How To Add An Event on Your ChurchSpring Website

A big part of your church website is your events page! This is the place where everyone goes to see your church calendar of events… from weekly activities to monthly or quarterly events.

Your ChurchSpring website comes with an Event page template already positioned on your home page. The title "Events" can be changed by hovering on the word and clicking the edit pencil, but there is a 20-character limit for the title. Some members prefer the title "Calendar" over Events. 

To add events to your website, simply follow these steps...

  • Log-in to your website and click on the word EVENTS that is located in the navigation bar on your website.
  • Once the Events page is open, you will see multiple tools that are available to you... page settings, header background image and color adjustments, block addition, and block toolbar.  The short paragraph of auto-generated text can be edited and personalized to meet your personal tone for your site.

  • Locate the Add Event button and click on it.
  • The window that opens is easy to navigate and contains all of the prompts you need to set up the information for your calendar event.

  • Event Title - Event titles should be short and clear to all (members and non-members).
  • Event Location - Type the location or click the box on the right of the cell for the church address to be automatically added.
  • Toggle Buttons for...
    • Event Registration -  Click this "on" if your event needs a simple RSVP. You can learn more here.
    • Live Stream Integration - The event page connects directly with the live stream countdown timer on your home page. You can set up the live stream integration in the Settings>Website>Live Stream area of your website. We have a full tutorial here.
  • Event Date and Time - Besides choosing the Event Date from the pop-up calendar and setting the Start Time/End Time, you have the option to create the event to be recurring. The “Repeats” option is used for events that happen at a regular time every day, week, month, or year. 
    • Daily events would be something like a Kid's Summer Day camp or VBS.
    • Weekly repeat is helpful for events such as Sunday Morning Worship Service or a Wednesday night prayer meeting.
    • Monthly (or yearly) repeat works for events that are always on the same day/date every month (or year). An example would be a December 24th Christmas Eve service.
    • Custom event settings would be used for the meetings that happen on the first and third of the month (etc).
  • Text Content Box - The text box at the bottom of the page is for detailed information about the event. You can also post links or create buttons to funnel people to a sign-up form or further information.
  • Image - Don't forget to upload an image (or choose one from the ChurchSpring library) that represents your event. Keep in mind that most people are usually drawn to a visual before they read the text! This picture will not only be the thumbnail for the event listing, but it will also be the background header of the actual event page. For the best image resolution of your event page header, make sure the image is sized to be 1400 pixels wide by 510 pixels high (with plenty of padding for optimization). The thumbnail will be taken from the center of the image, as demonstrated by the white outline in the image below.

  • Social Scheduler - If you are on the Flourish plan, you can also schedule your event to post using the Social Scheduler. 
  • Save! - Before leaving the pop-up window, always click the "SAVE" button at the bottom.

Two Options for Viewing: List View or Month View

Within the Events page, a guest can choose to view the events as a list or as a month. Clicking on the "Month View" option (as seen in the image below) allows a person to see all the month's events, or to click through past months or future months. For more info about the event on the monthly calendar, just click the event title, and a window with the information will be displayed. Click again, and you will be taken to the actual event page.

NOTE: The "list view" of events will only show the upcoming events.

Editing the Event

There are three icons that appear at the top of the event content window when you hover your cursor over the event in the list view (see image below).

  • Duplicate - Clicking the first of the three icons will allow you to duplicate the event. When the duplicated event opens, you can click on the areas that you want to edit, and then click save.
  • Edit - The second icon (the one with the pencil) is the editing tool. When you click the pencil icon, you can edit the event information.
  • Delete - The trash can icon is the delete tool. Clicking on the trash can will trigger a pop-up window confirming that you want to delete the event. 

Pro-Tip: Adding an Events Carousel to Any Page on Your Website

The Blocks feature contains an Events Carousel template that you can place on any page of your website. If you have more than one Events page setup within your website, you can click on the Settings icon in the top right corner of the carousel and select the Event page you want to reflect in the blocks event carousel.

Follow the steps outlined in the video here below to add an Event Carousel block:

FAQS & TROUBLESHOOTING

  • Can I add a Google Calendar to my Events section?  Yes! You can integrate a Google Calendar into a page of your ChurchSpring website. Google has THIS article explaining where to find the embed code. Follow those steps to copy the embed code for the calendar you would like integrated into your church website. Once you decide where you want your calendar located (ie: text box or nested page), simply open the HTML in the text box toolbar (the HTML is the last button on the right in the toolbar), and insert your embed code. Be sure to click save!
  • Can my list of events directly integrate into my Google Calendar? Direct integration of your calendar of events into your Google Calendar is not available at this time.

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