Connecting to the wider ecosystem

Earlier today, after copying and pasting a blog post from Ulysses to Squarespace, I posted a comment to Twitter:

I like Squarespace and have happily been a customer for over ten years, but I really wish there was an API that let me post from other apps. To me, it’s the one flaw in an otherwise outstanding product.
— Bob Wertz (@sketchbookb) December 30, 2019

Squarespace responded asking for me to DM them with details.* Really, it comes down to having the kind of API access that Wordpress has, allowing publishing and more from third-party apps and services. Here are two scenarios where I think this would be helpful.

Scenario 1: Publishing from writing apps

Most modern writing apps allow you to publish directly to selected platforms through their API. My favorite writing app, Ulysses, lets you publish to Medium and Wordpress. Drafts and MarsEdit let you post to Wordpress and a variety of other services. But because Squarespace doesn’t allow access from third party apps, I can’t take advantage of any of those apps and services. This is becoming especially important to me as I use my iPad more and try to build efficient workflows.

Having a third-party publishing API would allow writers to use the tools we are already writing in to publish to our Squarespace blogs. These apps are also adopting connections for web services like IFTTT or Zapier and Shortcuts on iOS. Currently, Squarespace’s first-party apps do not support those integrations (and I don’t really expect them to, either).

Scenario 2: Micro.Blog

I’m a fan of Micro.Blog and I run my microblog from Squarespace**, which means that tweet I posted earlier today was actually posted here on Sketchbook B via the Squarespace iOS app and was crossposted to Micro.Blog and then Twitter and LinkedIn. And while that works fine, I’d rather have tighter integration with the Micro.Blog apps. Wordpress users can use the Micro.Blog apps to post to their site because their API allows that kind of access.

I’ll be honest. I don’t expect Squarespace to add this feature. When I first starting using Squarespace over ten years ago, they had an API feature like this, but removed it. I got the feeling that it was challenging to maintain and only a small number of people were interested in using it. The reality is that most users who value this kind of interoperatablity have probably already moved to Wordpress, but some of us who value the high-quality experience of Squarespace still would love to have the flexibility of using other apps and services.

One last comment. I think it benefits Squarespace to support as many open web standards as possible. As the web fractures into a cacophony of social media walled gardens, all of the open web — from large established entities like Wordpress and Squarespace to smaller upstarts like Micro.Blog — have a vested interest in working together to provide alternatives to Facebook, Twitter and other social media services that aim to trap content and discourage openness.

I still think Squarespace is a near perfect solution for hosting a blog or portfolio and I will continue to recommend it to friends, family and students. I just wish it were a little bit more perfect.

* I’m going to send this link to Squarespace via Twitter DM, too.

** If you want to use Squarespace with Micro.Blog, I’ve written about my workflow.

Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.