Site-wide passwords prevent unauthorized access to your content, requiring visitors to enter a password before viewing your site. This feature is useful for sites under construction or when content should only be accessible to specific people.

Important considerations:

• All visitors use the same password
• Passwords are case-sensitive
• Never use your Squarespace account password
• Password sessions expire after 4 hours
• Site analytics only count visits after password entry
• E-commerce checkout won't work with site-wide passwords enabled

Setting a site-wide password:

1. Open Site Availability panel
2. Select "Password Protected"
3. Enter desired password
4. Click Save

When enabled, visitors will see a lock screen before accessing your site:

Changing or removing passwords:

• To change: Enter new password in Site Availability panel
• To remove: Select "Public" or "Private" instead of "Password Protected"

Search engine impact:

• Password-protected sites aren't indexed by search engines
• If previously public, content may remain in search results temporarily
• Site will eventually stop appearing in search results

Troubleshooting tips:

• Disable password managers when setting passwords
• Type passwords manually to avoid formatting issues
• Check homepage for individual page passwords if issues persist
• For private sites, only site owners and contributors can access content

Remember to disable site-wide passwords if you're running an e-commerce site, as customers won't be able to complete purchases while it's enabled.

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