Latest Changes

5.6.4May 4, 2026

This release is about trust in the places churches touch every week: people records, sermon archives, modal interactions, and conditional page content. Some of the work is visible right away. Some of it is careful foundation work that makes future releases safer.

Here’s what’s new since our last update.

People 2.0 Enters Beta

What changed: Digital Church now includes the first beta foundation for People 2.0, including custom-table storage, migration tooling, audit and rollback support, REST integration, import compatibility, family relationship support, and a beta-gated tabbed editor under Settings → Features.

Why it matters: People data sits at the center of ministry operations. Names, households, family relationships, imports, and profile details need to be handled with care because churches depend on that data for follow-up, care, communication, and admin work.

People 2.0 is the next step toward a cleaner and more scalable people system. The new editor can run against existing legacy People fields while custom-table storage remains an explicit migration step. That keeps the beta useful without forcing churches into an all-or-nothing jump.

The release also adds a migration prompt when the People 2.0 editor is enabled but legacy People records have not been migrated yet. That small guardrail matters. It keeps the admin experience honest about what is active and what still needs attention.

Middle-name support was added across legacy People fields, imports, People 2.0 storage, migration, and family display paths too. It’s a small detail until you need it. Then it’s the difference between a record that feels complete and one that needs a workaround.

Sermon Archives Load with Less Waste

What changed: the sermons archive received performance work around initial rendering, archive payload caching, taxonomy count caching, and safer cache storage.

Why it matters: sermon archives can become busy pages. Recent sermons, total counts, series data, taxonomy tabs, and archive payloads all compete for database work during page load. This update reduces repeated query cost by caching archive payload and tab/count data through the object cache.

The archive also stopped using DB-backed transient writes in this path. That matters for sites where concurrent requests can create database lock pressure. Object-cache storage is a better fit for this kind of repeated frontend render data.

We also removed the React StrictMode wrapper from the sermons archive mount. StrictMode is helpful during development, but it can duplicate render work. Removing it from this archive path makes the production render lighter.

Latest Sermon Sections Now Respect Missing Video

What changed: the sermons archive template now shows the Latest Sermon section only when the newest published sermon has a saved video URL and usable embed output.

Why it matters: an empty or broken hero section makes the whole archive feel unfinished. If the latest sermon does not have video attached yet, the page now skips that section and starts with the Sermons heading and tabbed archive content.

That is a better default for real church workflows. Sermons are not always edited, uploaded, and embedded at the same pace. The archive should still look intentional while that work catches up.

Modals Are More Reliable for Forms and Content

What changed: the modal component and Beaver Builder trigger module now handle form loading and modal sizing more cleanly. Modal form content renders inline from shortcode context instead of depending on REST-only rendering, Contact Form 7 handling was removed from modal code paths, default sizing was adjusted, and close-button interaction styling was tightened.

Why it matters: modals are often used at high-intent moments: registering for an event, opening a form, reading details, or responding to a call to action. If the modal loads strangely or the form confirmation breaks, the site loses trust at exactly the wrong moment.

This release makes modal forms steadier and the interface more predictable. The defaults now keep modals viewport-safe, the close button behaves more consistently, and labels focus on the Digital Church forms flow instead of implying support paths that are not part of the current feature.

Conditional Logic Can Compare Against the Current Time

What changed: Beaver Themer gained a Digital Church conditional logic rule for comparing the current site time against a selected datetime using less-than and greater-than operators.

Why it matters: churches often need page content to change around real-world timing. Registration messages, event reminders, service details, and seasonal content may need to appear before a deadline and disappear after it.

This rule gives editors a cleaner way to handle that timing directly inside Conditional Logic. It includes server-side evaluation and client-side builder UI wiring, so the rule appears where editors expect it and evaluates consistently when the page renders.

The Result: Safer Foundations and Cleaner Sundays

This release has two tracks. People 2.0 moves the platform toward stronger long-term ministry data. Sermon, modal, and conditional logic updates make weekly site experiences feel cleaner right now.

That combination matters. Churches need big foundations to improve carefully, and they need Sunday-facing details to keep working while that foundation gets better.

If your church wants to try People 2.0 beta features or clean up sermon archives, modals, or time-based content, reach out. We can help you turn the right pieces on and make sure the workflow fits how your team actually works.

5.5.115April 13, 2026

This week’s work focused on three places churches feel every single week: planning services, helping people find the right campus, and getting signups through the door without friction. The result is a release that feels more prepared for Sunday morning, not just more feature-rich on paper.

Here’s what’s new since our last update.

Service Planning Finally Lives in One Place

What changed: Digital Church now includes a new Services beta feature built for worship planning, team assignments, and service-by-service coordination.

Why it matters: Sunday planning usually gets spread across texts, shared docs, screenshots, and whatever somebody remembers five minutes before rehearsal. Now your team can build a service plan inside the platform itself, map out the order of service, assign roles, and control whether people can sign up for open positions.

This new setup gives you a clearer flow from planning to participation:

• create a service with date, type, and location
• build the order of service in one place
• assign teams and positions with searchable planning tools
• allow signups only where you want them open
• keep helpful links attached to the service plan itself

For churches juggling multiple moving parts on a Sunday, this turns a scattered process into one shared workspace.

Locations Are Easier to Search, Even on Big Site Networks

What changed: fullscreen Locations layouts now include sidebar search, broader archive search, and better handling for churches with large location datasets.

Why it matters: When someone visits your site looking for the right campus, they shouldn’t have to scroll through a long list and hope they spot it. Search now sits right under the Locations heading, works across the full archive instead of just the visible set, and still returns entries even when a location doesn’t have map coordinates yet.

That means people can find the campus they need faster. It also means your team can publish useful location information before every map detail is perfect.

A lot happened behind the scenes here too. Large location datasets now behave more smoothly, fullscreen layouts stay easier to use, and search feels more like what visitors expect from a modern site.

Signups and Login Flows Stay on Track

What changed: the /auth experience picked up a string of improvements around styling, caching, usernames, and signup redirects.

Why it matters: when someone is trying to register, sign in, or claim an open team slot, every extra snag costs momentum. This round of updates makes that path cleaner.

A few of the biggest wins:

• auth pages now match the design system more closely
• public auth requests avoid stale nonce issues that triggered cookie-check errors
• the first login field can now accept a username as well as an email address
• asset cache busting updates automatically on deploy, which helps fresh changes show up faster
• signup redirects now carry people back where they meant to go, including open team signup flows

Put simply, the front door feels steadier. And that matters most when someone is taking action for the first time.

A Few Extras That Keep Things Tidy

What changed: we also shipped a small group of quality-of-life improvements around layout polish, search behavior, and feature control.

Why it matters: these are the sorts of changes that make the whole platform feel more settled. Services now appears as a beta feature in settings, so teams can turn it on intentionally. Locations search is more complete. Auth presentation is more consistent. And one experimental mega menu effort was cleanly removed so production sites stay focused on what’s ready.

That kind of cleanup work rarely gets the spotlight, but it helps every church get a more dependable platform.

We’re especially excited about where the new Services work is headed. If your team plans worship sets, coordinates volunteers, or manages multiple service details every week, this is the beginning of a much smoother rhythm. And as always, if you want help putting any of this to work on your site, reach out. We’re glad to help.

5.5.108April 6, 2026

This update is packed. Your navigation just got a serious upgrade with mega menus powered by the page builder. Interactive modals let you surface forms, events, and content anywhere without leaving the page. A brand-new Services tool helps worship teams plan their entire Sunday morning. And if your church has locations all over the map — literally — they now load faster than ever.

Here’s what’s new since our last update.

Build Mega Menus with Your Page Builder

What changed: You can now add full page builder layouts directly into your navigation menus. Instead of plain text links, menu items can display rich, designed content — image grids, ministry highlights, calls to action, whatever you can build.

Why it matters: Church websites often have a lot to offer — ministries, events, groups, giving, sermons, and more. A standard dropdown menu with text links doesn’t do justice to all that content. Now your navigation can showcase what matters most with the same design tools you already use for your pages.

Here’s how it works:

• Open your menu editor and you’ll see a new “Builder Layouts” panel
• Select any saved layout you’ve created in the page builder
• Add it to your menu just like you’d add a page or link
• On the frontend, visitors see your designed layout right inside the menu

Pro tip: Create a dedicated “Menu Layouts” category in the page builder to keep your mega menu designs organized and easy to find.

Modals That Work Everywhere

What changed: A new modal component lets you display content in elegant popups triggered by buttons, links, or hover interactions. You can show forms, event details, custom HTML, or any content — and there’s a page builder module to drop modal triggers anywhere on your site.

Why it matters: Sometimes you want to invite action without sending visitors to a whole new page. A “Sign Up” button that opens a registration form right there. An event card that reveals the full details on hover. A giving prompt that appears when someone’s ready to respond.

Modals keep visitors in the flow:

• Trigger modals with buttons, text links, or hover interactions
• Display forms, events, or custom content inside the popup
• Hover-triggered modals stay visible as visitors interact with the content inside
• Works seamlessly in the page builder — just drag and drop the modal trigger module

Pro tip: Use hover-triggered modals on your events page to let visitors preview event details without clicking through to each one.

Plan Your Services from Start to Finish

What changed: A brand-new Services post type gives worship teams a dedicated space to plan every aspect of a service — from the order of worship to team assignments and service times.

Why it matters: Planning a Sunday service involves a lot of moving parts. The worship leader needs the song list. The tech team needs the order of service. The pastor needs to know who’s doing announcements. Until now, most of that lived in spreadsheets, group chats, or someone’s head.

The new Services tool brings it all together:

• Service times and locations — Set when and where each service happens, with location inheritance for multi-site churches
• Order of service — Build the flow from welcome to benediction with structured elements
• Team assignments — Assign a service leader, connect teams, and note each participant’s role
• Auto-generated titles — Services are named by type and date automatically, so your archives stay clean
• Helpful links — Attach links to slides, songs, or any resource your team needs

Services are organized by type (Sunday Morning, Wednesday Night, Special Services) and accessible through a clean URL structure that makes sharing easy.

Pro tip: Set up your recurring service types first, then duplicating a service plan for next week becomes a quick copy-and-adjust.

Book Appointments and Reserve Spots

What changed: A new bookings add-on for Digital Church forms lets you create appointment scheduling, room reservations, resource booking, and any scenario where people need to claim a specific time slot.

Why it matters: Whether it’s pastoral counseling appointments, facility reservations, or volunteer shift sign-ups, churches constantly manage time-based bookings. Now you can handle all of that directly through your existing forms — no third-party scheduling tool required.

Set up services (like “Pastor Meeting” or “Fellowship Hall”), define available time slots, and let members book directly from your website. The system handles availability automatically so you never get double-booked.

Maps That Handle Hundreds of Locations

What changed: Churches with large numbers of locations — think denominations or multi-campus networks — now get dynamic, viewport-based loading instead of dumping every pin on the map at once.

Why it matters: If your organization has 100+ locations, loading them all simultaneously could slow things down. Now the map intelligently loads locations based on what’s visible on screen, with automatic pagination for list and grid views.

The improvements include:

• Viewport-based loading that fetches locations as visitors pan and zoom
• Automatic pagination for grid and list layouts (20 locations per page)
• Fullscreen map layouts properly constrained to the visible viewport
• Smooth scrolling sidebar that works regardless of how many locations you have

This is especially meaningful for organizations like AMEZ Publishing House and other denominational bodies managing hundreds of locations across the country.

Under the Hood

A few more things that keep your site running smoothly:

• Activity logging — A new monitoring system tracks changes across your site for security and auditing purposes. You’ll be able to see who changed what and when.
• Plugin updates — Our feedback and bug reporting tools received compatibility improvements for smoother operation alongside other plugins.

Every update is about making your church’s digital presence more capable without adding complexity. These tools work together — mega menus can link to service archives, modals can display booking forms, and your locations map handles growth effortlessly.

Questions about any of these features? Reach out to our team — we love helping churches make the most of their platform.

March 31, 2026

This week brought some of the most request-heavy features we've shipped in months. Your team asked for ways to get events into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Outlook — and to easily import events from other systems. They wanted to embed forms and pages on external websites. And they wanted even more power from the design system. We delivered all of it.

Whether you're connecting your church's calendar to every platform your members use, importing event data seamlessly, embedding your engagement tools across the web, or designing with more flexibility than ever, this update is built for a church that lives everywhere.

Here's what's new since our last update.

Get Your Church Calendar Everywhere

What changed: Your events now sync to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, and any other calendar app that uses iCal feeds. From a single settings page, team members can subscribe to your church's calendar with one click, or download events for import into their existing systems.

Why it matters: Your members live in their calendars — Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, their phone's native app. Asking them to visit your website to check when small groups meet or when the next all-church gathering happens creates friction. Now your events show up right where they already are.

You control what's shared:

• Generate a public iCal feed URL that members can paste into their calendar app
• Provide download links for Google, Apple, and Outlook with pre-configured import settings
• Switch between Month view and List view so visitors see your calendar in whatever format makes sense for them
• Events appear with all their details — time, location, description, links — ready to go

Pro tip: Add the calendar subscription link to your homepage or include it in every email announcement. Members appreciate the convenience, and it keeps your events top-of-mind throughout the week.

Import Events from Anywhere

What changed: You can now import events from other systems — spreadsheets, Eventbrite exports, calendar files from your old platform, anywhere that generates an ICS file. Upload the file, and Digital Church converts it into editable Event posts you manage going forward.

Why it matters: Migrating from another platform or consolidating events from multiple sources used to mean either re-entering everything by hand or working with developer support. Now it's a one-time upload that creates everything you need.

The import tool creates Events as full Digital Church posts, so you can:

• Edit and refine each imported event before publishing
• Add custom fields like ministry tags or team assignments
• Publish immediately or schedule for later
• Delete what doesn't apply without affecting your live site

Pro tip: If you're planning a seasonal event series (VBS, Christmas events, conferences), build a template event, export it as ICS, then customize and re-import for the next year.

Embed Your Forms and Pages Everywhere

What changed: We've built a new Embed Generator tool that creates iframe code for any page or form on your site. Paste that code into your website, a community forum, or even external platforms, and your Digital Church content appears embedded and fully functional.

Why it matters: Your forms and pages are powerful — sign-ups, prayer requests, volunteer applications, event registrations. You want to reach people wherever they gather online, not just on your church website.

Now you can embed:

• Registration forms on external event sites or community boards
• Prayer request forms in Facebook groups or member portals
• Volunteer signup sheets on partner organization websites
• Event listings on denominational sites or community calendars
• Lead magnets on third-party platforms that your team uses

The embed tool generates secure iframe code with all the styling and interactivity intact. Your form submissions flow directly into Digital Church, and responses sync back to your data.

Pro tip: Use embeds to expand your reach in places members already gather — partner websites, community groups, association sites. It's like having your signup form everywhere at once.

Event Pages Look Better, Work Better

What changed: Event detail pages received a layout refresh with cleaner headers, smarter date formatting that handles time zones properly, and URL routing that keeps everything intuitive whether someone's viewing a specific occurrence or browsing upcoming events.

Why it matters: Event pages are often the first real impression someone gets of your church's digital presence. Whether they're looking at a Sunday service, a small group meeting, or a special event, you want them to see clearly organized information with zero confusion about dates and times.

The improvements ensure:

• Single events show prominent, easy-to-read details with no wasted space
• Date and time displays account for time zones so distant members see the right information
• Navigation between occurrences feels natural and intuitive
• URLs are clean and shareable whether you're linking to a specific date or a recurring series

Pro tip: Test your event pages on a phone. The new layout shines on mobile where space is tight and clarity is everything.

Campaign Featured Images and Permalinks, Your Way

What changed: Campaign posts (announcements, promotions, seasonal pushes) now let you customize the featured image and set a custom permalink. You're no longer locked into system defaults.

Why it matters: Sometimes you want a campaign to have a specific look or memorable URL. Maybe you're running a stewardship push with a special graphic, or a ministry highlight that deserves its own branded image. Custom permalinks make campaigns easier to share in print materials and emails where you need memorable, short URLs.

You can now:

• Upload a custom featured image unique to each campaign
• Set a clean, memorable permalink like /campaigns/easter-2026 instead of the default
• Keep consistent branding across your promotional materials

Design System Gets Even Smarter

What changed: We've added backdrop filters and text-width utility classes to the design system, giving your design team more precise control without touching code.

Why it matters: Good design isn't just about how things look — it's about fine-tuning the experience. Backdrop filters let you create blurred glass effects and layered visuals that feel modern and intentional. Text-width classes let you control line length for readability without custom CSS, so long-form content stays comfortable to read.

These tools are built into the Page Builder, so your whole team can use them:

• Blur backgrounds behind text overlays for better readability
• Create frosted glass effects for sophisticated layering
• Set optimal line lengths so articles and ministry writing feel polished
• Layer content precisely without guessing at spacing

Pro tip: Use backdrop filters sparingly for maximum impact — a blurred background behind a call-to-action button, or a frosted glass effect on an overlay. Subtle goes a long way.

Under the Hood

We've squashed several bugs that kept the system running smoothly:

• Fixed AppPresser API integration so your mobile experience stays in sync with the web version
• Corrected the Google Calendar subscribe link generation so subscriptions work on the first try
• Resolved iCal feed caching issues so new events appear in subscribed calendars promptly
• Cleaned up calendar overflow on month views so your full event list displays properly

Everything's working faster and more reliably than before, so your team can focus on ministry instead of wrestling with technical hiccups.

Digital Church keeps expanding because your church keeps reaching further. Whether you're connecting events to every calendar your members use, embedding your team's work across the web, or designing with new precision, you're building tools that serve ministry at scale.

Have questions about subscribing to your calendar, embedding forms, or importing events? Reach out to support@digitalchurch.com — we're here to help you get the most out of these new capabilities.

March 23, 2026

The future of church tech just got a whole lot smarter. Over the past two weeks, we’ve launched our first AI beta feature, completely transformed how recurring events work, and delivered a massive design upgrade that puts enterprise-level tools in your hands. Plus, we’ve automated behind-the-scenes maintenance so your site stays lightning-fast without you thinking about it.

Whether you’re planning recurring small group meetings, designing beautiful layouts with reusable components, or experimenting with AI assistance for your ministry, this update puts powerful new capabilities at your fingertips.

Here’s what’s new since our last update.

Your Personal Ministry AI Assistant (Beta)

What changed: Digital Church AI is here. Churches can now enable our beta AI agent from Settings → Features, unlocking a ChatGPT-style chat interface that understands your church’s unique voice and ministry context.

Why it matters: Every church has questions only they can answer — about their community, their programs, their vision. But finding the right words, crafting the perfect announcement, or brainstorming fresh ideas can eat up precious time. Our AI agent learns your church’s voice and helps you think through ministry challenges, write compelling content, and explore new possibilities.

The AI appears in your admin menu when enabled, offering a clean chat interface where you can:

• Draft announcements and communications in your church’s voice
• Brainstorm new ministry ideas or program improvements
• Get help with website copy that reflects your church’s personality
• Ask questions about church tech best practices

Everything happens right in your Digital Church admin area — no external accounts, no copying and pasting between tools, no learning curve. Just natural conversation that helps you think through ministry decisions with an assistant that gets your context.

Pro tip: Start with simple requests like “Help me write a welcome message for first-time visitors” or “What are some creative ways to promote our small groups?” The AI learns your church’s tone as you interact with it.

Recurring Events That Actually Make Sense

What changed: Recurring events now work like real events. Each occurrence gets its own shareable URL, proper calendar integration, and smart navigation that makes it easy for your congregation to bookmark and return to specific meetings.

Why it matters: Before this update, recurring events were functional but not intuitive. If someone wanted to bookmark your Wednesday night prayer meeting or share the link to this month’s leadership meeting, they couldn’t — recurring events only had one generic URL that always showed “the next” occurrence.

Now each occurrence gets its own URL like /events/prayer-night/?occurrence=2026-03-12 that you can share, bookmark, and link to directly. Your members can save the specific small group meeting they’re interested in, and the link will always take them to the right date and details.

The system is smart enough to know when you need occurrence-specific links and when you don’t. Single events and “next occurrence” links use clean URLs without extra parameters, while specific past or future occurrences get the detailed links.

Your events calendar now includes enhanced data attributes that let the frontend JavaScript handle these URLs smoothly, so everything feels seamless from your congregation’s perspective.

Pro tip: Use this for small group schedules, recurring classes, or monthly meetings where people need to reference specific dates. The URLs are clean enough to include in printed materials or text messages.

Design Components That Change Everything

What changed: Page Builder just received its biggest upgrade ever with the introduction of Components — think of them as smart, reusable design elements that you can customize for each page while maintaining a consistent structure across your site.

Why it matters: Until now, creating consistent designs across your website meant either copying and pasting layouts (and hoping you remembered to update every copy when something changed) or building everything from scratch each time. Components solve this completely.

Here’s how they work: You create a component once — say, a team member spotlight with photo, bio, and contact info. Then you can use that component anywhere on your site, but customize the content for each person. When you update the component’s design, it updates everywhere you’ve used it, but the individual content (photos, names, bios) stays unique to each page.

The update includes:

• 60+ new Box module templates including Bento Grid layouts, hero sections, call-to-action blocks, team profiles, and testimonials
• Star Rating module perfect for testimonials, ministry spotlights, or highlighting community feedback
• Copy & Paste in Outline Panel — right-click any element to copy its settings and paste them anywhere
• Box Module improvements with global row spacing and grid guidelines that make alignment effortless
• Enhanced Button Module with responsive border colors, custom widths, and better color controls

Plus major accessibility upgrades across Accordion, Content Slider, Gallery, Posts, Menu, Testimonials, and Tabs modules with improved keyboard navigation and screen reader support.

Pro tip: Start with team profiles or testimonial components. Create one perfect layout, then use it across multiple pages with different content. When you want to update the design later, change the component once and watch it update everywhere.

Behind-the-Scenes Performance Boosts

What changed: We’ve automated cache management so your site stays fast without you thinking about it. When we deploy updates, your site’s cache clears automatically, ensuring you always see the latest features and fixes.

Why it matters: Website caching makes your pages load faster, but it can also mean you don’t see changes immediately after we ship updates. Our new automation strikes the perfect balance — you get the speed benefits of caching with the confidence that updates appear when they should.

The system includes multiple integration options including automated post-deployment scripts, webhook handlers for direct GitHub integration, and REST API endpoints for custom integrations. Everything is secured with auto-generated API keys and request validation.

We’ve also streamlined the update process so critical fixes and new features reach your site more reliably, with comprehensive logging so we can spot and resolve any hiccups quickly.

Pro tip: You don’t need to do anything — this all happens automatically. But if you ever feel like something should have updated but didn’t, a quick message to support can help us verify everything’s running smoothly.

Digital Church keeps evolving because you keep growing. Whether you’re experimenting with AI assistance, creating more engaging recurring events, or designing beautiful pages with powerful new components, we’re building the tools that help your ministry thrive online.

Have feedback on the AI agent beta or ideas for what it should learn to do next? We’d love to hear from you at support@digitalchurch.com — your input shapes what we build.

v5.5.72February 23, 2026

This has been one of our biggest development sprints ever. Over the past two weeks, we've shipped a completely rebuilt prayer request system with a social-media-style feed, a full giving campaign manager with goals and progress tracking, beautiful single-page templates for five different content types, and Apple Maps integration across your entire site. There's also a new family directory with dedicated family pages, plus a wave of Page Builder modules that make it easier than ever to customize your site.

Here's what's new since our last update.

A Prayer Wall Your Congregation Will Actually Use

What changed: Prayer Requests has been completely rebuilt from the ground up with a Twitter-style card layout, heart buttons, and encouragement comments.

Why it matters: The old prayer request system worked, but it felt more like a contact form than a community feature. The new design transforms it into something people genuinely want to engage with.

When members submit a prayer request, it appears in a beautiful card layout with their avatar (or initials), a relative timestamp ("2 hours ago"), and a heart button others can tap to show they're praying. The heart animates when you tap it — a small touch that makes the interaction feel meaningful. Each request can also receive encouragement comments from other members.

The whole experience is designed for both desktop and mobile, with infinite scroll so the feed loads naturally as visitors browse. Privacy is built in: only first names and last initials are shown publicly, and IP addresses are hashed for anonymous prayer tracking.

You control everything from Settings → Prayer Requests:

• Choose whether new requests need moderation before appearing
• Allow or disallow anonymous submissions
• Enable or disable comments
• Set character limits

You can embed the prayer feed anywhere using the `[prayer_feed]` shortcode, or add a standalone submission form with `[prayer_request_form]`.

Pro tip: Enable the Prayer Requests feature from Settings → Features, then customize your archive permalink. The default is `/prayer/`, but you can change it to match your church's language — `/prayer-wall/`, `/praises/`, whatever fits your community.

Giving Campaigns with Goals and Progress Bars

What changed: A brand-new Campaigns system lets you create fundraising initiatives with goal amounts, progress tracking, and beautiful frontend pages.

Why it matters: Whether you're raising funds for a building project, a mission trip, or a "Wreck the Roof" style emergency repair, you can now showcase the campaign on your website with a clear goal, progress bar, and days remaining countdown.

Each campaign gets its own page with:

• A hero image that sets the tone
• A sidebar showing progress toward the goal
• The amount raised (if you choose to display it)
• A prominent "Give" button that connects to your giving provider

The archive page shows all your campaigns in a filterable grid — visitors can browse active campaigns, see what's coming soon, or view completed initiatives. Status badges keep everything clear at a glance.

Campaigns work with any giving provider you already use. Connect your existing forms, embed a third-party giving widget, or link to Planning Center, Tithe.ly, or any custom URL. You can also toggle whether to show the progress bar, display specific amounts, or keep things more general.

Pro tip: Use the new Campaigns Page Builder module to drop a campaign grid anywhere on your site — perfect for a giving landing page or homepage feature section.

Apple Maps Across Your Entire Site

What changed: Events, Locations, and Groups now all use Apple MapKit for beautiful, interactive maps with autocomplete address entry.

Why it matters: Adding locations to your content just got dramatically easier. When you enter an address, suggestions appear as you type — powered by Apple Maps search. Select the right one, and coordinates are saved automatically. No more copy-pasting from Google Maps or manually entering latitude/longitude.

Here's what this looks like across your site:

Events: A new Venue field lets you either select from your existing Locations or enter a custom venue. Either way, you get a 64×64 Apple Maps thumbnail right in the event header that links directly to driving directions. The full address displays cleanly: venue name (bold), street address, city/state/zip.

Locations: The locations archive now features a Google Maps-style layout with a scrollable sidebar on the left and a full-bleed map on the right. Click a location in the sidebar, and the map centers on it. Click a marker, and the sidebar highlights that location. It's intuitive, fast, and looks professional.

Groups: The groups archive includes a Map tab alongside the List tab. The map shows all groups that have locations set, making it easy for visitors to find small groups near them.

Pro tip: The map is lazy-loaded on the Groups archive — it only loads when someone clicks the Map tab, keeping your List view fast by default.

Dedicated Family Pages

What changed: Your People Directory now includes individual family pages with full household details.

Why it matters: When visitors click a family card in your directory, they now land on a dedicated family page showing the family photo, address, anniversary, and cards for each family member — complete with birthdays, phone numbers, and email (respecting your privacy settings, of course).

This makes your directory feel more like a real community tool. Staff can quickly look up a family's information, and members can see how households connect.

The family archive itself got smarter too: it now uses the family photo as the main card image and filters out single-person entries (only families with 2+ members appear). The CSV import also got an upgrade — you can now include `family_id` and `family_role` columns to automatically create household relationships during import.

Beautiful Single-Page Templates

What changed: Five content types — Sermons, Teams, Groups, Locations, and Resources — now have custom single-page templates with consistent, polished designs.

Why it matters: These pages used to rely on your theme's default single template, which often felt generic. Now each content type has a purpose-built layout that showcases your content beautifully:

• Sermons: Hero with series badge, video or audio player, download buttons for notes and study guides, speaker card, and navigation to browse other sermons in the series
• Teams: Hero, team positions with member cards, team admin info, requirements, and downloadable files
• Groups: Hero, video embed, leaders grid, Apple Maps with directions, join button, attributes list, and session dates
• Locations: Hero, Apple Maps with directions link, service times, contact info, and full address
• Resources: Hero, download button with authentication redirect support, and a related resources grid

Every template is responsive and matches your site's design system. No extra configuration needed — they just work.

Page Builder Modules for Everything

What changed: Eight new Page Builder modules let you drop archives and content blocks anywhere on your site.

Why it matters: Until now, many of these content types only worked on their archive pages. Now you can embed them anywhere — a homepage, a landing page, a custom ministry page — with full control over the layout.

New modules include:

• Live Stream: Embed your live player with tabs (Notes, Connect, Chat, Give, Bible, Events), countdown timer, and live badge
• Campaigns Archive: Display your fundraising campaigns in a grid with status filtering
• Sermons Archive: Show sermons or series in 2/3/4 column grids, or feature the latest sermon with embedded video
• Groups Archive: Drop the full groups grid (with map toggle) anywhere
• Locations Archive: Embed the sidebar + map layout
• Teams Archive: Display your teams grid with column and layout options
• Resources Archive: Showcase downloadable resources in a book-cover style grid

Each module includes column controls (2, 3, or 4), grid vs. list layout options, and show/hide toggles for specific elements.

Pro tip: Combine the Sermons module in "Latest Sermon" mode with your Live Stream module to build a complete watch page without writing any code.

Under the Hood

We've also shipped dozens of smaller improvements that keep your site running smoothly:

• Performance: Tab navigation components now use keyboard accessibility, ARIA labels, and URL syncing so visitors can bookmark specific views
• Giving flexibility: Core giving features (settings, shortcodes, form integrations) now load independently of the Campaigns feature — you can use giving without campaigns if you prefer
• Import power: The People CSV import now supports birthday and anniversary fields, plus automatic family linking via family_id columns
• Archive polish: People archive now shows 24 entries per page (up from 12), sorted alphabetically by last name
• Editor improvements: Campaign editor panels are reordered to put the most-used settings at the top
• Video utilities: New CSS classes let you add rounded corners to any embedded video

As always, these changes roll out automatically — your site is already running the latest version.

We'd love to hear how you're using these new features. If you've set up a prayer wall, launched a campaign, or customized your site with the new Page Builder modules, let us know. Your feedback shapes what we build next.

5.5.54February 14, 2026

The first week of February brought some of our biggest interface improvements yet. We’ve reimagined how visitors browse your people and teams pages, added powerful new ways to showcase your ministry structure, and tightened up authentication controls. There’s a lot to love in this batch of updates.

Here’s what’s new since our last update.

Navigate Your Team with Tabs

What changed: People archive pages now feature a sleek tabbed navigation system with three views: People, Families, and Search.

Why it matters: When a visitor lands on your people page, they might be looking for a specific staff member, curious about your pastoral families, or just browsing to get a feel for your church community. Now they can navigate between these views with a single click.

The People tab displays a clean six-column grid of everyone on your team — complete with headshots, names, and their roles. The Families tab groups your people by household, showing the head of household, spouse, and children together on a single card. And the Search tab lets visitors find exactly who they’re looking for by name.

The navigation includes a smooth sliding indicator that follows your cursor, keyboard accessibility for visitors using screen readers, and remembers which tab you were on if you navigate away and come back. It’s the kind of polish that makes a site feel modern and intentional.

Pro tip: The people archive now loads 24 entries per page (up from 12) and sorts alphabetically by last name — making it easier for visitors to find exactly who they’re looking for.

Showcase Your Ministry Teams

What changed: A brand-new Teams archive displays all your ministry teams in a beautiful card layout, complete with leader avatars, member counts, and optional featured images.

Why it matters: Your church is full of teams — worship, hospitality, children’s ministry, outreach, small group leaders. Now you can showcase that volunteer infrastructure to visitors considering getting involved.

Each team card shows:

• An optional featured image (when you’ve set one)
• Overlapping avatar photos of your team leaders
• The total member count
• A clean, clickable link to the full team page

The cards look complete even when you haven’t uploaded a featured image — no awkward blank spaces. And if you want to hide certain internal teams from the public archive, a simple toggle in the team settings keeps them private.

Use the Page Builder module to drop a Teams grid anywhere on your site, or use the [teams] shortcode for quick placement. Both support layout options: choose between 2, 3, or 4 columns, and switch between grid and list views to match your design.

Pro tip: Team cards now use a 16:9 aspect ratio for featured images, which means landscape photos look great without awkward cropping.

Registration Controls That Work

What changed: The login and registration forms now respect your site’s registration settings — if you’ve disabled new user signups in WordPress, visitors will see a friendly message instead of a registration form.

Why it matters: Some churches want anyone to create an account and access the member portal. Others prefer to add members manually. Now your authentication forms match your intent.

If a visitor tries to sign in with an email address that isn’t in your system and registration is disabled, they’ll see a clear message explaining they need to contact the church to get access. No confusion, no dead ends — just clear communication.

This applies everywhere: the magic link flow, the email verification step, and the registration form itself. Defense in depth, so your member management stays exactly how you want it.

Better Team Card Layouts

What changed: Team cards display member counts only when there are actual members assigned — and featured images use a consistent 16:9 aspect ratio.

Why it matters: The little things add up. Seeing “0 members” on a new team that hasn’t been staffed yet looks unfinished. Now those empty counts are simply hidden until you’ve assigned people.

And those featured images on team cards? They now maintain a 16:9 aspect ratio instead of a fixed height, which means your landscape photos (and most ministry photos are landscape) display beautifully without awkward letterboxing or cropping.

Under the Hood

We’ve added server-side error tracking to help us catch and fix issues before they affect your site. When something goes wrong, we know about it — often before you do. This month we identified and fixed several edge cases that could cause display issues when posts were deleted or data was incomplete.

The Page Builder’s internal components got some reorganization to prevent naming conflicts, and we’ve refined how tab navigation interacts with different page types to ensure it only appears where it belongs.

All of this runs quietly in the background, keeping your site stable while you focus on ministry.

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These updates represent our ongoing commitment to making Digital Church feel polished, modern, and ministry-ready. We’re building tools that serve your church — not just with features, but with the kind of attention to detail that makes technology disappear into the background.

Have thoughts on these updates? We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to support@digitalchurch.com — we read every email.

5.5.43February 1, 2026

The last ten days of January were busy. Really busy. We shipped 27 updates to Digital Church — and while some of those were behind-the-scenes housekeeping, the majority are things you’ll see, use, and (we hope) love. From syncing your Google Calendar events straight to your website, to letting visitors connect with your church through the tools you already use, this batch of updates touches almost every corner of your site.

Here’s what’s new since our last update.

Your Calendar, Your Website — Finally in Sync

What changed: You can now import events directly from Google Calendar, Outlook, or any calendar that offers an ICS feed. Recurring events are fully supported, including weekly services, monthly meetings, and everything in between.

Why it matters: If your church is like most, your events live in Google Calendar (or Outlook, or Planning Center’s calendar). Now your website can stay perfectly in sync — automatically.

With the new ICS Feed Import, you point Digital Church at your calendar’s ICS feed URL, and we handle the rest. Events are automatically pulled in every 15 minutes. New events appear on your site. Canceled events disappear. Changed details get updated. Your website always reflects what’s actually happening at your church — no extra work required.

And here’s the part that really matters for churches with regular programming: recurring events just work. Your weekly Sunday service, your Wednesday night Bible study, your monthly potluck — they all get expanded into individual events on your calendar automatically. We handle the complex recurrence rules (weekly, daily, monthly, yearly) so you don’t have to think about them. If you reschedule one specific instance of a recurring event, we catch that too.

Set it up once under Settings → Events, and your event page stays current on autopilot.

Pro tip: You can add multiple feeds — one for your main church calendar, one for your youth ministry, one for your women’s group. Each feed gets its own category, so visitors can filter by ministry.

Events That Look as Good as They Work

What changed: Event pages now display featured images, beautifully formatted dates and times, correct timezone information, and SEO settings for better search visibility.

Why it matters: Having events on your website is one thing. Having them look professional is another.

Now when someone lands on an event page, they see:

• A featured image right at the top — perfect for promoting that retreat, concert, or VBS with eye-catching visuals
• Clearly formatted dates and times — “Sunday, February 8th, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM” instead of raw timestamps
• Accurate timezone display — times show in your church’s timezone, not some confusing UTC offset

These seem like small details, but they add up to a page that feels polished and trustworthy. When a first-time visitor checks your event page to see if they want to show up Sunday, you want that page to make a great impression.

We also added search engine integration for events, so you can now control how your events appear in Google search results. Find the toggle under Settings → Events → Search Engine Settings.

Connect with Anyone, Anywhere

What changed: Connect Cards and form modules now support Elexio and Planning Center forms alongside Digital Church’s built-in forms. Choose your provider, drop it on a page, and you’re done.

Why it matters: Your church probably didn’t start using Digital Church in a vacuum. You might have years of data in Planning Center. Your giving might flow through Elexio. Your volunteer signups might live in Church Center.

We get it — and we don’t think you should have to abandon those tools to have a great website.

Now, anywhere you use a form on your site — Connect Cards, Page Builder form modules, contact pages — you can choose which system powers it:

• Digital Church (our built-in forms) for forms you want to manage right from your dashboard
• Planning Center for forms that feed directly into Church Center, opening in a clean modal popup
• Elexio for forms that embed inline from your MinistryForms account

This works in two places:

1. Connect Cards — when you set a card’s call-to-action to “Form,” you’ll now see a provider dropdown. Pick your system, enter your form ID or URL, and the right embed appears automatically.
2. Page Builder Form Module — the same provider choice is available when building custom pages. One dropdown, three options, zero hassle.

Existing forms keep working exactly as they did. This is purely additive — more options, no disruption.

Pro tip: Using Planning Center for visitor follow-up? Set your main Connect Card to use a Planning Center form, and new visitor info flows straight into your People database without any manual entry.

Team Members, Meet the World

What changed: There’s a brand-new Team Members module for the Page Builder, plus improvements to team photos and the Families tab on your People page.

Why it matters: Your team page is one of the most visited pages on your church website. Visitors want to see who they’ll meet on Sunday. They want to put faces to names. And now, building that page is easier than ever.

The new Team Members module for the Page Builder lets you showcase your staff and volunteers with a polished, visual layout. Drag it onto any page, and it pulls directly from your People directory — no need to duplicate information or manage photos in two places.

Team member photos now display beautifully, and your styles always load fresh so your latest changes show up right away.

One more thing: if you’re using the People page with family groupings, the Families tab is back and working properly. It’s now fully built out and ready to go.

Go Live with Confidence

What changed: The new Live Badge shortcode lets you show a “LIVE” indicator anywhere on your site, and it now works reliably with multiple badges on the same page.

Why it matters: When your church goes live for a Sunday service or special event, you want visitors to know immediately. The new

shortcode gives you a visual indicator that you can place in your header, on your homepage, on your livestream page — anywhere you want.

Here’s how it works: the badge is hidden by default. When your livestream goes live, it automatically appears with a pulsing “LIVE” indicator. When the stream ends, it disappears. No manual toggling needed.

We shipped a few quick refinements right after launch to make sure the badge plays nicely with every theme — proper styling that won’t get overridden by your theme’s CSS, and correct behavior when you place multiple badges on the same page (like one in the header and one in your content area). They all show up when you’re live, and they all hide when you’re not.

Pro tip: Put a live badge in your site header so it’s visible on every page. Visitors browsing your sermon archive might not know you’re streaming right now — but they will if there’s a little red “LIVE” badge catching their eye.

YouTube and Sermons, Polished Up

What changed: YouTube thumbnails load reliably now, autopublished sermons pull in full video descriptions, and the sermon archive got some visual cleanup.

Why it matters: If you’re using YouTube autopublish (and you should be — it’s a huge time-saver), these fixes make the experience smoother for both you and your visitors.

Smarter thumbnails: Video thumbnails now use the best available resolution automatically, with a smart fallback system that always finds a great-looking image. Every sermon on your page gets a sharp, professional thumbnail.

Full descriptions: When we autopublish a sermon from YouTube, we now pull the complete video description. If you write detailed sermon notes, scripture references, or discussion questions in your YouTube descriptions, all of that now makes it to your website.

Cleaner sermon archive: We tidied up some visual inconsistencies on the sermon archive page — better button styling and proper rounded corners on lazy-loaded video containers. Small details, but they make the page feel more polished.

People Pages That Make a Great First Impression

What changed: Person contact forms are now polished and rock-solid, and avatar images are perfectly spaced on every page layout.

Why it matters: Your staff and volunteer pages are often the first place a visitor goes to learn about your church’s leadership. When someone clicks on a pastor’s profile and wants to reach out, the experience should be seamless.

The person contact form now features:

• Reliable delivery. Messages go through every time, rock-solid.
• Clean layout. The form is properly aligned with the rest of the page — looks great on every screen size.
• Built-in security. The recipient’s email is looked up on the server, not exposed in the page source. A honeypot field catches spam bots. And after sending, the page redirects cleanly so refreshing won’t accidentally send the message twice.

Avatar images also look great on every page now — proper spacing whether the person has a cover photo or not. Every profile page feels intentional and polished.

Search That Actually Finds Things

What changed: When someone searches your site, they’ll now find your Events page, Sermons page, Groups page, and other section landing pages — not just individual posts.

Why it matters: When a visitor types “events” into your site’s search bar, they should find your events page. Now they do.

When someone searches for “events,” your Events page appears right at the top. Same for “sermons,” “groups,” or any other content section on your site. The matching is smart — searching “event” will find “Events” and vice versa. It works automatically for every content type on your site, current and future.

No configuration needed. It just works the way your visitors always expected it to.

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That’s everything from the last week and a half of January. Twenty-seven updates, seven themes, and a whole lot of improvements to how your church shows up online. Whether you’re syncing calendars, connecting visitors to your ChMS, or just making sure search works like it should — your site got better this week.

As always, if you run into anything unexpected or have questions about these new features, we’re just a support message away. We love hearing how you’re using these tools in your ministry.

Here’s to a fantastic February! 🎉

5.5.16January 20, 2026

We’ve kicked off 2026 with a batch of updates that make Digital Church easier to use, more flexible, and just a bit more delightful. Some of these changes you’ll notice immediately. Others work quietly behind the scenes, making sure everything runs smoothly so you can focus on ministry.

Here’s what’s new since our last update.

Take Control with the Features Page

What changed: We added a brand-new Settings → Features page that gives you direct control over which content modules are active on your site.

Why it matters: Not every church needs every feature. Maybe you don’t use Stories, or you’re not ready for Groups yet. Now you’re in charge.

With the new Features page, you can toggle Sermons, Groups, Teams, Resources, Stories, Announcements, Events, Locations, and Connect Cards on or off with a single click. When you disable a feature, it’s truly disabled—no menu items, no archive pages, no confusion. Your content stays safely in the database (we’d never delete your work), but it’s tucked away until you need it.

Pro tip: When you first visit the Features page, we’ve automatically detected which features you’re actually using based on whether you have posts in those sections. No setup required.

Share the Love with Social Buttons

What changed: We built a new

shortcode that adds beautiful social sharing buttons to any page or post.

Why it matters: When someone reads a powerful sermon recap or inspiring blog post, you want them to share it. The easier you make that, the more likely it happens.

Our new social share buttons support Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Email. Each button uses the platform’s official brand colors by default, creating a polished, recognizable look. Drop the shortcode anywhere, and you’re done.

How to use it:

• Basic:
  Share this content
  — shows all networks
• Selective:
  Share this content
  — pick your favorites
• Custom colors:
  Share this content
  — match your brand

A Fresh Look for Connect Cards

What changed: The Connect Cards archive got a complete visual overhaul with a modern card-based design.

Why it matters: Your “Connect” page is often where visitors take their first real step toward engagement. It should feel inviting — and now it does.

The new design features:

• Glassmorphism effect — cards have a subtle blurred backdrop that looks great on any background
• Background images — each card showcases its cover photo beautifully
• Responsive grid — looks great on phones, tablets, and desktops
• Smart redirects — if a card is set to redirect somewhere, it goes directly there (no extra clicks)

If you’re using Connect Cards, you’ll see this automatically. No action needed on your part.

Vimeo Joins the Autopublish Party

What changed: You can now automatically import sermons from Vimeo, just like you could with YouTube.

Why it matters: Some churches prefer Vimeo for its cleaner viewing experience and better privacy controls. Now, Vimeo-powered sermon posts can be created automatically — saving your team time every single week.

Connect your Vimeo account, point us at a folder or showcase, and we’ll handle the rest:

• Videos are imported automatically every 4 hours
• Thumbnails are downloaded and attached as featured images
• Smart filtering skips private videos, Vimeo Live events, and anything under 60 seconds
• Duplicate detection means we’ll never import the same video twice

Find it under Settings → Sermons → Vimeo tab.

Login That Actually Makes Sense

What changed: Magic link redirects now take you back where you started.

Why it matters: Here’s the experience now: You’re reading a sermon page, click “Log In” to leave a comment, receive your magic link, click it, and land right back on the sermon you were reading. Seamless.

If you happened to be on the login page itself, we’ll take you to the homepage instead. It’s a small detail, but it makes the whole login flow feel polished and intentional.

A Cleaner Admin Menu

What changed: We merged the Pages menu into the Page Builder menu and moved it to the top of your admin sidebar.

Why it matters: “Pages” now sits right at the top of your menu, right after the Dashboard. Everything you need to create and edit pages is in one logical place.

The old “Builder” menu is now called “Pages” and includes quick links to All Pages, Add New Page, and your saved templates.

Under the Hood: Security and Stability

We also shipped some important security improvements to our authentication system. Without getting too technical, we tightened up how login requests are validated, added better logging for troubleshooting, and fixed an edge case that could cause issues with magic link emails.

You won’t see these changes directly, but they’re working hard to keep your site (and your members’ data) safe.

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That’s the roundup for January 2026. As always, if you run into any issues or have questions about these new features, just reach out through the support chat. We’re here to help.

Here’s to a great year of ministry ahead!