SquareKicker's Latest Features (October 2026): Lightbox, Faster Compose and What's Next

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SquareKicker has had a busy autumn. In the space of six weeks the New Zealand team behind the Squarespace design extension shipped visual Controls for Compose, two new text tools, a Lightbox tool that does far more than its name suggests, and a round of Compose updates that make large designs up to 4.2 times faster and 58% cheaper to run. Their latest release notes landed in my inbox on 29 October, so here is everything that is new, what it means in practice, and what is coming next.

As a Squarespace Platinum Partner with more than 400 client builds behind us at Altitude, we use SquareKicker on real client sites, so I have focused on the changes that actually alter how you work rather than listing every tweak. If you are new to the tool, start with our SquareKicker extension guide or the full SquareKicker review.

The Short Version

• SK Lightbox (October): pop-ups for images, videos, internal pages and external sites, plus slide-down newsletter sign-ups, product hotspots and slide-out drawer forms.
• Faster, cheaper Compose (October): large designs up to 4.2x faster and 58% cheaper, with small changes made as targeted edits.
• Richer Compose conversations: attach PDFs, turn reference images into real site images, upload straight from the Asset Library and queue your next message while Compose works.
• Smarter Controls: date and time pickers, rich-text Controls that keep formatting, values beyond a slider's range, and Compose now hands you the existing Control when you ask it to change something.
• Compose Controls (September): every design gets its own visual controls, free to use with no AI credits, on every plan.
• Text Loop and Vertical Text (September): rotating headline text and three vertical text orientations in the Extension.
• Coming soon: block and section creation in Compose, Quick edit on the page, and Compose designs shared across sites in your account.

SK Lightbox: Much More Than a Pop-up

A traditional lightbox dims the page and shows an enlarged image. SquareKicker's version, released on 20 October, can open images, videos, internal pages from your own site and external websites, and you style and set the behaviour separately for each content type. You switch it on from a Lightbox toggle on any link.

The interesting part is what you can build with it. In SquareKicker's walkthrough, Hannah turns Lightbox into a newsletter sign-up form that slides down from the top of the screen, product hotspots that open detail panels, and a form tucked into a slide-out drawer. For client work, that last one is the most useful: an enquiry or booking form that sits one click away on every page without cluttering the layout. It is the kind of interaction we would previously have built with custom code, and Squarespace's own pop-up is far more limited.

Lightbox is live now in the Extension for all subscribers. The full tutorial is on SquareKicker's YouTube channel:

Compose: Faster, Cheaper and Better at Listening

Compose is SquareKicker's AI design partner, included in every plan since August. The October release notes focus on speed and cost, which were the two things I heard most about from other designers trying it.

Up to 4.2x faster and 58% cheaper on large designs

Small changes to an existing design are now made as targeted edits rather than rewriting the whole design. That is where the saving comes from: nudging one element of a complex mega menu no longer regenerates the lot. Because Compose credits are only spent when something is generated, this directly stretches the monthly allowance on Solo, Designer and Agency plans.

More context in the conversation

• PDF attachments. Upload a brand guide, a client brief or a style sheet alongside your prompt so Compose has the full picture.
• Reference images become site images. Images you share with Compose can now be used directly in the finished design, not only as visual reference.
• Asset Library uploads. Add new images from the Asset Library picker without leaving the conversation, and hover over any attached image for a larger preview.
• Queued messages. Type your next instruction while Compose is still working instead of waiting for it to finish.
• Visible thinking. Compose now shows what it is considering as it builds, which makes it much easier to spot when it has misread a request.

"Here's the knob"

This is a small change with a big effect on credits. If you ask Compose to change something that already has a Control, it now presents that Control in the conversation panel rather than spending credits to regenerate. Alongside it come new date and time Controls with a proper picker (handy for countdowns and event banners), rich-text Controls that keep their formatting, and the ability to type exact values beyond a slider's minimum and maximum.

Compose Controls: The September Update That Changed the Maths

If you missed it, September's Controls release is the reason the October improvements matter. Every Compose design now comes with its own dedicated controls for position, size, colour, animation and anything else specific to that design, and using them costs no credits. Ask Compose for a control you need and it will add one.

Controls also handle content, not just styling. The SquareKicker image picker, rich text editor and page picker let you drop a client's real images, copy and links into a design, and your Squarespace and SquareKicker colour palettes are available inside Compose and linked to the Extension. There is also a selector that applies a design to other elements across the site, which SquareKicker describe as the 2026 version of Presets. Controls are available on every plan, and designs made before the update already have theirs waiting. We go deeper in our SquareKicker Compose review.

Text Loop and Vertical Text

Two new Extension tools arrived alongside Controls. Text Loop rotates through several words or phrases inside a heading, with a choice of transitions, the effect you see on so many agency and SaaS home pages. Vertical Text offers three orientations for editorial, scroll-stopping layouts. Open the Text tools in the Extension and you will find Vertical under the Design tab and Loop under the Advanced tab.

SquareKicker also launched a Discover page showcasing designs you can build with the Extension or Compose, each shown as a short animated preview, so you can see the result without sitting through a full tutorial. You can browse SquareKicker Discover here.

What Is Coming Next

The release notes list three features "on the assembly line":

• Block and section creation in Compose. Compose currently restyles and extends what is on the page. Creating new blocks and sections would make it a genuine build tool, not only a design layer.
• Quick edit. Click an element on the page to open a Compose editor directly on it.
• Compose account saves. Share Compose designs across every website in your account. For agencies this is the big one: build a signature menu or hero treatment once and reuse it across client sites.

No dates were given, so treat these as direction rather than promises. We will update our SquareKicker guide when they ship.

My Take as an Agency

The pattern across these releases is SquareKicker removing the reasons to leave the Squarespace editor. Lightbox replaces a category of custom pop-up code. Controls and targeted edits make Compose cheap enough to use for refinement, not just first drafts. PDF and image attachments mean you can hand it the same brief you would give a designer. And account saves, when they arrive, will make Compose work feel like an agency asset rather than a one-site experiment.

If you trialled SquareKicker before Controls and found Compose credits disappeared too quickly, it is worth another look. The 14-day trial on one site needs no card. Try SquareKicker free, or browse the SquareKicker templates on SquareLocator if you would rather start from a finished design.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is new in SquareKicker in October 2026?

The October updates add SK Lightbox, which opens images, videos, internal pages and external sites in a styled overlay and can power slide-down sign-up forms, product hotspots and slide-out drawers. Compose also became up to 4.2 times faster and 58% cheaper on large designs, and gained PDF attachments, reference images used as real site images, queued messages and new date, time and rich-text Controls.

What is SquareKicker Lightbox?

Lightbox is a tool in the SquareKicker Extension that turns any link into a pop-up overlay. It can display images, videos, pages from your own site or external websites, with separate styling and behaviour for each content type, and can be shaped into newsletter sign-ups, product hotspots or a form in a slide-out drawer.

Do SquareKicker Compose Controls use AI credits?

No. Adjusting a design with its generated Controls is free. Credits are only used when Compose generates or edits code, and since October small changes are made as targeted edits, which uses fewer credits than regenerating a whole design.

Can Compose read a PDF brief?

Yes. Since the October update you can attach PDFs to a Compose conversation, such as a brand guide or client brief, to give it more context alongside your prompt.

Where are Text Loop and Vertical Text in SquareKicker?

Open the Text tools in the SquareKicker Extension. Vertical Text is under the Design tab and Text Loop is under the Advanced tab.

What features are coming to SquareKicker next?

SquareKicker has announced block and section creation in Compose, a Quick edit mode that opens Compose directly on a clicked element, and Compose account saves for sharing designs across websites in your account. No release dates have been given.

Related SquareLocator Guides

• SquareKicker Extension Guide
• SquareKicker Review (2026)
• SquareKicker Compose Review (2026)
• Best Squarespace Gallery and Lightbox Plugins 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. Images and videos courtesy of SquareKicker; feature details from SquareKicker's release notes of 22 September, 20 October and 29 October 2026.