What this book covers
Chapter 1, Setting Up for Success - Your Website Toolkit, introduces the process we'll follow to build your website and helps us plan and gather the raw materials we'll need for the rest of the book. We will also learn what materials need to be gathered, such as logos, text, and images that will be used to build the site.
Chapter 2, Getting Started with Squarespace, teaches us how to set up a Squarespace account and takes us on a tour of all the main areas of the Squarespace interface, explaining what each area is used for.
Chapter 3, Working with Squarespace Templates, provides an overview of the Squarespace templates and how different templates display components differently. We will learn about similarities and differences between the various templates within Squarespace and how to choose the right one as the starting point for your site. We will also be shown how to switch templates, and will get an overview of the settings within each template that can be tailored to make the site look and function the way we want it to.
Chapter 4, Creating Your Site Framework - Pages, Items, Collections, and Navigation, takes us through the different types of Squarespace pages and containers. We will learn how to create pages using the template demo pages, using a Starter Layout, or from scratch. We will also learn the different elements of site navigation and how to use them.
Chapter 5, Adding, Editing, and Arranging Content in Your Web Pages, covers how to fill pages with basic text or image content, and how to control how these elements look on the page. In this chapter, we will learn what content blocks are, the different types of content blocks available, and how to use Squarespace’s LayoutEngine to organize content on web pages. We will learn to create and populate the main types of content blocks, and look at how to rearrange them on the page, such as making columns and wrapping text around images.
Chapter 6, Using Blocks to Add Functionality, Rich Media, and Special Features, explores all the more advanced types of blocks in Squarespace. This chapter explains how to add functions such as maps, data capture forms, search, and videos to the site, as well as how to incorporate dynamic content such as automatically-updated blog post summaries or social media feeds.
Chapter 7, Selling Online or Taking Donations with Squarespace Commerce, focuses on everything to do with selling goods or services online, or taking charitable donations. It covers how to set up a Squarespace Commerce Store, including adding and configuring products, shipping orders, and fulfillment for physical, virtual, or service products. We will also learn how to get set up with Stripe, Squarespace’s payment gateway, and the alternative methods of integrating an online shop or donation tool into a Squarespace website.
Chapter 8, Tailoring Your Site's Look and Feel, shows us how to select and change the site’s visual design, including colors, fonts, and background or header images. We will learn how to adjust the size of elements, or how to hide them completely and how to save or undo changes to the design. Throughout the chapter, we will also be given some online resources to help with choosing color schemes, fonts, and images.
Chapter 9, Going Live with Your Website and Driving Traffic to It, performs all the final preflight checks before launching your website and helps you learn how you can use Squarespace features to promote your website through social media.
Chapter 10, Managing Your Squarespace Website, showcases how to actively manage the website post-go-live, and how to allow other people access to the site for publishing, managing, or monitoring. We will also be introduced to the three Squarespace mobile apps that make managing the site on the go easier.
Chapter 11, Moving Beyond Standard Squarespace Tools, discusses customizing Squarespace websites in almost infinite number of ways by tinkering with the code directly. We will also be informed of the advanced features built into the tool, such as the CSS editor and code injection points, and directed to the Squarespace Answers forum as a place for finding custom code snippets. We will also be told about the developer platform, and the kinds of customizations that are possible for experienced developers, plus where to go to find designers/developers experienced with Squarespace.
Appendix A, Getting Help with Squarespace, provides a list of resources that can be accessed through the Squarespace Help Center.
Appendix B, Squarespace Templates in a Nutshell, contains charts displaying the key features of all the Squarespace templates.
Appendix C, List of Online Resources Used in This Book, gives a chapter-wise list of online resources used in the book.