Hey friend,
I wanted to let you know about a new membership I’m launching… today!
This membership is all about helping “Code Curious” individuals become “Code Confident” by growing their skillset, and thus their business.
I’m pretty excited/nervous to be launching this new membership — it’s something I’ve been thinking about and work towards for a while, and I have a lot of ideas about all the things I want to add to it as it grows. My goal is to help people who want to learn more about code, but who are struggling to understand the why behind how it all works.
“Well, Why, Will?”
A lot of why I’m launching this membership is because I want to build the thing that I wish I’d had when I was first learning to code, and the thing I still want now, as an experienced coder, to help me keep learning and stay inspired by new coding ideas.
In 2016, I was trying to build a business and make it as a freelance website builder. I didn’t know how to code a thing; I barely even understood what code was.
What I did know, though, was the web designs that my client wanted couldn’t be built in Squarespace without code. But like a good little entrepreneur, I told them “No sweat, I can figure that out!” and proceeded to panic and spend hours searching for “how to make _____ happen on a Squarespace website”… sound familiar?
Using Google, YouTube and sheer force of Will (ha, get it!), I cobbled together some code and was able to get the designs built and mostly looking ok. After a few more projects like this, I learned the basics of CSS, and my confidence in my own ability to offer more unique designs in Squarespace grew. It felt amazing. I was getting paid to learn a new skill set, and the more I learned, the more I could charge for my work. I was hooked, and I wanted to know more. I was what you might call, Code Curious.
Coding can feel very random and frustrating when you’re getting started, especially if you try to jump in and learn everything at once (speaking from experience here). It’s a whole new language, after all. I’ve found that it’s best learned by being consistently curious and continuously to try new things to see what works.
Even today, as a more experienced code, I’ve found that the way I best able to learn is by watching other people code and explain what they were doing, and adding that to my foundation of knowledge. With this membership, I’m trying to take all the best parts of how I develop my coding skillset, and add some consistency and convenience to make it even easier and more accessible for you, the Curious Coder, to grow your skills, your confidence, and hopefully your business too.
“Ok, but what is it?”
The membership is very simple. Every week or so, I’m going to pick a new topic that’s pertinent to developing and designing websites in Squarespace. I’ll put together a short series around this topic consisting of 3-6 bite-sized lessons and send each lesson to you via email.
Each lesson includes a video, some written material, and some code that you can use in Squarespace. I’ll be sharing methods, tactics, tricks, and examples of solutions that I use to tackle certain problems and achieve certain results around the given topic.
For example, here is my first series, Make It Stick, all about the sticky property. The first lesson, “How Does Sticky Work”, is free for everyone, and the rest are available for members only.
Members get all of these lessons straight to their inbox, Tuesday’s - Thursday, and they’ll also be able to access the current and past lessons at any time on my website. This is my way to make learning code as digestible and accessible for you as possible.
Like I said, I’ve got lots of ideas for more things I want to add in to this membership, but the heart of it is helping people learn and improve upon the mindsets and skillsets they need to become confident in their own coding abilities.
“This all sounds lovely… how much?”
The cost is $12 / mo, and as I’m getting started, I’m offering a 50% discount for the first month. Use discount code: CURIOUS50
You’ll also start seeing a lock icon on these members-only tutorials on my website (don’t worry, there will still be plenty of free stuff, too!).
FAQ
How much does it cost?
$12 / month - billed monthly, no monthly commitment.
Does this include your plugins?
No, this does not include plugins. These tutorials will include smaller code snippets that you can copy-and-paste. Again, the goal is learning, not blindly copy-and-pasting.
What’s the difference between this and your course?
This membership is more for people who want to continuously learn new things about coding in Squarespace. Maybe you don’t have the time (or attention span) to sit down and commit hours or days to a dense course, but you know you need to keep challenging yourself to learn more and grow your skills if you want to become a better coder.
Do I need to be comfortable with CSS or Javascript to start?
Not at all! Having a very basic understanding of CSS and HTML may be helpful, but you can jump in and learn as you go. But you do need to be curious about CSS and Javascript, and have a desire to learn it and get better at it. If you want to just copy-and-paste code without learning anything about how it works, this probably isn’t for you.
Can I see an example?
Yup, each series will have at least one free lesson that will be available to everyone on my website. You can view the first lesson in my opening series, “Make it Stick,” here. You can get an example of the email sent to you via the sale page here.
What are the upcoming series?
You can see a schedule of my upcoming series topics here.
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Well, as usual, thanks for being here. I’m grateful to you.
Keep building,
Will
New Tutorials
Switch the Logo When Mobile Menu is Open in Squarespace
Prevent your logo from clashing with the background color of your mobile menu. Use this quick CSS snippet to replace your logo when the mobile menu is open.
Adjust Pagination Spacing on Blog Post
The pagination at the bottom of blog posts can be a little close to the footer. Let’s learn how to adjust the pagination spacing on blog posts on desktop and on mobile.
Plugin Updates
Squarespace is constantly changing and updating its platform, and you can trust that we’re on top of these changes. Here is an overview of what we’ve been updating since the last newsletter.
FIXES & SQUARESPACE UPDATES
Image Zoom - Layout Issue
Bug fix for images used in a Gallery section when using the “Grid: Simple” layout option.
Jan 17, 2023
Tabs Plugin - Spacing Issue
Fix for a spacing issue with Tabs when used with a Classic Editor section.
Jan 12, 2023
All updates are automatic. Reach out for any further questions.