How Do I Update My Squarespace Website Without Going Live?

Updating a Squarespace website without those changes going live immediately is a sensible approach, especially when you want to thoroughly review updates before making them visible to your audience. Squarespace offers several features and strategies to help you achieve this. Here are the steps and considerations for effectively managing updates:

1. Use the 'Not Linked' Section for Pages

Steps: - Go to the main menu and click on "Pages." - Drag the page you’re working on to the “Not Linked” section at the bottom of the Pages panel.

Considerations: - Pages in the "Not Linked" section are not accessible through the main navigation but can still be viewed if you know the URL. - This allows you to build and edit without making those pages part of the live, navigable site structure.

2. Use Draft Mode for Blog Posts and Other Content

Steps: - When creating or editing content like blog posts, use the draft mode. - For blogs, go to the “Blog” section, add a new post, and save it as a draft. - For other content types, look for the draft option in their respective settings.

Considerations: - Drafts are not visible to the public but can be reviewed internally until they’re ready to be published.

3. Use Text Blocks and Sections Wisely

Steps: - Add new sections or text blocks as necessary. - Hide them by toggling the visibility or setting them to show conditionally based on certain criteria.

Considerations: - Use the “Hide” feature in the section settings or only show parts of a page to logged-in admin users if possible.

4. Preview Your Changes

Steps: - Use the Preview feature extensively. Squarespace offers a “Preview” mode that allows you to see changes as they will appear once live. - Simply click the ‘eye’ icon or ‘Preview’ button while editing.

Considerations: - Although this mode does not save your changes, it gives you a real-time view of how updates will look.

5. Create a Duplicate or Staging Site

Steps: - If you have a Business or Commerce plan, you can create a duplicate of your site. - Go to Settings > Advanced > Import/Export > Export Site. - Import it into a new trial site or a secondary account for staging.

Considerations: - This is highly effective for extensive changes, as it allows you to work in a completely separate environment. - Be mindful of the time and effort required to manage two environments.

6. Use Code Injection and Custom CSS

Steps: - Navigate to Settings > Advanced > Code Injection. - You can use CSS to hide or style elements specifically for admin previews. For example, use custom CSS to hide certain elements from all users except admins.

Considerations: - This requires basic knowledge of CSS and can get complex depending on your needs.

7. Scheduled Publishing

Steps: - Create or edit content. - Use the scheduled publishing feature (available for blogs and some other content types) to set a future date and time for your content to go live.

Considerations: - This feature ensures that your changes will be published automatically at your chosen time, without further action needed.

8. Backup Before Major Changes

Steps: - Before implementing significant updates, export your site as a backup. - Go to Settings > Advanced > Import/Export > Export Site.

Considerations: - Although Squarespace does not have a one-click backup and restore feature, exporting can save your content structure and layout.

Limitations

• No True Staging Environment: Unlike some other web development platforms, Squarespace doesn’t have a built-in staging environment.
• Live Edits: Some modifications may still impact live elements due to the platform's live editing nature, so care is required during significant overhauls.
• Potential SEO Impact: Hidden pages and drafts won't be indexed by search engines until they go live, which is generally desirable but worth noting depending on your workflow.

By utilizing these methods, you can make significant updates to your Squarespace site while ensuring that all changes are well-reviewed and fine-tuned before they’re visible to your audience.