Monocle Search Adds Synonyms, Pinned Results and Custom Content, With Blog and Shop Filters Coming in November

This article contains affiliate links. If you subscribe through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. We only feature tools we would recommend on their own merits.

Monocle, the Berlin-built search plugin for Squarespace, has shipped a run of new features aimed squarely at designers who build for clients. Founders Sebastian and Felix could not make it to Circle Day in New York, so they shared the news by email instead, and it is a solid list: a new launcher button, Synonyms, boosted and pinned pages, search across content that does not live on the site, and a first look at Collections, which brings filters to Squarespace blogs and shops in November.

Search is one of Squarespace's genuine weak spots, and at Altitude (a Squarespace Platinum Partner with more than 400 client builds) it is usually the first thing a content-heavy client complains about after launch. If you have not met Monocle before, our Monocle Search extension guide covers what it is, how it installs and what it costs. Here is what is new.

At a Glance

• Launcher button and compact overlay: Core and Professional plans.
• Synonyms: Professional plan, in beta.
• Boosting and pinning pages: Professional plan.
• Custom content from other tools and servers: Professional plan.
• search: links that open a pre-filled search from any link.
• Collections with filters for blogs and shops: coming in November, with a live demo now.

A Launcher Button and a Compact Overlay

The new launcher button sits in a corner of the page you choose and can be styled with the client's colours, an icon and an optional label. Click it and a compact overlay opens as a plain search field, growing only once there are results to show. It is a neat answer to a common problem on Squarespace sites where the header has no room for a search icon, or where the client simply wants search to be more visible. Both are available on the Core and Professional plans.

Synonyms: Teach Search New Words

Visitors rarely use the same words as the site. Monocle's own example is a shop that sells a "sofa" while visitors type "couch" and get nothing back. Synonyms let you tell Monocle that two words, or two whole phrases, mean the same thing, so either search finds the right products or pages. For hospitality clients this is a quick win: "dinner menu" and "evening menu", "spa" and "treatments", "B&B" and "bed and breakfast". Synonyms are on the Professional plan and currently in beta.

Boost and Pin the Pages That Matter

Every client has a few pages that should always appear first: the bestseller, the booking page, the current offer. Monocle now lets you boost a page so it ranks higher in results, or pin it so it stays at the top, with both set per page in the Monocle admin. Native Squarespace search offers no control over ordering at all, so this alone is worth a look for stores and hotel sites. Boosting and pinning are on the Professional plan.

Custom Content: Search Beyond the Site

Help articles that live in another tool, or PDFs hosted on a different server, can now be uploaded as Custom content and appear in the same results as the site's own pages. Monocle already indexed PDFs on the site itself; this extends search to material the Squarespace site does not hold. For membership sites, course creators and organisations with document libraries elsewhere, it means one search box instead of two. Custom content is on the Professional plan.

Turn Any Link Into a Search

A small but clever addition: set a link's URL to search:workshops and clicking it opens search with results for "workshops". Monocle suggest using it in menus, on buttons or on a custom 404 page. I would add it to the 404 page on every content-heavy site we build, so a visitor who hits a dead link lands on a useful search instead of a dead end.

Coming in November: Collections With Filters

The biggest announcement is still to come. Collections lets visitors filter blog posts and products directly on the page and search within the results, which is exactly what clients with years of blog posts or a large product range keep asking for. Squarespace's native blog has categories and tags but no on-page filtering, so this fills a real gap. You can already try it on Monocle's demo journal page, shown above, with a search field, category filter and sort options above the post grid. Monocle say more details are coming soon, and we will update this article and our Monocle guide when Collections launches.

Our Take

Most of these features sit on the Professional plan (around €49 a month), which is where Monocle has always put its strongest tools, including Member Site search. That is a fair place for them: synonyms, pinning and custom content are client-site tools, and agencies building for hotels, shops and membership sites will get the most from them. The launcher button is the exception that every Core user will notice.

If you are weighing search options for a client, Monocle remains the most capable search tool we feature for Squarespace, and the November Collections release could make it a strong option for blog and shop filtering too. Try Monocle Search free on up to 500 pages, or read our full Monocle guide first.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is new in Monocle Search?

Monocle has added a launcher button with a compact search overlay, Synonyms, boosting and pinning of pages in results, Custom content for searching material hosted outside the site, and search: links that open a pre-filled search. Collections, with filters for blogs and shops, is coming in November.

Which Monocle plan includes Synonyms and pinned results?

Synonyms (currently in beta), boosting and pinning pages, and Custom content are on the Professional plan. The launcher button and compact overlay are available on both the Core and Professional plans.

Can Monocle filter Squarespace blog posts?

Not yet, but it is close. Monocle's Collections feature, due in November 2026, lets visitors filter blog posts and products on the page and search within the results. A working demo is already live on Monocle's demo site.

How do Monocle search: links work?

Set any link's URL to search: followed by a term, such as search:workshops. Clicking the link opens Monocle search with results for that term, which is useful in menus, on buttons and on a custom 404 page.

Can Monocle search content that is not on my Squarespace site?

Yes. On the Professional plan you can upload help articles from another tool or PDFs from another server as Custom content, and they appear in the same search results as the site's own pages.

Who makes Monocle Search?

Monocle is built by Sebastian and Felix, a small team based in Berlin, and is made exclusively for Squarespace. It is also the search engine used on the official Squarespace Circle blog.

Related SquareLocator Guides

• Monocle Search Extension Guide
• All Squarespace Extensions
• Squarespace Circle Day 2026: Every Announcement
• Best Squarespace Blog Templates in 2026
• Best Squarespace Plugins in 2026

This article contains affiliate links. If you subscribe through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. We only feature tools we would recommend on their own merits. Screenshots from Monocle's demo site; feature details from Monocle's October 2026 newsletter.