a redirect tool called URL mappings, and code injection. Domains can be bought from Squarespace or connected from another provider.

The hosting and the certificate are managed for you once the domain is pointing correctly, which is why most domain faults trace back to records at your own DNS host.

• Forms save to the storage you choose and email one address.
• Redirects live in URL mappings.
• Members features are built from pricing plans and member sites.

Documented limits that catch owners out

Code injection depends on your plan, does not run on checkout pages and is outside what Squarespace support will help with. Form submission emails are switched off on trial sites, and a form's notification address does not update when your account email changes. A redirect works only when the page it redirects from is deleted or disabled, and image and file addresses cannot be redirected.

Member sites cannot import members. Pages inside a member site are left out of the sitemap and have no SEO options. A page becomes public if its member site is deleted or the page is moved out of it. The site export covers only some page types and cannot be made from a trial site.

• Check the plan before relying on code injection.
• Re-edit a form's email address after any account change.
• Re-test protected pages after moving them.

Jobs that fit a bounded fix

The faults that most often fit a bounded job are a form that does not deliver, a pasted snippet or tag that breaks a page or counts twice, a domain stuck on pending, a slow landing page, a redirect map after a relaunch, setting up a small store with a test order, and setting up a members-only area using Squarespace's own tools. Moving a site off Squarespace is a larger project.

Each is offered as a fixed-scope job with an acceptance test, priced as an untested proposal and paid only after sign-off.

• Send the page address and a short description first, never logins.
• Expect a written scope and test before any access is asked for.
• Your account holder publishes every change.

Access and what stays yours

You keep the Squarespace account, the plan, the domain and all customer data. Access is agreed with you in writing before any work starts, and no work starts until it is; any access we use is through a company-controlled account, never a personal login. Most of the Squarespace jobs listed here need the Administrator permission, because Squarespace gives code injection, domain management, page settings and URL slugs, SEO settings, design changes, connecting storage to form blocks and the store's shipping, tax and payment settings to owners and administrators only. A Website editor can edit content and add code blocks, but not those. Administrator gives almost everything the owner can do except transfer ownership. A duplicate of a Squarespace site is a new trial site that sends no form email, so tests run on the live site. We name the role in the quote before you invite anyone. You can remove our access at any time. No passwords or payment details go by ordinary email.