Glossary

Last Updated: Jun 07, 2013 12:49PM EDT

The Squarespace Glossary defines many of the terms used while building a website or blog with Squarespace.

A

Anchor Line
The blue line that appears when moving content blocks within your pages. This line shows you where you can create a new column, or row, as well as where a content block can be inserted in between or set to float next to text within a Text Block.
Authors
Someone who writes a blog on your website. The author could be you, an administrator, or a content editor on your site that has access to write a blog post.
Automatic Stock Level Alert Email
An email that will be sent to you if your Inventory goes below a set level. You can turn this on and set the level at which an email is sent in your Store Settings.

B

Billing Information
The information of a customer's credit card which they are using to purchase your products if you are using Commerce.
Blog
A type of website or part of a website that is updated consistently to provide users with new content. As more entries are added to a blog, they can be tagged, categorized, and organized by date. Learn more about blogs.
Blog Importer
Allows you to import your blog from Squarespace 5, Wordpress, Tumblr, Posterous, and Blogger. Learn more about importing your blog to Squarespace.

C

Cart Notification
A notification customers receive while on your site of how many items they have added to their Shopping Cart.
Categories
You can place blog posts into "categories" to index content by type, so that viewers can easily find the post they are looking for.
Checkout
A button on your site customers will click to begin paying for their purchases.
Column
The option that appears on the anchor line when moving a content block to create a new column in your page content. This will place the content block you are moving next to the content where the anchor line appears.
Comments
Responses from visitors of your site to blog posts. Learn more about comments.
Commerce
The area of your site where your store is configured
Content Collection
Dynamic page types such as blogs, galleries, and links that contain images, blog posts, custom content blocks, and links. Collections are also known as pages. Learn more about content collections.
Coupon Expiration Date
The date after which a coupon code for your products will no longer be valid.
Coupon Rule
A principle stating what kind of discount is applied, how much of a discount, and when the discount is applied.
Coupons
Codes your customers can use to receive a discount on your products.
CSS
Stands for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS is used to style the content of your website.
Customizable Element
Any element listed within the Style Editor toolbar. Used for changing styles of certain areas within your site. Learn more about customizing elements.

D

Digital Product
An item which the buyer downloads instead of having shipped
Discount Type
The amount by which a coupon code will reduce a customer's price.
DNS
This stands for Domain Name Server. These are web servers that translate a website IP address (65.39.205.57) into a legible domain name (www.squarespace6.com).
Domain Hosting
The hosting and management of your custom domain name (not provided by Squarespace). Learn more about domain hosting.
Domain Name
The name of a website. Domain names can be purchased from multiple domain registrars such as Go Daddy, Nettica, and more. Domain name example: "squarespace.com".

E

Element (in a style)
An element is any part of your website that can be edited in the Style Editor. Learn more about elements.
Email Notifications
The area of your Commerce manager where you can update emails sent to your customers.
Express Checkout
A setting that allows buyers to be taken straight to the checkout page instead of to their Shopping Cart.

F

Fee Per Item
A fee charged for each physical item in the order
Flat Discount
A Discount Type that will give a discount of a specific dollar amount.
Flat Rate
A way of charging for shipping on an per item basis.
Float
The option that appears on the anchor line when moving a content block to float to the left or right of text within a Text Block. This will wrap the text around the content block. The float option is available when moving an Image or Map Block.
Focal Point
Focal points provide you with the ability to exert some control over the area of focus in your images depending on where you place the image on your site as well as if the image is featured as a thumbnail (smaller version). Learn more about focal points.
Footer
A division of a website or blog that displays below all main content, at the bottom of the page.
Free Shipping
A Discount Type which provides shipping at no cost to the customer
From Email Address
The email address from which you would like emails from your store to be sent

G

Gallery Block
A type of block that will feature images in either a slideshow, grid, or slider format. These types of blocks can be added to Pages, Blogs, footers, and sidebars. Learn more about gallery blocks.
Gallery Page
Pages that are intended to feature images in a format specific to the template you've chosen. These page types are only available within the portfolio template category.Gallery pages can also be referred to as gallery collections. Learn more about gallery pages.
Google Apps
A suite of online applications from Google that includes web tools like email, a calendar, and document management. Learn more about Google Apps.

H

Heading (h1, h3, dt)
HTML elements that help define web document structure and styling. Heading tags break up content and organize topics. Important headings like H1 or H2 are typically used for the site title and page titles.
Homepage
The page that visitors to your site will see upon arrival. Learn more about setting a homepage.
Hosting
The systems that hold all the content for a website or blog, and connect this data to site visitors.
Hover
The effect when positioning your mouse over an element on your site (e.g. a link, image, etc.).
HTML
HyperText Markup Language, which is the basic markup language used for building web pages. HTML uses tags (e.g. <p>, <b>, <i> ) that surround text in order to structure a web page. Your Squarespace site can be modified with HTML by adding code blocks and by using code injection points. We have an HTML cheat sheet here for your reference. Learn more about code blocks and code injection.

I

Image Block
The block that will allow you to feature images in content areas like pages, posts, sidebars, and footers. Once your image is uploaded, our system creates 6 different size variations of a single image so it looks great no matter how you size it within the editor. We recommend sizing your images to be no larger than 1500 pixels. This will ensure that your image can be displayed and will help to avoid the pixelization that can occur if a smaller image is being displayed in a wider format. Valid image extensions for the web are PNG, GIF, and JPG. Learn more about formatting images for display on the web.
In Stock
A good that is currently available for purchase within your site using the Commerce tools.
Index Page
An index page is a group of thumbnails that represent a collection of content (gallery, pages, blogs). When clicking on the thumbnail within the index page the related collection will be displayed in a way that is dependent upon the template.
Insert
The option that appears on the anchor line when moving a content block to insert the content block in between other content blocks on your site. This will attach the content block you are moving to the content block that appears above the anchor line. 
Inventory
The number of a good in your store that is available for purchase

L

Linking
Connecting a domain name you have purchased and mapped from a 3rd-party domain host to your Squarespace site within Settings > Domains. Learn more about domains.

M

Mapping
Accessing your Domain Registrar's DNS (Domain Name System) settings to point your domain name to the Squarespace servers. DNS access and settings will vary by Registrar, but A Records must point to our IP Address (65.39.205.57) and your CNAME Record must point to our name (www.squarespace6.com). Learn more about domains.
Margins
The area around an object within your site. Margins are used to give extra space around elements on your site. See an example.

N

Navigation Link
Single page links to be displayed in navigation areas. These can either be used for external links or internal links. Learn more about navigation links.
Newsletter
A store letter that keeps your customers informed about your store

O

On Sale
An item being sold for a reduced price
Order Confirmed Message
An email sent to your customer telling them that you have received their order
Order Shipped Message
An email sent to your customer telling them that their order has shipped
Orders
The area within the Commerce settings where purchases made by your customers will appear.

P

Padding
The area between the edge of the content container and the content within it. Padding is used to give extra space within an object around its content. See an example.
Page
You can add content to your site by adding pages; also known as content collections. Content collections provide the base canvas for building pages within your site. Learn more about pages.
Page Builder
The grid based technology that allows you to create custom pages with various types of blocks including, but not limited to text, galleries, forms, and videos. The page builder will allow you to create up to 12 columns and and an unlimited amount of rows of content. Learn more about the page builder.
Page Views
A statistic that indicates someone has visited a page on your site. This traffic often comes from search engine references (for example, when someone reaches your site through a Google search) or external links which point to your site.
Per Order Fee
A base fee added to each order
Percentage Discount
A Discount Type which will decease an order's price by a given percentage of the price
Physical Product
An item for sale which can be held and must be shipped to the buyer
Plain Text
Text that does not contain any code which can impact display or functionality. You can use a text editor such as Notepad or WordPad (for Windows) or TextEdit (for Mac) to create plain text.
Podcast
A media file, usually an audio recording, that is added to an audio block within a blog post. Learn more about audio blocks.
Posts
Individual entries within a Blog page.
Post Excerpt
A truncated display of a post that gives your audience a sample or preview of the full post. Excerpt content can be added within the options area of the post editing window. Learn more about excerpts.
Price
The cost you are charging a buyer
Privacy Policy
What you will and won't do with your customer's information which they provide to you when they purchase a product
Product
A physical or digital good you are selling within your site using the Commerce tools.

Q

Quantity
The number of a particular product your customer is buying.
Quickpost Bookmarklet
The tool used to make blog posts while browsing other sites and from outside of your Squarespace account. This can be installed in the address bar of your browser. Learn more about quickpost bookmarklets.

R

Return Policy
Your terms for accepting returns and offering refunds
Row
The option that appears on the anchor line when moving a content block to create a new row in your page content. This will place the content block you are moving above the content where the anchor line appears.
RSS
Really Simple Syndication is a way of allowing visitors of your site to receive your blog posts and updates in their browser or RSS feed readers as soon as they are published. RSS is delivered in 3 different versions (RSS, ATOM, and RDF), and generated automatically by your Blog.

S

Sale Price
The price for which an On Sale item is being sold.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization. This term refers to improving a site's visibility with search engines, where the higher a site appears in search results, and the more frequently the site is listed, the more potential traffic it will receive from a search engine.
Shipping
The method by which physical goods are delivered to your customers
Shopping Cart
The area where all of your customer's purchases are stored until they are ready to checkout
Sidebar
The sections that appear to the left or right of the main page content within your template. Sidebars generally contain page links or blocks that a user wants to appear across multiple pages on their site.
Single Product
A Coupon Rule which states that a coupon code may only be used a specific product
Site Hosting
The hosting of your website pages and associated files (provided by Squarespace)
SKU
An ID number for a product or variant
Stock
The number of a certain product you have for sale. Can be a number or unlimited.
Store Policies
Your store's return and private policies and terms of service
Store Settings
The area of your Site Manager where you can integrate your Squarespace site with your Stripe account, add and edit your Store Title, turn on and off Express Checkout, select a Shopping Cart Style, integrate a newsletter, turn on Stock Level Alerts, and add your Store Policies.
Stripe
The company that handles the billing aspects of your store. You can find out more about connecting your Stripe account to your Squarespace store here.
Store Title
The name of your store
Style Editor
Squarespace editing mode represented by the "paintbrush" icon within the preview editing tool. This is where you control the color, typography, sizes, values, and other miscellaneous style options for your site elements. This is also where you can add your own custom CSS for your template.Learn more about the style editor.
Support Ticket
This is an area located within your site where you can submit messages for quick help with questions regarding your site. Submit a support ticket.

T

Tags
Keywords used in a blog for topic organization. Unlike categories (which are generally intended for broader categorization of site content) tags allow for greater topic specificity.
Tax Rule
A principle stating how much tax is charged and when it is charged
Taxes
The area of your Commerce Settings where you can configure how much tax will be charged to your customers
Template
A starting point for the layout, design, and functionality of your website. We currently have blog and portfolio templates.Learn more about templates.

U

Unique Attribute
A quality such as size, color, or style which sets apart variations of a single product.
Unique Visitors
An individual connection, not necessarily a person, that visits your site as identified by an IP address. Squarespace tracks unique visitors by a cookie that expires after 7 days.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator. In human terms, a url is a direct address to a specific location on the web.
URL Shortcut
A URL is a website address. A URL shortcut takes a rather lengthy URL and shortens or renames it to a shorter address. Learn more about URL shortcuts

V

Variant
A duplicated product which has different attributes and stock numbers

W

Website
A website contains content that is updated as frequently or as infrequently as needed by the owner, and viewed by visitors who seek to gain information by visiting that website.