Videos pages

Embed or upload videos to create a browsable library of videos.

Last updated January 30, 2025

Use a videos page to create a browsable library of videos on your site. In a videos page, you can embed externally hosted videos from Vimeo or YouTube, or upload your own video files to your site directly.

You can also sell access to your videos page. This is a great way to grow and learn more about your video audience.

Accessing this feature

This guide is for version 7.1. To add externally hosted video content in a similar layout to version 7.0 sites, use a gallery page or an assortment of video blocks.

Watch a video

Videos page organization

Videos pages are a type of collection page available on all version 7.1 sites. They’re organized into two parts: the main videos page and individual video details pages.

The main videos page is a browsable landing page for your video library. The page displays all added videos in a grid of featured images, organized by categories.

A_visitor_s_view_of_the_main_videos_page.png

A_visitor_s_view_of_the_main_videos_page.png

Clicking on an image opens its video details page, where you can watch the video and find more information about it. You can also navigate to the next or previous videos in the category. Video details pages are the individual collection items of videos pages.

A_visitor_s_view_of_a_video_details_page.png

A_visitor_s_view_of_a_video_details_page.png

Add a videos page

To add a videos page:

  1. Open the Pages panel, then click + beside the navigation section where you want the videos page to appear. To create a gated video library, add the page to a pricing plan or member site.
  2. Under Collections, click Videos.
  3. Select the layout you want. You can change this later.
  4. Enter a page title, then press Enter. You can change this later.

In the videos page’s settings, you can edit the page’s title, URL, and SEO, and manage the categories for your individual videos.

It's not possible to add blocks to the videos section of a videos page, but you can add block sections above or below the videos section.

Tip

Your new videos page starts with a collection of demo content to show off its key features, including categories and metadata. You can change or delete this demo content.

Add a video

Add a video to your videos page by either uploading a video file directly to your site or embedding an externally hosted video using the video URL.

To add a video:

  1. Click the videos page, then click + in the side panel.
  2. In the Content tab, add a title for your video. Titles need to be 100 characters or fewer.
  3. Click Add a video, then:
  4. Edit the video’s settings, including its title, categories, SEO, and publication status.
  5. Click Save.

Regardless of the original aspect ratio, videos display with a 3:2 aspect ratio on the main videos page and with a 16:9 aspect ratio on video details pages. This means featured images on the main videos page may display slightly cropped, while videos that don't have a 16:9 aspect ratio display black bars to fill the container on the video details pages. It's not possible to change these aspect ratios.

Tip

Review our video accessibility tips to ensure that your entire audience can engage with your content.

Video limits and requirements

Videos limits and requirements depend on the way you use to add them to your videos page.

Upload videos

Embed videos

  • Your video hosting service is responsible for the quality and resolution of your streamed videos. The stream quality is outside Squarespace's control. Contact your video hosting service if the quality doesn't improve.
  • You can only embed YouTube and Vimeo URLs on videos pages using URLs. Videos pages don't support adding embed code.
  • Descriptions are automatically imported when you embed videos. Embedded YouTube video descriptions have a limit of 160 characters and appear shortened if they're longer than that.
  • For YouTube videos, ensure the video is set to Unlisted or Public and allows embedding.
  • If you embed a YouTube video, a YouTube logo, the title of the video, a watch icon, or a share icon may display briefly when the video loads. This depends on the layout and device.
  • Video ads that play before the video, also known as pre-roll ads, won't play on embedded YouTube videos.
  • It's not possible to add a YouTube playlist to a Videos page.
  • For Vimeo videos, ensure the video's privacy settings are set to Anyone and allow embedding Anywhere, or Hide this video from Vimeo.com and allow embedding Only on sites I choose.

Open a video’s settings

To edit the settings of a video you previously added to your videos page:

  1. Click the videos page, then click All in the side panel.
  2. Hover over the video and click ..., then click Edit video.
  3. After making changes, click Save.

Edit a video’s settings

After opening a video’s settings, click the following tabs to customize the video.

Content

  • Title - Add a title of the video.
  • Custom featured image - Add a custom featured image to overlay the video before it’s played. This option is only available for videos uploaded to Squarespace. Keep in mind, you have to wait until the video finishes uploading before you can add a custom featured image. Embedded YouTube or Vimeo videos pull their featured image from the third-party service.
  • Description - Add a detailed description or transcript of the video’s content.
  • Custom URL - Edit the video’s URL slug.
  • Related videos - If your videos page has related videos enabled, use this drop-down to select whether to show or hide related videos, or select a specific category of videos to display.
  • Featured Video - Switch this toggle on to set video as a featured video, which you can filter in summary blocks.

Categories

Add categories to your video to organize it based on its subject or type. Videos are grouped by their categories in the side panel and on your live site.

Status

Set the video’s publication status on your site:

  • Draft - Save the video to edit and publish later
  • Published - Publish the video live on your site immediately
  • Scheduled - Schedule a date and time for the video to go live

You can change a video’s status at any time. For example, you can leave a video set to Draft when you first add it to the videos page, then return to the video's settings later when you're ready to publish it on your site.

SEO

  • SEO title - Add an SEO title to help search engines
  • SEO description - Add an SEO description to help search engines

Enable related videos to create a special section on video details pages. The section displays up to five featured images and titles from the videos page, or filtered by a specific category. When a visitor clicks an image in this section, it takes them to that video's details page.

To enable featured videos:

  1. Click your videos page, then click one of your videos to open its video details page. For this step, it doesn't matter which video details you open.
  2. Click Edit on the video details page, then click the pencil icon.
  3. Click the Related Videos drop-down and set it to Show. This enables related videos for every video on this videos page.
  4. Click Save to save your changes and keep editing, or Exit then Save to close the editor.

To set how related videos display for an individual video:

  1. Open the video details page with the related videos section you want to change.
  2. Click Edit on the video details page, then click Edit Video.
  3. In the Content tab, click the Related Videos drop-down.
    • Select None (hide related videos) to hide related videos on this specific video
    • Select All to show a selection of related videos from among all the videos on this videos page
    • Select a specific category to show a selection of related videos from that category on this videos page
  4. Click Save.

The order of related videos is set by their order in the videos page.

Style the videos page

You can customize the layout and design for your videos pages and video details pages with your site’s style options. To learn more, visit Styling videos pages.

Manage videos

When you click a videos page, you can view, manage, and organize your videos in the side panel:

  • Click All to view all videos, regardless of category.
  • Click and drag a video to rearrange its position in the panel list and on your videos page. By default, videos are ordered by their last saved date, from newest to oldest. 
  • Move videos from one videos page to another.
  • Delete video items to remove them from the videos page, or delete video files to remove the video from your storage entirely.

Delete videos

A video's presence on a videos page is a video item. This includes its appearance as an image on the main videos page and its video details page. This doesn't include other items that may share the same video file or video embed.

To delete an individual video item:

  1. Click a videos page, then click All in the side panel.
  2. Hover over the video and click ..., then click Delete. To delete multiple videos, check the checkbox next to each video, then click Delete.
  3. In the confirmation box, click Delete.

After deleting a video item from a videos page, it still appears in your Asset library. The deleted video no longer appears on your live site or in the side panel. Keep in mind, it's possible other video items share the same video file or video embed.

To delete video files from your Asset library, visit Managing and reusing images and videos.

Sell access to a videos page

You can sell access to your videos page by adding it to a pricing plan. You can also offer free pricing plans and require visitors to provide their email address.

Tip

Videos pages are part of our Digital Products selling tools. You can select the Video on Demand option within a store page to start setting up your videos page and pricing plan.

After you add a videos page to a pricing plan, you choose where the paywall appears for your visitors. When a visitor encounters a paywall, they must sign up for your pricing plan to access your content. 

To select where the paywall appears:

  1. Open the Pages panel.
  2. Click a videos page, then click Paywall.
  3. In the Paywall placement section, select one of the following options:
    • Video player only - The paywall appears on the individual video player. Visitors can view the overview page and video details page but they can't play the video.
    • Video detail pages - The paywall appears on the video details page. Visitors can view the overview page but can't visit the video detail page.
    • All content - The paywall appears when visitors click the videos page. Visitors can't view any content on the videos page including the overview page.
  4. Click Save.

Tip

Customize your paywall to welcome visitors to your videos page and encourage them to sign up for your pricing plan.

Offer a video preview

You can make specific videos accessible for visitors who haven't signed up for your pricing plan yet. Follow the instructions above to set your paywall to appear on the video player or video details page.

To show a specific video as a preview:

  1. Open the Pages panel.
  2. Click a videos page, then click All videos.
  3. Hover over the video in the side panel, click ..., then click Set as public preview.
  4. If you decide to no longer offer the video as a preview, click Remove as public preview.

Videos set to public preview show a "preview" badge on the overview page. Visitors can view the details page and play the video.

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