SquareKicker: an honest review after using it for years
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Once upon a time, in the summer of 2020, I was in a random Squarespace-themed Facebook group and saw a post or comment from people I’d never heard of who were announcing the upcoming launch of a brand new type of Squarespace plugin.
But this wasn’t just any plugin.
This was going to be an active plugin that would install into the backend of our Squarespace website, not static copy/pasted code. What a novel idea!
So that person mentioned their Beta Launch and asked who wanted to participate & give them feedback on how it was working.
I’m a curious person, so I put myself on the waitlist to try the Beta version when it quietly launched. That was sometime in early August of 2020.
By mid-September of 2020, Beta launched and I began playing around with it.
I’ve used it regularly ever since! On my own website and on my client’s websites. Here’s what I’ve learned since then.
SquareKicker’s Co-Founders
Nick & Hannah Ippolito are the co-founders and they are straight-up wonderful!
I’ve gotten many a DM and email from them since I first started using it, and I’ve attended their really fun & informative webinars which are usually a precursor to their major update launches.
They genuinely enjoy getting feedback from designers with real-world application questions so they can make SquareKicker even better, –and it shows.
From the initial beta launch over a year ago, to now, the ‘little plugin that could’ has done a complete 180!
Now it’s an absolute powerhouse of design freedom and that’s all because the SK founders and their team have listened to everything we said, everything we asked for, –and added their own innovations too.
SquareKicker’s* Features (so many updates!)
Just typing that title felt daunting, because the list of things SquareKicker can do now is really more than anyone can fit into a single blog post. Some changes are global, but most are per section or block.
That said, here’s a brief 30,000ft overview of what you can expect to play with…
Customize a myriad of elements on any page or section
Customize elements inside the header, site-wide OR per page
Add a custom scrollbar to the site
Add a Scroll Up button to the site
Hide/Show your Header & Footer, per page or per site
Header element adjustments & some Footer adjustments
Adjust the Overlay Menu design settings
Block Scrolling Effects/Animations
Horizontal Section Scrolling Effects
Design Presets
Anchor Links
Sticky Split layouts & Sticky sections
New features that work just within Fluid Engine (+ basically everything that works in Classic Editor also works in Fluid)
And a 15,000ft view of that myriad list of things… 😳
Edit elements inside the block, such as:
almost anything font-related
(target h1-4 and p1-3 to change their size, weight, spacing, color, capitalization, highlight, change the font itself, & more)image edits for inline or image layout blocks
(border colors, sizes & shapes; layout, spacing, button styles, layering, shadows, rotation, visibility, & more)button edits
(background color, border edges, strokes & colors; shadows, size, & more)summary block-specific edits
(title, caption, excerpt, thumbnail, columns, borders, shadows, disabling links, visibility, & more)inline form block-specific edits (not for lightboxed forms, yet)
(multiple editing options for spacing, labels, inputs/fields, line, button, post-submit style, block, etc)spacing, position, borders, shadows, rotation & size of the blocks (button, image, etc)
Edit blocks, separate from the styling of the elements inside, such as:
layout changes
(where the block sits on the page, no matter where you actually added it)color changes
(background, stroke, shadow, etc)add/remove padding inside or outside the block
rotate or skew the angle of the block & its contents
change the size, height &/or layout (placement) of spacer blocks
make any block sticky
Edit section-specific design settings
create split-screen layouts
customize each view for desktop, laptop, tablet, AND mobile
add anchor links for on-page/same-page navigation
change section background colors, add gradients or overlays
change height, width & spacing, –outside of/in addition to the native settings Squarespace offers
Add divider graphics at the top or bottom of any section
edit the visibility of any section to hide it on certain devices or all devices
sticky split sections
horizontally scrolling sections
background-related design settings for color, media, & overlay, etc
Fluid Engine-specific design tweaks while keeping everything we loved from SK’s edits on Classic Editor, such as targeting specific words in text blocks to change the styling for one or more words out of an entire paragraph, outlining text, and a lot more!
Saved color swatches: does your brand’s color palette use a couple of extra colors that didn’t fit into the Squarespace palette limit of 5? Add them here & use them when ya want!
Device Toggle: edit any/most of this list PER device & the settings apply on the size you set it AND down so you don’t have to keep reapplying on smaller screen sizes for a great workflow while tackling responsive design tweaks!
Presets! (OMG: presets!?): style something the way you like, then want to use that style throughout your design? Create a preset for that block’s styling and apply it anywhere else within your site with just 1-2 clicks per extra use-case.
Animations (YASS!): In Beta right now are several features surrounding sticky elements & sticky scrolling, along with horizontal scrolling and a fluid scrolling option for a smooth & flowy transition between using these new features.
And that’s NOT an exhaustive list. I’m positive I’ve left out some things!
Try SquareKicker & experience its magic for yourself!
Pick your plan, obligation-free, and cancel anytime.
Your Questions (and my answers)
As a long-time user myself, I'll address a few commonly asked questions based on what I know from talking with the SquareKicker team & from my own usage experience:
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It’s honestly easiest to SHOW you this, rather than explain it.
Watch the video or check out their features list to see more details.
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Inside your SquareKicker account:
STEP 1: Click “Connect New” site, enter the free Squarespace domain (THISPART.squarespace.com).
STEP 2: Grab the pre-written code and paste it into the Footer area of your site’s Code Injection (they even have a button that will take you right to that spot in your website’s settings!)
STEP 3: Once you’ve pasted in that code & saved the changes, click “Verify” in your SquareKicker account.
All done! Your website will refresh and SquareKicker will now be part of your Squarespace design experience.
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I know, and I do feel your pain there; as a business owner, it can absolutely feel like we’re subscription’d to death. BUT there are a few positives to the way SquareKicker’s subscription works!
Try it for free, pay for a single month & the changes made during that time save forever. That means you can cancel any time, and your changes stay put!
You only need an ongoing paid subscription if you want to keep making more changes, if you’re a designer that wants to use it on multiple sites at once, or if you want access to premium features.
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SquareKicker only works on Squarespace websites, and only on version 7.1 (Classic Editor or Fluid Engine).
Currently, there are no plans to bring SK to version 7.0, that I’m aware of.
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It works best for people who want to take their Squarespace website to the next level, and don’t mind learning a new tool to do so.
That means it’s a great fit for designers, Squarespace-specific developers, and of course the OGs of Squarespace (the regular ‘ol DIY-ers).
As long as you’re willing to learn how to use a new design tool & pay for at least 1 month to publish those changes, then you’ll be a perfect fit to try SquareKicker!
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✦ People who can’t remember details very well. Like, if you can’t remember what app to use for this or that in your business & how to do things in those apps, then maybe detail-oriented tools are not you’re thing. (And that’s totally okay! I know you’re good at a lot of other things.)
✦ People who don’t edit their website much &/or don’t need it to be heavily customized. There’s no need for an additional design tool on these basic websites. You can opt to use SquareKicker anyway, of course.
✦ People who get confused by the backend of Squarespace (ie: where do I edit that thing again?). The one downside of SquareKicker is that until you click on the block to open the SK editor, at a glance, you can’t tell if that block has been edited by SquareKicker or not (unless you happen to know the way it looks isn’t achievable with the built-in Squarespace design settings.) So if Squarespace’s Site Styles REALLY confuses you, and no matter how many videos you watch or tutorial sessions you have with your designer, and you still get confused, SquareKicker won’t be a great fit for you; it’ll just add another layer to navigate & may confuse you further.
✦ People who hate using Squarespace. If you don’t like the platform… then why are you forcing it? 😬 Just sayin’, maybe it’s time to switch to something else? SquareKicker may fix a lot of the things that irritate you about Squarespace, but not all of them.
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That’s a great question! The code SK writes for us is applied to the site in the Code Injection area, not in the Custom CSS and it doesn’t tend to cause problems with any Custom CSS I write or add myself.
On average, my custom websites have around 1,000+ lines of CSS and I feel comfortable saying that 95% of the time or more, that code will not affect my use of SquareKicker on the site or vice versa.
When there is interference, usually it’s because I’ve written some CSS with an important tag (eg: !important;) that can override any CSS SquareKicker wrote and so that change I tried to make in SK won’t apply until I remove my manual override in my own Custom CSS. But that’s not really a big deal and doesn’t happen often; just something to be aware of as we work!
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While designing, I try to be conscious of whether I think the client will want to perform edits in SquareKicker after handoff or not and then use that to decide which types of edits I make with SquareKicker so those changes don't cause confusion down the road when the client edits their own site.
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IMHO, using SquareKicker to make custom changes can actually be smarter than writing the code ourselves IF the client isn't on a site maintenance package with you, or will be able to ask you for help after launching the site.
Why? If Squarespace changes the code on their backend and our custom code stops working because of the changes Squarespace made, disrupting our code, it's because the code we write or install doesn't update itself. The customization(s) could ‘break’ resulting in a panicked client request to fix it, and if we’re not currently working on the site we won’t just magically know when something breaks.
BUT if we use SquareKicker for stuff like that, this is something they stay on top of for us. As the code changes on Squarespace's end, SquareKicker will quickly update the way the plugin implements those design changes, which keeps things from breaking. And that keeps our clients from sending a panicked email that something looks wrong or doesn't work/display/whatever and requesting our time to fix the issue ASAP. 🙌🏻
Win-win.
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The one downside I see for client-use cases is that there's not really a visible sign that a block has been edited by SquareKicker UNTIL you open the SquareKicker editor so it can be hard for clients to know, at a glance, whether to edit something in Site Styles, individual block settings, or SquareKicker.
That said, I’ve let Team SK know that this is a potential issue for our clients, so we’ll see if that changes down the road! 😉
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It depends on your process & your client. For me, it varies; it’s not a standard process or decision for every client.
✦ If they want to be able to make further changes with it themselves, then you can literally pass it on to them. Simply email SquareKicker & tell them specifically what Squarespace website URL you need transferred & share the email the client used to sign up for the free trial of SquareKicker. They transfer the code/changes you made with SquareKicker and the ownership of the plugin to the client's SquareKicker account FOR us. This removes it from my entire site list, gives clients full access & they can choose what plan they want while keeping the changes I made with it & the ability to make further changes themselves.
If the client's subscription lapses, the design changes made will STAY, but further changes aren't allowed until the subscription is active again.
✦ If they don’t want to use it, then you can simply (on the Designer Plan) move that site to your Inactive list until you need to make further changes. (Then move it temporarily back to Active, make the changes, then move it back to Inactive again when you’re done.) Inactive sites DON’T count toward the number you’re billed for.
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Most of my clients aren’t in industries that have to keep their website's content updated as often as I do, and so they don't tend to want to edit design stuff after the handoff, –just their content (like Services info, blogging, etc).
They also don't tend to want the extra subscription or to learn an additional thing. In these cases, I teach my clients the how-tos of basic edits & content updates in Squarespace, then remove the site from the Active list in my SquareKicker account, so it no longer counts toward my 10 Active sites. If the client needs an adjustment to something I've edited using SquareKicker, then I put it back in the Active list and make the changes. Once the client is satisfied with those changes, I move it back to Inactive. Easy peezy!
For clients that DO want to pay for it & use it, I transfer ownership to them & they take over the subscription & usage from there. Again, easy peezy!
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Where applicable, I just explain that SquareKicker gives me/them more design power which will help their site be even more unique, but it's an external plugin not native to (built-in) Squarespace.
✦ If they want to use it themselves or have ownership of how it works, they can opt to pay for it long-term (annually) or month-by-month as needed, subscribing & canceling the subscription when they need to use it & when they don't. It doesn't have to be an ongoing cost, which is nice!
✦ A happy side effect of keeping their site in my SquareKicker site list is that I essentially take on the cost as I'm paying for the Designer Plan anyway, which allows up to 10 (active) sites to use SquareKicker at any given time. This way, regardless of what they decide & when (be it the week after launch or a year+ later), I can keep their site in my Active or Inactive list as needed.
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No, Inactive sites don't count toward the active 10. Even though I use SquareKicker on a lot of sites, I rarely reach the limit, but I do typically have around 3-5 Active sites using SquareKicker at any given time.
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Click here* to start a free trial & test it out yourself! If you like it, you can pick a plan & upgrade to publish your design changes. Cancel any time & your changes stay put.
*Yes, that is an affiliate link! If you purchase a paid plan from this free trial link, I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you. (My reading fund thanks you. 🤓) Rest assured that this is not just something I share bc it sounds cool; I actually use and trust it on my own site!
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That’s fair! SquareKicker is a totally new concept and having questions about it is totally normal.
Check out the main FAQs hub on SquareKicker’s site for answers to more questions like:
✦ How does the Free Trial / Paid Plan work?
✦ What happens if Squarespace updates their code? Will this break SquareKicker?
✦ Can I use my own custom code with SquareKicker?
✦ When I duplicate a Section, Page, or Site can I then carry over all my SquareKicker changes?
✦ I cannot see my saved changes on my website.
✦ Can I use SquareKicker to build my client’s website?
✦ Can I use it on my 7.0 site?
✦ Can I uninstall SquareKicker without losing all my changes?
✦ Where are all my custom changes stored?
✦ Will SquareKicker have any impact on the speed of my site?
✦ What happens if I cancel my subscription?
✦ Is Squarespace OK with you doing this to their platform?
✦ I only build 1 website at a time, can I use the single Basic Subscription to build a website and then switch out the website when I'm done?
✦ Can I use SquareKicker on multiple sites at the same time?
✦ What if my client wants to be able to use SquareKicker for themselves?
If I use SquareKicker*, will people say I'm not a “real” designer?
This is a question I see people ask a fair bit –or I can read it in their hesitation on giving SquareKicker a try.
Here’s my maybe-too-honest opinion: I have no idea, but who gives a shit? Really.
I daresay anyone can say that about anyone, regardless of whether they used a tool like SquareKicker or not –just based on a judgment of skills & what was done in the design, alone. In fact, I recently had a client reach out who'd paid a designer for a Squarespace website just 2-3 years ago, and I've NEVER seen a Squarespace site look so much like something that originated in the late 90s or early 00s. I honestly had no idea Squarespace sites could even look that dated! Along with a severe lack of design strategy, the client desperately needed an update that would be more functional & strategic, –and yes I definitely judged that original designer a bit! 😬 😂
You don’t run your business to make OTHER people happy. You (hopefully) run your business because it’s what you love to do & because you can help people. Being afraid of what other people will say will hold you back & keep you from being successful, so the faster you can drop fears like this, the more successful you will become. 🖤
6 arguments for why I’d say you ARE a “real” designer –whether you use SquareKicker or not:
❶ You are a designer if you did the work, the work is functional for the client, the finished product ultimately helped their business, you got paid to do it, and the client is happy. That's really all that matters.
❷ Design & Development are 2 completely different things. I am a "web designer" and I'm confident in that title; while I can write basic HTML and CSS, I would not call myself (& don't want to be) a "web developer" & that's okay with me! There will always be a place for both.
❸ The nature of how the Squarespace platform works means that more ‘extreme’ customizations HAVE to be hard-coded in because it's not included in the native set of features. Whether or not you write the code yourself points more toward whether or not you've ALSO got some development skills, and doesn’t necessarily reflect on your design skills.
❹ Anything that saves time is gold to people who work with clients 1:1 because our time is literally money. Whether that means using automations to help with our admin work or tools like SquareKicker –both save us time. One wouldn't mock us for wanting to save time & work more efficiently by using email templates & automations instead of writing emails or sending reminders to clients manually. The same goes for using SquareKicker; it accomplishes the same task as if you wrote these customizations yourself, but faster & that’s the best part! Let’s not reinvent the wheel here.
❺ SquareKicker can work for many levels of designers, who know coding basics, who can code sites from the ground up, or who can't write a lick of code, –which is pretty amazing. Anyone who would scoff at it or make fun of SquareKicker’s users likely isn't designing on Squarespace, to begin with, so I wouldn't let this worry you. I've used it for over a year myself, and some of the changes I make with it, I could’ve written myself but the fact that I don't have to is nice!
❻ “Real” designers are using it in the wild! I’ve done some subcontract design work for another designer who also uses SquareKicker for her clients, and when I build the sites for her (& also use SquareKicker during the build), I just handoff ownership of that site's SquareKicker plugin when the build is done and she chooses what’s best for her client at that stage, whether to keep the site in her plan or pass off to her client.
Struggling with leading your clients through projects & getting good content? 👇🏼
