An Interconnected Squarespace and Circle Forum

Squarespace Forum

Circle Forum

The Squarespace Forum is an online community where customers and developers come together to discuss best practices, seek advice, and share coding solutions.

Squarespace previously had two separate forums, a private one for Circle members and a public one called Answers, and we wanted to bring them together. Working with our Community team, our goal was to build a real community around websites where both new and advanced users could support each other. To be successful with promoting your online business, personal portfolio, or blog, it takes a village. A forum.

Problem

Outdated and Disconnected

The previous forum, Squarespace Answers, existed on a very outdated platform with very few features and little engagement from users. Separately there was a Circle Forum for Circle members where they could share advice amongst each other with little incentive to use Answers and help newer users. This created a gap for new users who weren’t finding the help they needed in the forum.

Solution

Based on our understanding of our users’ needs, we decided to build a new forum that integrated both Squarespace Answers and Circle Forum into one platform.

The forum would be a users’ one-stop shop for anything that lies outside the scope of our existing support options, while the Circle Forum continues to privately support the Circle member community.

How we did it

We partnered with a third party platform, Invision Community, to build our new forum that matched our branding and offered a suite of features to create a better community experience for all our users.

My role was to design a forum that matched Squarespace’s brand guidelines and design system, while also accommodating the unique Invision Community forum interface.

Forum categories card states

Featured and Latests Posts states

Switching between Squarespace and Circle Forums

What I learned

When working with a third party provider who’s unfamiliar with the design system, it’s incredibly important to be very thorough and explicit.
When working with stakeholders from many departments, make it clear early on who are the primary decision makers.
Always advocate for the proper amount of time needed, and regular check-in on progress with stakeholders.