How To Create A Slider

Your ChurchSpring website comes with beautiful sliders in place!

These individual sliders sit on top of the header background image of the home page only. You can create additional attention-getting slides, or even delete an old slider and change the template. Your answers to these questions–and more–are here!

Upon logging in to your ChurchSpring site, you will see your sliders on the home page. As you hover your cursor over the slider, you will see icons to edit (pencil) or delete (trashcan) the slider.

If you chose to delete the slider, you can easily create a new one in just a few steps. Under the slider editing box, you will see several options. The first one says “+ add slide.” Hover your cursor over those words and multiple slider templates will appear. Note that some of the designs have an action-step button, while others do not. Some have a place for a photo, while others are simply text. Click to choose your slider based on your purpose.

How Do I Setup My Slider?

Setting up your slider is a breeze! Follow these steps based on the slider design that has both a place for a photo and an action button.

Place your cursor in the large text box and click to start typing your simple message. A brief explanation of your topic can be typed in the smaller box underneath.
Your action button should be titled. When you place your cursor over the button and click, your cursor will automatically be positioned in the center of the button. Type your button title with a “call to action” (i.e.: contact us, sign-up here, register now, etc.). Don’t forget to set your link for your button! When you hover your cursor over the button in the slider, click on the link portion of the button. When you do, the box that opens has multiple options. You can link within your website or externally. Click “save” when the link is completed, and "save" again to save the entire slider.
Next, load a relevant picture by clicking the “select image” icon. This will open another window in which you can upload an image file from your computer or our ChurchSpring library.
Once your slider information is complete, click “save.”

More Design Options

Next to the option to “+add slide,” you are given three more ways to personalize your homepage- background, color, and reorder slides.

Adding a background image includes the option to load a video as your background. You can access this setting by hovering over “background,” and clicking “custom image.” “Video” is the second option at the top of the open window. When you click on Video, another window will open prompting you to load a YouTube link to your video. This area is designed to integrate with YouTube links only.

Color is an important part of your website. This little box gives you options that fit within your design color palette or allows you to create your own color. The opacity slider can be used to darken the background so that your sliders pop.

The last choice in the editing list is “reorder slides.” This allows you to choose which slider will appear first to visitors to your site. It can highlight a special coming event, or give a warm welcome! You can adjust them by clicking and dragging them to the place (order) you want them to appear.

FAQS & TROUBLESHOOTING

What size should the image in my slider be? The slider images are all sized the same - a perfect JPEG or PNG square (ie. 1000px x 1000px <or> 500px x 500px). The best way to ensure that the images remain oriented correctly is to use graphics software (such as Photoshop) or a free online service like Canva.com (https://www.canva.com/photo-editor/app/). You will then be able to view the photo "as is". Just make sure that you have some margin for the circle cut-off.
Can I change the timing of the slider rotation? There is no adjustable timing feature for the sliders, so you will want to take the following into consideration...
- Keep your slider content short, and use the button in the slider to send the website visitor to a page with more detailed information.
- The sliders can be advanced or reviewed by clicking on the side arrows.
- Limit your sliders to no more than 4 or 5. Most people will scroll down your mobile website and miss multiple sliders.
- There are no sliders on the Member App (How To Download and Use Your Church Member App).

Helpful Videos

Tune into ChurchSpring Live, Episode 006 to learn how you can add and edit your home page sliders!