Editing a Squarespace site without immediately making those changes live is a common need, especially for those who want to ensure their updates are perfected before sharing them with the public. Here’s a detailed guide on how to accomplish this:

1. Use a Trial or a Duplicate Site

One effective way to make changes without impacting your live site is by using a trial site or duplicating your existing site.

Steps:

• Create a Trial Site:
• If you're not currently on a trial, you can start one for free. This will essentially give you a separate space where you can test changes.
• Duplicate Your Existing Site:
• Go to Settings -> Advanced -> Import/Export.
• Click on Export to download your site content.
• Create a new trial site and use the import feature to bring in the content you exported. You’ll have an exact replica to work with.

2. Use the Squarespace Personal Workspace (6.0 Sites Only)

Squarespace 6.0 offers personal workspaces, allowing you to make edits without affecting the live website.

Steps:

• Log into your Squarespace account.
• Navigate to Site Settings.
• Find Personal Workspaces and create a new workspace.
• Make your edits and only publish them when you’re satisfied with how they look and function.

3. Password-Protection for Testing

While this doesn’t completely hide your site from the world, password protection can act as a barrier while you’re making significant updates.

Steps:

• Go to Settings -> Site Availability.
• Choose Password Protected.
• Set a password to restrict access. Only people with the password will be able to view the site.

4. Control Visibility Using Draft Mode

For individual pages or elements, you can utilize the draft mode.

Steps:

• Navigate to the page you want to edit.
• Click on the Settings icon next to the page name.
• Switch the page status to Draft.
• Edit the page as needed. Once ready, switch it back to Public.

5. Working with Under Construction Pages

Utilize an "Under Construction" page or a Coming Soon page to mask ongoing work.

Steps:

• Create a new page.
• Set it as the homepage temporarily.
• Add an “Under Construction” message.
• Make edits to your original pages while this page is live. Once edits are complete, switch the homepage back.

6. Schedule Changes

For pre-planned updates that need to go live at a specific time, you can schedule changes.

Steps:

• Edit your content as needed.
• Click on the Page Settings.
• Look for the Scheduling option (available on certain plan tiers).
• Set the date and time for the changes to go live.

Considerations:

1. Limitations of Your Plan: Certain features like scheduling might only be available on higher-tier plans.
2. SEO Impact: If your site is live and you’re drastically changing content under password protection, it won’t necessarily hide those changes from search engines.
3. Functionality Testing: Ensure to test all functionalities, such as forms or e-commerce transactions, on a staging site to avoid disrupting user experience.

These strategies can help you manage your Squarespace site edits efficiently without prematurely displaying incomplete work. By utilizing drafts, personal workspaces, and other features, you can ensure your site updates are polished before they go live.