Getting Started With Church Connect
This article covers the navigation, setup, and management of your church's Church Connect.
- Navigating Church Connect
- Customizing Your Connect URL
- Cards
- Page Setup
- Connect Users
- Form Responses
- Add My Family
- Connect Settings
- Pro Tips
- Next Steps
Navigating Church Connect
To navigate Church Connect, use the tabs across the toolbar at the top of the screen. These include Cards, Page Setup, Connect Users, Form Responses, Add My Family, and Connect Settings.
Customizing Your Connect URL
The first step of using Church Connect is to start by customizing your Church Connect URL, found at the top of the "Page Setup" section. Select "Customize Your Link Now" to pick your own unique keyword.
Next, search for and select a 'keyword' using the search box. Choose a word that helps to uniquely identify your church or ministry.
Your account keyword will be used to generate your custom Connect Page URL. For example, if you select 'sample' as your keyword, your custom Connect Page URL will look like this: "https://sample.churchtrac.com".
Cards
Cards are the heart of your Church Connect website, with each serving a specific purpose. You can choose the type of card you want to create and begin customizing it.
Page Setup
In the Page Setup tab, you can modify your cards and customize your nav bar, header, body sections, and footer. You can choose between a curated list of body templates or build your own, with custom fonts and other customization options to choose from.
Connect Users
The Connect Users tab is where you can see who has created a Church Connect account and manage those accounts. You can reset their password, remove their account, and control whether they can access the online directory.
Form Responses
You can add forms to your Church Connect page with Form Cards. This allows you to gather information digitally, rather than relying on pen and paper forms.
When someone fills out one of your Form Cards, that response will be stored in the "Form Responses" tab. You can review the responses and generate a PDF or CSV report.
Add My Family
With Add My Family, your people can fill out a form to submit their information to your church database. Once they submit the form, you'll review the submission on this screen and then add them to your People screen.
Connect Settings
The Connect Settings section lets you customize the experience of your website and app. From enabling features like online directory access to setting up notifications for new user registrations, Connect Settings helps you manage how people interact with your Connect Page. Learn more about Connect Settings ›
Pro Tips
You can customize the background color of your Church Connect to any color you want. However, we recommend using a very light background to keep your app "easy on the eyes".
When creating your Connect Cards, you can also view what your app looks like on different devices. To do this, select the "Connect Preview" buttons on the right-hand side of your "Cards" tab screen. You can preview mobile (small), tablet (medium), and desktop (large) devices.
You can customize the order the cards appear. We recommend placing the most important cards at the top so that anyone visiting your Connect app will see those cards first. You can easily select and drag cards to arrange them to your preference.
The online directory is an "opt-in" feature. You can activate the directory, but no one will be listed until members consent to display their information in the directory. Minors are NOT included in the directory. Learn more about Online Directories ›
Next Steps
Now that you know the ins and outs of getting started with Church Connect, here are some next steps: