Community Resources

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. Read more about the Square Community and how to join and watch the video below!     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 sellercommunity.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!       Please also keep in mind which board you are posting to in order to get the most efficient support. For example, posting product update questions to the Product Update 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 bottom 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. You can also use the Seller Groups tile on the home page to access groups. 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 Hub for additional resources and more ways to get involved! See you in the Community!

Hey everyone!   Check out 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 Best Answer, joining groups, or sharing/receiving a certain amount of likes on posts and replies in the Community.       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 background color will update as well. For reference, you can identify Square Champions by their avatars and icons.   Where do these 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 best answers if you receive them. A good place to start 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 Seller Community Blog to learn about future announcements and other highlights from around the Community.

As a business owner and member of the Square Community, there are many opportunities where you may have a video call and want to look and sound your best. Follow this guide’s easy steps and you can significantly improve your audio and video quality, and show off your best look.

Hey everyone!   Since we ask you all to introduce yourselves, we thought it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves as well 🙂    We’re a helpful bunch of Community Managers who are always looking for ways to make the Seller Community a vibrant place to be.    Take a look below to read more about our team. We’re excited to meet you and please always feel free to reach out. We’re here to help!     Square Community Core Team     @LaurenClev - Lauren is the Global Head of Seller Community here at Square. She joined Square in 2022 and loves being able to lead our Community team and set the strategy for our programs and projects.    Fun fact: Lauren lives in Austin, Texas USA. She is a mom (both a dog mom and human mom) and her dog’s name is Dolly (after Dolly Parton of course).    @LeahK - Leah is the Global Community Engagement Lead at Square, bringing a decade of expertise in crafting impactful community programs since joining the team in early 2023. She believes that connecting with people and building relationships leads to better work.   Fun fact: Leah finds joy in the company of dogs, loves immersing herself the latest reality TV, indulging in home design, and whipping up delightful treats in the kitchen.   @Helen - Helen is the editor of the Seller Community Blog where she writes about small business, and the owners & entrepreneurs that are a part of the Seller Community.   Fun Fact: After 9 years in California she now lives in Ireland with her family where she can get as much rain as she likes!    @Tom - Tom Reem has contributed to the Square mission for over 11 years and is based in San Francisco, CA. He's inspired by local business owners and works to open channels for sellers to connect via forum, virtual, and in-person events.    Fun fact: Tom's got (American) football in his blood. He was a gridiron warrior through high school, but remains in the shadows of his NFL-bound brother and Harvard head coaching cousin.   @tranguyen - Tra is a Community Engagement Program Manager. She is most often found in the Question of the Week board, popping up during celebration events or behind the scenes of the Mentorship Program.    Fun fact: Tra appeared in a fun trivia contest on Vietnam National Television and won, because she's competitive even as a kid.       @Pesso – Aylon Pesso is a former small business owner & advisor, having owned and ran an ice cream shop for 18 years until he sold the business. Pesso is now the Square Small Business Evangelist, helping sellers like you learn how to improve their businesses and make their lives easier. He runs the Square Readers Book Club, the In the News QOTW series, and the ____ seller interview series, writes Insights articles for the Community Blog, advocates for seller’s needs to Square teams, and more!   Fun fact: Pesso was also a Fitness Trainer, and he loves traveling and backpacking across different parts of the world.    @maxpete -  Max is a Community Engagement Program Manager. He’s passionate about helping sellers grow their businesses and fostering connection within the Seller Community.    Fun fact: Max was born with one hand and nicknamed himself the One Hand Wonder Man.           @katie - Katie is a Senior Community Engagement Program Manager and joined the team in 2024. She has spent the past decade growing and leading community programs, and her career north star is to build community for people who are more than their jobs.   Fun fact: Katie is slowly renovating her 1970's bungalow in Austin, TX with her partner (while her dog Jungebug supervises).       @nika - Nika is a Beta Community Manager at Square. She helps build relationships between sellers and Product teams and makes sure sellers are supported throughout their beta journey.   Fun fact: Nika can keep small humans alive at home but not small house plants.   @isabelle - Isabelle is the manager of the Square Champions program. She's been a member of the Seller Community team for 3 years, at Square for 6, and when not engaged in Super Seller program activities, she can be found supporting other programs within the Community, and being an active member of the Question of the Week board, and the TogetHER group!    Fun fact: Isabelle has seen all 218 episodes of the X-Files.       @kristen - Kristen is the manager of Product Engagement programs in the Seller Community. This means she helps Square Product teams broadcast updates to sellers and receive all of the product feedback sellers contribute here in the community.    Fun fact: Kristen loves poetry, especially a cute lil haiku.    @Hailey_ - Hailey, a results-oriented marketing leader (10+ years), leverages her agency experience to drive traffic, awareness, and engagement as PMM for the Square Seller Community. She wields the power of community to shape the platform for success, influencing product development and more.   Fun Fact:  Hailey was born and raised Canadian with the most precious 12 year old Golden Retriever, Luke.     @AdamB - Adam is the Community Platform Manager, triaging bugs, customizations, and more, making sure that our community software runs well and gives us a smooth and rad experience.   Fun fact: Adam loves ancient languages. Linguae antiquae amo! Square Community Moderators   We can’t forget to show support to all of the amazing community moderators who help support this community! To spot a moderator, you will see a ‘Square Community Moderator’ title in their community profile. Make sure to send them some kudos for all of their hard work! 💚

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.

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!

We're here to share how to build your profile in the Community, and how you can use profiles to quickly learn about your fellow sellers in the Community.    Take advantage of this opportunity to promote your business and use your profile to get to know other business owners.   Update your profile and biography   Your profile is visible to everyone who visits the Square Community.    To build or make changes to your Square Community profile:  Sign in, then click on your username in the upper righthand corner of the screen. Click My Settings. Review the Personal Information and add details like your business name, company, describe your role at the business or enter your job title, and include your website too.     You can also use the ‘Biography’ field to share more information about your business, your background or your interests. Feel free to use this section to share the Square products that you need help with, or that you feel comfortable answering questions about.    After you click Save you're good to go!     Update your bio in My Settings. Text entered here will be visible on your profile page.     A profile displaying details entered into the ‘Biography’ field.   Update your Community username   You can update your Community username by signing into your account, clicking on 'Settings', and then you'll see a tab for 'Username'.   From here, you can update your username. When done click on the button 'Change Username' and you'll be all set!   Please note: Usernames are first come, first served so the one you want may not be available. There is a 16 character limit.   Use profiles to learn about current Community members   If you hover your mouse over any avatar in the Community a box will pop up with more information about that Community member, including their job title, website, their Community level, when they joined the Community, and the recent badges they've earned.      Hover your mouse over any avatar to view their profile.   From this pop up, you can also send the member a private message, or click View Profile to learn more about them, including their ‘bio’. You can also get an idea of how experienced they are with the Community by checking the number of threads they've authored, how many best answers they've been awarded, and how many likes they've received.

Hey there!   I’m happy to share how you can now add a signature to your Community profile and include links to your websites/other resources using HTML. Kudos to those of you who have already added a signature to your profile! 🎉   You can use the signature setting to share your name and/or your business name to let other sellers know a bit about you. If you like, you can also include a link to your website, Instagram profile or other social media handles (see below).   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.   Thank you again so much for being a part of the Seller Community!

The aim of the Square Community’s Mentorship Program Code of Conduct (“Code”) is to develop and maintain a standard of conduct and behavior that is expected of individuals participating in the Square Community’s Mentorship Program (“Program”) as mentors and mentees.   As a participating mentor or mentee in the Program, you agree to abide by this Code. You agree that if you violate this Code, the Square Community may suspend or terminate your participation in the Program as a mentor or mentee.    Responsibility Both mentors and mentees must be aware that their behavior has the potential to negatively affect the mentoring relationship.    Confidentiality Mentors must maintain the name of those being mentored confidential, unless a mentee has given explicit consent to disclose their name to specific others.   Both the mentor and mentee have great responsibility to maintain and respect the confidentiality of all the information shared during the mentoring relationship including, information communicated through the private messaging system on the Square Seller Community. The mentor and mentee agree to treat all information shared during the mentoring relationship as sensitive personal information, that shall not be disclosed to any third party, with the following exception: if a mentor or mentee violates this Code, a mentor or mentee agrees to report the code violation to the program administrator.    Availability Mentors and mentees shall be available for a minimum of 30 minutes every two weeks to communicate with their match. It is important to respect each other’s time. This is a commitment both mentors and mentees are making, so please be thoughtful and conscientious of the time that must be dedicated to this partnership. If the mentor or mentee will be temporarily unavailable for a short period of time (e.g. traveling for work or studying for exam periods), they should notify their mentee/mentor in advance. We strongly encourage you to give at least a 24 hours notice when canceling or rescheduling meetings.    Mentors agree to reserve time in their schedule to participate in the mentorship and provide their availability in advance to mentees via email or the private messaging system on the Square Community.    If either the mentor or mentee are unable to continue to participate in the Program full time, they can contact the program administrator either by email to community-mentorship-program@squareup.com or you can DM one of our program administrators (Tra My Nguyen Hoang @tranguyen or Leah Knowles @LeahK)   Communication In their communications with each other, mentor-mentee pairs should seek to maintain a professional tone of mutual respect. Both parties must refrain from using offensive or vulgar language and should never transmit  offensive images. For the purposes of this program, offensive language includes, but is not limited to: (a) profanity of any kind;  (b) sexually suggestive or explicit language or comments;  (c) derogatory or discriminatory language or remarks directed towards any individual or group of individuals based on religion, race, color, ethnicity, country of origin, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or sexual identity; or (d) any language that is violent, aggressive, or threatening in nature. Offensive images include but are not limited to: (a) images that are sexually suggestive, lewd, or pornographic and; (b) images that include offensive language, as described above. Communications refers to the exchanging of information via any media; for example, in-person, phone, email, photographs, voice-mail, audio conferencing, video conferencing, audio recordings, video recordings, email, electronic text messaging, computer files supplied on physical media and computer files transferred electronically.   When communicating in the Square Seller Community, please ensure you are following the Community Etiquette Guidelines.    Topics of Discussion Mentors are not employees, contractors, or agents of Square. Any information, advice, or views shared by Mentors as a part of the Program are solely those of the mentor and are not endorsed by Square. The specific  issues and the degree of personal detail discussed between mentor and mentee will depend on the comfort and willingness to share of each mentor-mentee pair.  While the Program will provided suggested activities and discussion topics to support the mentoring experience, the Program will not provide a comprehensive list of topics for discussion.     Each mentor-mentee pair must collaborate to negotiate and agree on the topics that they are comfortable discussing and the degree of personal details they are comfortable sharing.   If a mentee or mentor expresses unwillingness, reluctance, or discomfort in discussing any topic that is raised, their mentor or mentee shall promptly stop pursuing that topic. When topics that may be of a sensitive nature arise in conversation or are identified by a mentor-mentee pair, the mentor or mentee should approach such topics cautiously and ask their mentoring counterpart whether they wish to pursue the topic. If the counterpart expresses unwillingness, reluctance, or discomfort in discussing a specific topic, the mentor or mentee shall promptly cease pursuing that specific topic.   Boundary Management and Roles Those working in a mentoring relationship may develop friendships over time. However, it is important for mentor-mentee pairs to maintain a professional relationship. Mentors and mentees must stay mindful of maintaining confidentiality, objectivity, and equal partnership.   Mentors and mentees must not allow personal bias to influence professional actions.   Meeting In Person The Program is designed as an online service, providing the tools necessary to engage in meaningful relationships using online and social media tools. There is no requirement or expectation that mentor-mentee pairs should meet in person.    While mentors and mentees are free to meet in-person should both parties agree to do so, the Program does not endorse in-person meetings and notes that all in-person meetings are conducted at participant’s own risk.    Prohibited Advice  The role of a mentor within the Program should center on providing support for the professional and business development of the mentee. A mentor shall not provide employment, health and safety, medical, financial, tax or legal advice. Even if the mentor is coincidentally a qualified professional (for example, if the mentor is a physician or attorney), the mentor shall not provide employment, health and safety, medical, financial, tax or legal advice to the mentee. In the event such advice is sought, the mentor should advise the mentee to seek the assistance of another qualified professional.   Financial Assistance Monetary or other financial exchanges between mentor and mentee are strictly prohibited.    Enforcement Policy If you are found in violation of the above Code of Conduct or any of the additional community rules or guidelines, you will receive a warning about your behavior. After the third warning, you will be removed from the Program. If your conduct is found to be unacceptable in the sole discretion of the Program administrator or you use  the Seller Community and/or the Program in furtherance of any illegal activities, you will be immediately removed from both the Program and the Seller Community. Decisions resulting in a participant’s removal from the Program and/or the Seller Community are final and not appealable.    Reporting Guidelines Mentors and mentees shall promptly report to the Program’s staff any observations or knowledge of a participant of the Program behaving in a manner that violates this code. You can report such violations either via sending a direct message to one of our program administrators (Tra My Nguyen Hoang @tranguyen or Leah Knowles @LeahK) or send an email to community-mentorship-program@squareup.com. Where possible, please include a direct link to the violation and/or a screenshot.

Hello and welcome!   What is the Square Community you may ask? 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.     Join the Community today by signing in with your Square login. We're excited for you to join the conversation.

Welcome to 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 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 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 sellercommunity.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.   📱Visiting the Community on mobile? Tap the three-line on the top right-hand corner of your screen to open up the menu and click Sign In.   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.

The Startup Guide was created to help Community members discover all of the useful areas of Square Community and connect with one another. Learn more below about how to use and complete the guide. 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.    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.        That’s it!

When you join the Community you’ll have the ability to send private messages to other Community members.   You’ll have access to an Inbox where you can send messages, and read the private messages you’ve received. To send a message: Sign in at sellercommunity.com. Click on your username in the top right corner. Click Messages. Click on the pencil and paper icon to draft a message.    Why send private messages? Private messages can be useful if you want to connect with another member to ask about their specific experience with one of Square’s products or about their business for example. You might also receive messages about events happening in the Community or from a Community Moderator following up on a specific question or comment.      Tips and Tricks   Pro-tip 1: Keep your inbox ‘tidy’ by using the checkbox to select messages you want to delete or mark as read. Click the three dots at the top to manage your messages!      Pro-tip 2: You do need to know the username of your recipient to send them a message! You can’t use email addresses or phone numbers to contact someone with Community private messages. For that reason you can also start a private message by hovering over a username (don’t forget to sign in!), then click Send Message. This will take you directly to the Messages section of the Community, as soon as you click the icon to write a message, the username of your recipient will be populated in the ‘To’ field.      Keep in mind that everyone also has the option to choose not to receive private messages. You can manage this setting any time you are signed in to the Community. Click on your username in the top right corner, then click My Settings. From the Preferences tab select Private Messenger from the dropdown and update your settings as needed. If you make any changes here remember to click Save.      

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: If you need help with refunds type ‘refund’ 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! ✔️

We strive to review and attend to every post and we also value your feedback to ensure the Community remains a respectful and valuable space. In this post you’ll learn how you can flag inappropriate or abusive content in the Community.   How to Report Inappropriate Content  If you believe a post or reply shared 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. Learn how to contact Square’s 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. The support number is 1-855-700-6000 and team members are available from Monday to Friday, 6am to 6pm, PST.

Did you know that Seller 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.   Check out the Seller Groups home page for the current group lineup. You can also use the Seller Groups tile on the home page to access groups.   Here's an overview of the current groups:   Square Readers Book Club Are you looking for a new way to level up your business skills and have some fun while you're at it? Then get excited, and get ready to join the Square Readers Book Club! This group picks one book every two months to read and chat together with helpful resources and content along the way.   Artists and Makers Whether you're selling your own work or selling items made by others, this is the group for you. Join the group to connect with fellow creative entrepreneurs, ask questions, share tips, knowledge, ideas, and more.   Leisure and Entertainment The Leisure and Entertainment group brings together a wide range of business owners from across the leisure, entertainment, and recreation spaces. Join the group to chat with other members about the ins and outs of running a business.    Retail and eCommerce Are you selling items online or in person? The Retail & eCommerce group is a place for all retail sellers to ask questions, share advice, and chat about the ins and outs of running a retail or eCommerce business.   Beauty and Wellness This group is a place where anyone in the beauty and health industries can connect, share ideas, and help support each other with their unique knowledge and insights.   Food and Beverage Join this group to meet fellow food & beverage business owners. Ask questions, talk about your business, share a customer story, or tell us about the awesome service and products you provide for your customers!   Pride in Business: LGTBQ+ This is a private forum where people in the LGBTQ+ community can collaborate and share business resources. Learn more about Pride in Business or request to join.   Uplifted Voices: Black in Business This group is a dedicated space for Black Business Owners and Entrepreneurs to connect, share resources, and chat about anything. Read this post to learn more about Uplifted Voices or request to join.    Between Shores: Asian Pacific Islanders This group aims to highlight the work and resilience of the Asian Pacific Island (API) community, create a business resource hub, and build a place where API sellers can connect.   togetHER togetHER is a group for women-identified business owners. If you'd like to connect with other women in business and allies, togetHER is for you. Read about TogetHER, request to join, and start a thread!    Square Champions Lounge  This is an invitation-only area for our Square Champions . Square Champions are Square advocates who are passionate about small businesses.    Thanks for reading and see you in a seller group!

Here in the Community, we get a lot of feedback about what’s working well—in addition to things we could improve. It is incredibly insightful for us to hear firsthand what’s not working for you and how we can fix it. When we receive feature requests in the Square Community, a few different things happen behind the scenes. We thought we’d pull back the curtain and share some of our processes with you.  The Life of a Feature Request   Customer Advocacy — The first thing we do internally is share your request with the people building our products. From data-centric approaches like tracking the request in our internal databases, to more qualitative methods like the community moderators talking directly with the appropriate product team, we make sure your feedback and ideas get to the right person. Look for an Alternative — We always try to provide a workaround when it makes sense. Even if our products don’t do exactly what you need them to, we want to help you get closer to your goal (see an example of a work-around in this thread). Many times, we’ve heard the request before and have an alternative solution in mind. When we don’t know of a great workaround, we turn to the community to get advice from other sellers. Share a Resolution — The best days for us (and we hope for you, too!) are when we get to share with the community that a feature request has been built into the product. We’ve been able to do that several times, including this thread about incremental improvements we're continuing to make for Square Online deliveries. If you’re interested in seeing a resolution, make sure to subscribe to the thread so you’re notified if we update it. But what if there isn’t a resolution? Even the best feature requests take time for our team to build. Our Product Managers take a lot of things into consideration when developing new features and addressing limitations of current features. Customer feedback is one huge piece of the puzzle that impacts prioritization, but it’s not the only piece.   In cases where a resolution is not yet available, we continue to take our jobs as customer advocates seriously. We’ll keep sharing your stories internally and funneling your feedback to our developers. If we can’t prioritize a feature, we also give feedback to our Partnerships team so they can look for great opportunities to partner with other companies who specialize in the features you need. If you would like to get involved in a deeper level with the feedback process, be sure to join the Beta Community — a space where you get access to newly designed features before everyone else!   Sometimes we don’t have an update for weeks or months. In those cases, thank you for bearing with us. We know it can be frustrating, but we are continuing to work on your behalf. As soon as we have an update, we’ll post to let everyone know. Thanks again for sharing your feedback with us!   How to submit a feature request in the Community    Note: The steps below may vary slightly as we work to improve the Community.   Sign in at sellercommunity.com and click Ideate from the homepage.  Use the search bar search to see if your request exists already - or browse existing requests by product name.  Click Submit a Request to create a new feature request. If your request exists already, click the star icon to like the request. Or, click on the title of the request – from there you can click Subscribe to follow the progress of the request. You can also add a comment to share how the request would benefit you.   That’s it! The status of your request will be changed overtime, e.g. from ‘New’ to ‘Needs Beta Testers’, or it may be merged into another matching request.   Examples   Here's a look at the current feature requests for the Square Point of Sale app.   Here's an example of a new feature request:      We're looking forward to receiving your feature requests! 

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!       That’s it and happy posting!

Explore the exciting variety of programs available right here in the Square community. From engaging events to collaborative initiatives, there are plenty of opportunities for you to connect and contribute with other sellers.    Let's get started!  Square Readers Book Club     Are you looking for a new way to level up your business skills and have some fun while you're at it? Then get excited, and get ready to join the Square Readers Book Club! This group picks one book every two months to read and chat together with helpful resources and content along the way     Mentorship Program     The Square Community Mentorship Program is designed to connect experienced entrepreneurs and business owners with business owners who are just starting out. Through this program, you will have the opportunity to network with fellow business owners, share your knowledge, get one-on-one support, and establish yourself as a business leader in your field. Subscribe to the blog to learn when applications open.   Square Champions     Square Champions are members of the Community who manifest its culture. They are helpful, kind, knowledgeable about Square products, and are always eager to engage in the Community! We currently have between 100-150 Square Champions, across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.     Events     Webinars, forum Q&A's, and more designed to support and inspire you as you grow your business.     Beta     The Square Beta Program is where you can test upcoming Square features before we release them. Beta features are hardware or software we test with a subset of customers (YOU!) before being released to the public.     Community Blog     The Community blog is your ultimate source for the latest Community news, including upcoming events and inspiring Square seller stories. Subscribe to the blog to stay informed and inspired.     Question of the Week     Each week we ask a question on a small-business topic. We can't wait for you to join the conversation!     Members of the Month     The Members of the Month series celebrates some of the amazing community members and all of their incredible contributions that make this community a great place to be.    Can’t wait to see you in the community!