Version 8.0 Release Notes (Q3 2026)
Our support library will soon be revised to accommodate Congregate 8.0 upon its full release. Our current support documentation refers to Congregate 7.0; documentation in regard to our new/updated features and modules will be coming soon.
Make the most of Congregate 8.0 by updating your public site’s appearance. If your Congregate’s public site has not been updated in years, looks dated, or does not convey the messaging you’re looking for, our team can help! We can update your template and design, or produce a custom design complete with video production via WordPress. This will bring your site up-to-date! Contact us for additional information so we help improve your online presence!
What’s New in Congregate 8.0
- All-new user interface with support for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
- All-new church account management (contacts, upgrades, service plans, receipts, payment method)
- All-new email management (manage your own Congregate-hosted email accounts/forwarders)
- All-new forms module (create unlimited public or member forms with full customization)
- All-new blocklists module (remove email addresses from suppression lists, view blocked text messages)
- All-new popup module (display a popup on your entire site for service time changes, urgent updates, weather delays, etc.)
- All-new page designer (drag-and-drop page builder system with prebuilt widgets and full page templates)
- All-new file browser (better manage shared files with list view, grid view, and automatic “safe” file renaming)
- All-new mobile attendance interface (for overall, member, and visitor attendance taking)
- All-new job assignments interface, auto-assign engine, and confirmation links (easier management; revised auto-assignment engine for better results; member clicks to verify their assignment)
- All-new module-to-page pairing (select display pages now in the page manager vs. the “options” page for each individual module)
- Multiple updates and enhancements to Congregate for WordPress
- Over 25+ new materials added to the Virtual Library
Per-Module Enhancements
- Blog
- Import/export posts via CSV
- Calendar
- PDF exports direct from admin console
- Modernized PDF layouts
- Articles
- Import/export articles via CSV
- Photos
- Automatic image optimization and scaling upon upload
- Sermons
- Automatic MP3 optimization/compression on upload
- Automatic thumbnail scaling/optimization on upload
- Export sermon data to CSV
- Directory
- Easier navigation to find members/families
- Easier family member management (head, spouse, children)
- “Split” option to transfer family members into their own families
- Directory image optimization/scale/crop/rotate upon upload
- Member Groups
- Export member groups via CSV
- Member Interests
- One-click option to import 400 starter interests
- Users Accounts
- Simplified user types: “User” (permission-based) or “Super Admin” (all access, account management)
- Attendance
- Integrated chart display
- Updated per-member attendance taking interface
- Updated weekly report email design
- Tap to count feature for in-person overall attendance taking
- New “Attendance Taker” interface for in-person attendance taking
- Class Tracker
- Import/export classes via CSV
- Finance Tracker
- Integrated chart display
- Import records via CSV
- Export records via QuickBooks-compatible CSV
- Job Assignments
- New grid-based assignment management interface
- Updated auto-assign engine for better performance
- Drag-and-drop sorting, positions, priorities, etc. (vs. old numerical “order” values)
- New auto-assign member limiting options: 30 days, 14 days, 1 day for reduced duplicate assignments
- Swap feature to quickly switch members/positions
- Confirmation links (member clicks link on their reminder to confirm or replace an assignment; status shown in assignment interface)
- Resource Library
- Import/export resources via CSV
- Song Tracker
- Integrated chart display
- Virtual Library
- Updated book viewer
- Over 25+ new materials added
- Visitor Tracker
- Improved visitor details/visit history display
- Improved QR code/visitor registration customization
- New attendance option for adding bulk visits to recent visitors
- Volunteers
- Improved volunteer list display
- New grid-based scheduled assignments management interface (matching job assignments)
- CSV and PDF exports
- File Manager/Shared Files
- New browser and management interface
- Automatic “safe” file renaming upon upload
- Page Manager
- Improved page management interface
- Consolidated module-to-page assignments
- New drag-and-drop page designer
- Multiple pre-built page templates (e.g., about, contact, leadership, our beliefs, etc.)
- Multiple widgets/blocks (e.g., columns, tables, banners, info boxes, etc.)
- Message Center
- New, streamlined interface
- Consolidated members, visitors, mailing lists sending options
- Updated, modernized email design
- Daily/Weekly Recap
- Updated, modernized recap email designs
- Appearance (Style/Template) Settings
- Image optimization/scale/crop/rotate on upload (for logos, etc.)
- Preview option (view changes before saving them to your live site)
- Simplied controls
What’s New in Congregate 8.0 for WordPress
- All-new modern module layouts and designs
- All-new popup feature (to alert visitors of weather, service changes, etc.)
- All-new accent color picker (to make modules better match your website)
- All-new recent sermons carousel widget (with sermon thumbnail images)
- All-new member and public CSS classes (to show/hide content from the public)
- Authenticate your WordPress site to now view/edit your WordPress pages directly inside Congregate Admin
Coming Soon…
- Additional built-in templates for the Congregate CMS (thousands of templates already available when using Congregate for WordPress)
- Modernized front end/public module layouts and designs for the Congregate CMS (already updated and modernized when using Congregate for WordPress)
- Support for other CMS platforms, in addition to WordPress
- Additional materials in the Virtual Library
- New features and new modules