How to add a Forum to my Squarespace Site

Hi all,

I am wanting to add a forum to my squarespace site. Im at a lost of where to start/how to do so would love some guidance.

TIA

I asked for help to the SS help center and here is their response - so disapointing.  

Are Forums easy to integrate with SS ? And how to do that?
 
Since this would need to be done using custom code, while you're welcome to use custom code to modify your site, we highly recommend that you have coding knowledge before attempting custom code solutions. Due to their complex nature, we're unable to offer assistance or troubleshooting for code modifications.
 
Adding code to your site may cause unwanted results when interacting with our platform, templates, or updates we release. To learn more, visit our Custom code FAQ:
 
https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/216107348
 
Our forum is another great resource:
 
http://forum.squarespace.com
 
The forum is an online community of Squarespace users who help each other with more complex, code-related solutions. If you can't find an existing post that answers your question exactly, I'd recommend creating an account and posting your question.
 
By experience could you tell me what forum work WELL integrated with SS ? For security reasons, I don't want to have to download any forum software to my Mac. Also the free software seems too good to be true.
 
We wouldn't be able to say if any forum would work well, since you'll need to modify the site with custom code we can't guarantee it's functionality within Squarespace.
 
I hope you found the information provided today helpful, if you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact us. Our support team is available 24/7 to help.

Ahahaha !

It would be great Paul, if you could explain step by step how to integrate the INVISION COMMUNITY (for instance) into a site - and more specifically a member area. 

> How to create a subdomain ("forum.") of their main URL. How do you actually do that ? 

> And how to do that in the context of a gated Member Area: How to keep the forum for the members only ? Are my members gonna be forced to create another account on Invision? Or can the member list of the member area and the one of the forum match automatically. ? How is this mess gonna work.... 

Many thanks for your support ! 

8 minutes ago, Olivier75 said:

It would be great Paul, if you could explain step by step how to integrate the INVISION COMMUNITY (for instance) into a site - and more specifically a member area. 

> How to create a subdomain ("forum.") of their main URL. How do you actually do that ? 

The steps to create a subdomain will depend on your domain provider. If your domain is provided by Squarespace, this guide should help: Creating a subdomain for your Squarespace domain. If it is provided by someone else, you'll want to contact them for details.

10 minutes ago, Olivier75 said:

how to do that in the context of a gated Member Area: How to keep the forum for the members only ? Are my members gonna be forced to create another account on Invision?

Users would need an account on Invision that is separate from Squarespace, unless you deploy a Single Sign On (SSO) solution, although this would require you to have a good understanding of the technologies involved. It's somewhat more complex than I could explain here.

Thank you very much Paul, that's very useful.  I hope I can sort out the SSO thing.... 

I will also. contact SS for that. Thank you 

10 minutes ago, Olivier75 said:

I hope I can sort out the SSO thing.... I will also. contact SS for that.

Squarespace don't provide the SSO option - unless you're on an Enterprise plan ($1000+ per month). 

Wooow... thanks a lot Paul, for the head up.... Its getting quite complicated, What would be your suggestion then when it comes to creating forum for a gated member area on SS ? 

I dont think that would be too much asking of SS that creating a private forum should be possible behind the paywall of a member area...

On 11/20/2021 at 2:51 PM, Olivier75 said:

I dont think that would be too much asking of SS that creating a private forum should be possible behind the paywall of a member area...

 

AGREED! We need this squarespace! Especially for those of us selling an online community.

I want to build a community area on my website where people can talk and discuss ideas together, that's called a "Forum" to me but I don't know how to make one with my squarespace website?

Please see the answer above.

@paul2009  Hi! I'm curious which is your favorite platform that you listed above for community/forum plug ins? Invision, Discourse, or Flarum? Its been a while sense you posted this, maybe you have a new favorite? Thanks in advance!

I'm trying out Discourse.  I can't figure out how to make it seamless for the followers of my website.   I'd like them to be able to log into my website member area and be able to share comments in a forum.   

The tags I need aren't available - I want to create a forum for my sight - I chose Squarespace for its member area options, but there's no way for people to engage with content there - it's not a members area, it's gated content. I'm really gutted having spent months trying to get our content moved across in my spare time.  

I really need some pointers for creating a forum or, better still, somewhere we can post content and create discussions around it.

I realise it'll push my costs up, which I'm cheesed about, but I've already promised this to vistims of grooming and their families. All of us will thank you for any help/suggestions

25 minutes ago, CAAGe said:

I want to create a forum for my sight - I chose Squarespace for its member area options, but there's no way for people to engage with content there

Please see the answer above:

I want to bump this topic. We're having the same issues. A few things desperately needed on Squarespace. 

1. Ability to directly integrate a forum. We should have a plugin/template for this. We've been struggling to find a seamless solution to this and just doesn't seem possible. Embedding doesn't work and subdomain is causing other issues.

2. General password for Member Areas, this could be used for guest passes, moderator or technical access.

3. Direct integration with Patreon. 

I have also resorted to creating a navigation link to an external forum solution provider. Squarespace does not seem to want to get into the business of developing community-based solutions for their web page business. I guess their competitors are Etsy-like sellers, not people who build a community. It kind of makes the whole "profile" mean nothing more than a paid service or item purchase/shipped solution provider. I mean, their blogging comes close to a level of interaction, but beyond that? I don't think they see any value in it for them.

Here is a cheat.
Create a blog page. Manipulate it to not look like a blog.
Enable comments on 'settings' and then options.

Eh voila! Comments.

ps why Squarespace don't have a block for comments is beyond me.