Community Resources

Hi sellers! Read this article to learn how to earn Badges and move up through the Ranks in the Square Community.     What are badges? Badges are a recognition of an achievement or milestone reached in the Square Community. You can earn badges in a few different ways, like: Sharing an answer that helps another business owner resolve their issues Sharing or receiving a certain amount of likes on your posts Asking questions or starting new conversations in the community — this includes writing your first solution, joining groups, or sharing/receiving a certain amount of likes on posts and replies   Where do badges appear? And how do I know if I have one? You’ll see your badges on your personal profile page listed under your username. Depending on your notification settings, you’ll receive an email and notification each time you earn a badge.   What are ranks? Your rank is how you can keep track of your involvement in the Community. If you’re continually active in the Community, your rank will change to show your progress. Ranks are intended to show other Community members your level of expertise and tenure, and to boost your personal reputation.   As you rank up to higher levels, your rank color will update as well. For reference, you can identify Square Champions by the special icon on their avatar.   Where do ranks appear? Your rank is also listed on your personal profile page under your username. Your avatar is included in every post or reply you make in the Community   What do I need to do to level up? The more you participate, the closer you’ll get to the next level! You’ll automatically move to the next level by staying active in the Community. Keep replying to threads with high-quality answers and starting new conversations. Remember to give out likes for good comments and mark solutions if you receive them. A good place to start helping out to level up is with unanswered questions.   As you progress through the ranks, you'll receive a new rank name and color. Begin as a New Member and strive to reach the highest rank of MVP within the Community.   How to level up to a new rank: 0 - New Member: This is your starting rank for joining the Community. Welcome! 1 - Novice: Tour the Community. That’s all you need to do. 2-4: Keep coming back and engaging in the Community. 5 - Supporter: Log in multiple times, give kudos, start discussions, and participate in discussions. 6 - Contributor and beyond: We can’t give away all of our secrets.    Want to learn more? We’ll continue improving badges and ranks with time. Subscribe to the Square Community News blog to learn about future announcements and other highlights from around the Community.

Since we ask you all to introduce yourselves, we thought it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves as well.

We're happy to share you can now add a signature to your community profile using HTML. Kudos to those of you who have already added a signature to your profile! 🎉   Use the signature setting to share your name or business name, and to include links to your website or social accounts. Keep in mind that when you update your signature it’ll show on every single post you share in the community!   How to update your signature: Click your profile name in the top right.  Click Personal Information > enter your name, business name and website URL in the Signature field. (Use Enter to start a new line.) Click Save.   Pro tip: If the ‘window’ for the Signature field is too small, click the bottom-right corner to drag and resize it.   Finally, if you'd like to add a hyperlink to your signature you can use HTML. In the example below you could replace the red text with your website URL and the green text with your business name.    HTML pasted in the signature field: Preview:  <Line 1>John <Line 2>John’s Retail Store <Line 3> <a href="https://YourInstagramHandle">Follow me on Instagram</a>     Please let us know if you have any questions or problems updating your signature, and thank you again for being a part of the Square Community!

When you join the community you’ll have the ability to send private messages to other members. You’ll have access to an inbox where you can send and read private messages.

In this post, you'll learn how to update your community profile, including editing your profile avatar image and changing your community username. Customizing your profile page is a great opportunity to connect with other members and promote your business. 

While we strive to review and tend to every post, we can also use your help flagging any content that does not contribute to making the community a respectful and valuable space. In this post you’ll learn how you can flag inappropriate or abusive content in the Square Community.   How to Report Inappropriate Content  If you believe a post or reply has violated our Community Code of Conduct, please report the post to the Square Community team by clicking the Report icon that is visible immediately below the post. If you haven’t signed in, you will be prompted to sign in to report a post.     Alternatively, to report a post as inappropriate you can click the three dots to open the options and select Report from there.    Selecting ‘Report’ will send the post to a community moderator who will review it and take the appropriate next steps. Note: selecting ‘Report’ does not escalate an open case to the Square Customer Success team.   How to Contact Square Customer Success If you need help with your Square account please contact the Square Customer Success team directly. The team is available through live chat and by phone. 

Did you know that Square Community is home to several different business-related groups? Joining a group is free, and any member of the Community can join an open group or request to join a private group.

Hey there!   We’re glad to have you here in the community! The Square Community is dedicated to creating an enjoyable, valuable, and supportive space for all users of Square's products. This post serves as your comprehensive guide to getting started in the Square Community, offering a one-stop shop for all of your needs.   Read on below to learn more about how to get started in the Square Community!   What is the Square Community? The Square Community is the peer-to-peer network for Square sellers to connect with one another and with Square. In the Community, you can learn how other businesses use Square, get help from sellers facing similar challenges, and provide support to fellow entrepreneurs on their journey.   Please be sure to read and follow our Community Code of Conduct as these are important ground rules meant to ensure the conversations are productive and valuable for all. By joining our community, you agree and accept these guidelines and our Admin Team reserves the right to remove any and all content or members who display abusive conduct or breach the above guidelines. Though we aim to give notice of any policy changes, community guidelines may change at any time at our discretion.   How to: join the Square Community Join us to learn how to use Square to run and grow your business, be the first to hear about new features, and collaborate and connect with your fellow sellers.   The Square Community is free to everyone with a Square account. When you create a Community profile you can: Start a new thread or reply to an existing thread ✏ Kudo a post 💚 Subscribe to a thread for updates 📰 Join a group 🙌   You can join the Square Community in these three easy steps:   Step 1:  Sign up for your Square Point of Sale account at squareup.com or download the Square app to your mobile device. Already using Square? Skip to step 2!    Step 2:  Visit community.squareup.com  and click Sign In. You’ll be prompted to enter an email address and password — enter the email address and password that is tied to your Square account.   Step 3:  You’ll be prompted to set a username and you’ll be assigned an avatar (this is your profile image!). Keep in mind your username will be visible to everyone!  And that’s it. When you’ve followed these steps you can sign in to Start a thread or reply to a thread to join a conversation. How to start a new thread in the Square Community    Search first! 🔍 The first thing to check is whether or not your question has already been answered. You can do this by searching in the search box on the homepage. As you start typing, threads will appear below the text box.       If one of the search results matches your question you can click on the title to open the thread. Otherwise, you can click on the Start Thread button to make a new post.        Start a new thread! ✍️ If you start typing and threads don't pop up for you or the results don't answer your question you can start a new thread! You can do this right from the homepage or from the top of any board.   From the homepage search first and if you can’t find the post click Ask the Community underneath the search box.      From the top of any board, click Start Thread to create a new thread with your question!       💡TIP: When you are starting a new thread, use a full question or even the error message you are seeing for your title instead of single words. This can make it easier for other members to understand what's being discussed and help you quicker!   For example:             Please also keep in mind which board you are posting to in order to get the most efficient support. For example, posting POS questions to the Point of Sale board.   And that’s it! Happy posting!   How to Mark a Post as Best Answer If you've asked a question, you'll have the option to mark any reply as the Best Answer. Marking something as Best Answer gives the question a green checkmark to show others the question has been solved.      Best Answers also help the author of the answer to rank up in the community. They're a nice way to say "Thanks" to the person who took the time to post. 😄   To mark a post as Best Answer, just scroll to the right of a post and click Mark as Best Answer. That's it!         How to use the Square Community Startup Guide   The Startup Guide was created to help Community members discover all of the useful areas of Square Community and connect with one another.  How to complete the guide: Each drop down includes a Startup Guide task that contributes to the overall "% Set Up" bar at the top of the guide. To move your progress closer to 100%, you must complete the listed task items. Complete all of the tasks and you will have a 100% complete guide! The bonus of a completed guide is that you have explored a ton of amazing features of the Community 👍   Example: When you click the downward arrow on the "Introduce yourself and your business" task, the prompt reads "Share your name, where you're located, and a little about your business." with a link to the Community Welcome board. Once you have posted to this board, the Startup Guide bar will gain % of completion.        Join a Seller Group to connect, learn, and share with other business owners 🤝 Did you know that Square Community is home to several different business-related groups? Joining a group is free, and any member of the Square Community can join an open group or request to join a private group.   Check out the Seller Groups home page for the current group lineup. Become a member of the group to be notified of all new activity by clicking on ‘Join Group Hub’ as shown in the example below.   Learn More about the Square Community Thanks again for being a part of the Square Community and for taking the time to read this guide! We hope it helps you get acquainted with the Community. If you're up for it, feel free to introduce yourself to other sellers!   While this guide covers a lot of helpful information, please be sure to check out our Community Resources for additional resources and more ways to get involved! See you in the Community!

Hey everyone 👋!   As you start conversation and connect with fellow business owners in the Community, you will start receiving notifications and emails alerting you of what’s happening. It can be overwhelming especially when you’re busy running a business. In this article, we’re going to share a few tips and walk through how you can manage your Community notifications and email preferences so it works for you.      How to access your community notification settings To access your community notification settings, first click your username on the top right-hand corner of any community page, then click My settings.      Next, select Subscriptions & Bookmarks > Notification Settings.     Or, just click here to be taken directly to that page!     Adjust how you would like to be notified At the top of the Notification Settings page, you can adjust how you’d like to be notified. There are a couple of different ways that notifications can appear: Only when you are logged in to the Community — these would be push and real-time pop-up notifications Only by email   You can choose to receive notifications through both channels, or none at all — it depends on what works best for you.    Below this, you’ll see the options of changing what you should be notified of. Here are the different ways you can subscribe to receive notifications: When you post a new topic or reply (“Notify me when I post, reply, submit a review, or comment”) When you participate in a topic (“Automatically subscribe me to all topics or reviews I participate in”) When a new topic is published in a group you are involved in (“Automatically subscribe me to all group hubs that I join”) When a board (e.g. Square Restaurants, Community Corner, etc.) you subscribed to has a new post or topic (“For my forum subscriptions”)   One thing to keep in mind, by default, you will always be notify when the following happens: When someone replies to a topic you started When you are mentioned in a post or a topic When a topic you comment on or start has a solution marked   💡 TIP: The “Automatically subscribe me to all topics or reviews I participate in” is great for keeping tabs on what’s happening in discussions you have participated in, but if you find your notifications are starting to pile up, you might want to try disabling it. You can still manually follow any discussions and/or topics of your choosing.     Adjust how often you would like to be notified In addition to what content you want to be notified of, you can also control how often you receive email notifications. You can hear about things as soon as they occur (“Immediately”), or disable any of them entirely by selecting “Never”.        How to manage individual subscriptions If you no longer wish to receive email notification and have disabled all your settings, but are still seeing emails coming through, you can delete previous subscriptions. Under Subscriptions & Bookmarks, click My Subscriptions.     You can either manually check and delete any subscription you no longer want to follow, or you can check and delete them in bulk by selecting Email Subscriptions Options > Check All > Delete Selected Subscriptions.       How to subscribe to a thread, topic or board In addition to threads you have started or contributed to, you can also manually opt-in to receive notifications for any other threads, topics or boards you are interested in and want to follow along.    To subscribe to thread At the top of every thread, you’ll see the blue button to Subscribe.     To subscribe to a topic If there’s a topic you are interested in, such as updates for Square Appointments, for example, you can navigate to the Product Update, select the label on the right-hand side and click the “Subscribe” option that appears in the green box.     To subscribe to a board Alternatively, if you want to be notified whenever a new topic is published on a particular board or a group, you can simply click the Options box at the top right-hand side on the page > select “Subscribe” in the drop-down.     That's it! Now you're all set to manage your Community notifications like a pro 🎉. Remember, you can always come back and tweak these settings as your needs change.

The Community has a wealth of great information about using Square — whether you’re just getting started or you’re a seasoned business owner. This post will help you find the best answers to your questions in the Community.   Searching in the Community 🔍   When you start typing in the search box from you’ll notice a list a list of existing threads will automatically display. You can click on the title of an existing thread to read it.   However, if you type your question or topic to the search box and then hit enter you’ll see list of results on a new page. The results will include a long list threads, including unanswered questions and links to Support Centre articles. But did you know you can filter your Community search results by Best Answer?     ✔️ Best Answers are posts that have been answered and verified as correct and/or helpful by another seller from the Community and by the Community team.      Here’s an example: Type what you are looking for in the search box and then hit enter. From the dropdown in the upper right click All and then select Best Answer.         Hey presto ✨ all of the search results will be filtered to show only posts that have been answered and one reply has been marked as Best Answer. Posts with a Best Answer have a green check mark next to the title. Click on the title to read the answered post.   Thanks for reading and happy searching in the Community! ✔️

Let's take a quick tour of how to start a new thread in the Community.    Search first! 🔍 The first thing to check is whether or not your question has already been answered. You can do this by searching in the search box on the homepage. As you start typing, threads will appear below the text box.         If one of the search results matches your question you can click on the title to open the thread. Otherwise, you can click on the Start Thread button to make a new post.        Start a new thread! ✍️ If you start typing and threads don't pop up for you or the results don't answer your question you can start a new thread! You can do this right from the homepage or from the top of any board.   From the homepage search first and if you can’t find the post click Ask the Community underneath the search box.          From the top of any board, click Start Thread to create a new thread with your question!       💡TIP: When you are starting a new thread, use a full question or even the error message you are seeing for your title instead of single words. This can make it easier for other members to understand what's being discussed and help you quicker!   For example:   Please also keep in mind which board you are posting to in order to get the most efficient support. For example, posting POS questions to the Point of Sale board.   That’s it and happy posting!

Here in the Community, we strive to help sellers get the most out of Square products by connecting you to product teams, industry experts, and fellow community members (see Square Champions!). There are many ways to engage with these experts, including: forum events, webinars, and additional events listed on the Events Calendar.   📆 Event Calendar   The Square Community Event Calendar is the hub that connects you with forum, virtual, and in-person events! Be sure to bookmark the Event Calendar on your desktop or mobile device, and you'll be able to keep tabs on upcoming programming. Each post will have registration instructions and you can sign up for automated reminders.   ⌨️ Forum Events   What is a Community Forum Event? A forum event is a question and answer session — also referred to as an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) discussion — that takes place in writing, within the thread itself. This format allows you to get in touch directly with a Square product team member or industry expert within the Community forum on a specific date and time!   How to participate: The host (or moderator) will publish an introduction post for the topic at hand where you can reply with questions, suggestions, and other feedback leading up to a given date/time. The host then replies in the thread at the date/time mentioned in the introduction. Can't make it to the forum event/AMA at the specific time? No sweat — once you've published your reply, keep an eye out for email notifications and refer back to the host's summary of the discussion at a later date.   🎙 Webinars and Virtual Events   What are Community Webinars and Virtual Events? Square Community webinars and virtual events feature online workshops, product demos, and moderated panel discussions in real-time, via a video or live chat platform. Various teams at Square host webinars and we also source webinars with third parties for in-depth resources that are valuable for your business.   How to participate: Keep an eye on the Community Event Calendar for approaching events with the 'webinar' tag. Look for the blue 'Register' or 'RSVP' button within the post, then follow the steps to enroll in the webinar.   Know before you go, and come ready to engage! Don’t miss a moment: For the best virtual event experience, join from a compatible browser. RingCentral Events works best on Chrome and Firefox. Need tips and a troubleshooting guide? Check it out here: Quick Troubleshooting Reference Guide.   Can't make it to the webinar at the specific time? Go ahead and register anyway — in most cases, the webinar host will send out a recording that you can view after the fact.   🤝 In-Person Events   What is a Community In-Person Event? We love bringing the Community offline — it's refreshing to connect with sellers in real life. You can expect to meet with fellow Community members and Square team members for a variety of discussions, workshops, and networking activities. For an example of an in-person event, have a look at the Community Blog: Square-Powered Business Owners Gather at First Community Meetup.   How to participate: Keep an eye on the Community Event Calendar for future events in your area. Look for the blue 'Register' or 'RSVP' button within the post, then follow the steps to enroll in the webinar. You'll receive emailed instructions on how to attend and what to expect ahead of the event.   📚 Video Library   What is the Community Video Library? The Community Video Library is the one stop shop for all event recordings — from product webinars to member interviews like the Let’s Talk Business series. It offers on-demand access to a growing collection of educational videos, giving you a resource for content whenever you need it.   How to participate: Event recordings will be available within a week after each event. To review a topic, simply sort by category and click into the post. We’ll also include any additional resources on the recording page, along with links to relevant Community groups and related content series.   Looking forward to connecting with you both online and in the real world!