Frequently asked questions
Find answers to our most frequently asked questions below. For additional information, please reference our documentation or tutorial videos. If you still have questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact us.
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While Congregate has built-in contact forms, you can create, customize and embed additional forms using other third-party services such as Google Forms, JotForm, WuFoo, etc. Simply follow their instructions/options for integrating forms directly on your website using an embed or iframe code. The process for then integrating a form using an embed or iframe code follows the same instructions as integrating any other third-party content via an embed/iframe code (such as a Google Map, Facebook box, YouTube video, etc). See our quick tip video for a full demonstration.
To add any content from a third-party that offers an “embed code” or “iframe code,” select the page or widget you wish to add your content within inside Congregate Admin. Ensure your content editor is switched to source view by clicking the “Source” button in the toolbar. Copy and paste the embed or iframe code provided by Google Maps, YouTube, Facebook, etc. into your content editor. (You can find the embed/iframe code by normally clicking the “share” or “add to my website” option on Google Maps, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Click save and your embed/iframe code will be added to your page or widget. See our quick tip video for a full demonstration.
To upload or select an image within the page editor, click the “image” icon in the toolbar. After the image properties pop-up window appears, click the “browse server” button. After the file manager pop-up window appears, either select an already uploaded image or upload your own image. Select the image you wish to use by double-clicking on it within the file manager. The image has now been selected in the image properties window. Now you can adjust its size by entering a new number (in pixels) for its height and/or width. You can click the “Link” tab if you wish to link the image to a URL or another file. Click save and your image will appear on your page. You can use the alignment buttons in the toolbar (left, right, center) after highlighting the image and you can click and drag your image to move it to alternate locations on your page. See our quick tip video for a full demonstration.
To add a link to a PDF (or any other document type), highlight the text you wish to link on your page within the page manager. Then click the “link” icon in the toolbar. After the link pop-up window appears, click the “browse server” button. After the file manager pop-up window appears, either select an already uploaded file or upload your own file. Select the file you wish to use in your link by double-clicking on it within the file manager. The file and its URL has now been updated in the link window. Click save and your text will now link to your selected file. See our quick tip video for a full demonstration.
Congregate can automatically create a podcast feed for each media type created in the sermons/media module. To learn how to create an individual podcast (separate from the default podcast that contains all sermons/media uploaded to your site), view our quick tip video.
If you deleted a page with your own custom content on the page, it cannot be restored. However, if you deleted a page that was linked to a module (e.g., sermons, blog, articles, etc.) and wish to add its functionality back, follow these steps:
- Go to Website CMS > Pages and create a new [blank] page. Title your page as you wish (e.g., if you want to restore the public blog, title your page “Blog”). Then drag and drop your page using the page manager to place it where you wish on your site.
- Inside the “Options” page of the module you wish to restore (e.g., News and Events > Blog > Options) go to the page assignments section and select your new page from the dropdown menu and save your changes. Note: you cannot assign multiple modules to the same page.
- Your module and page are now connected. If you’re not seeing your new page and/or module content on your site, please clear your browser’s cache, restart your browser, or reboot your device. Note: new page assignments can take a few minutes to populate on the system.
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If you deleted your homepage, about us, member dashboard/login, my account settings, message center, or public contact form pages, follow these steps:
- Go to Website CMS > Pages and create a new [blank] page. Title your page as you wish (e.g., if you want to restore your home page, title your page “Home”). Then drag and drop your page using the page manager to place it where you wish on your site.
- Go to Configuration > General Settings and then find the corresponding page assignment dropdown selector for the page you wish to restore under “Public Page Assignments” or “Member Page Assignments.” Select your new page from the dropdown menu and save your changes. Note: you cannot assign multiple modules to the same page.
- If you’re not seeing your new page and/or content on your site, please clear your browser’s cache, restart your browser, or reboot your device. Note: new page assignments can take a few minutes to populate on the system.
By default, Congregate will display all sermons and all articles on the default sermons and articles pages. However, if you wish to create a page that only displays certain sermons or articles, you would do so by creating custom “media types” for sermons and custom “topics” for articles. To create custom display pages based on media types and/or topics, follow the steps below:
- Add or edit sermons to ensure they belong to your custom media type (e.g., “Bible Classes”) when adding a new sermon or by editing previously uploaded sermons. Simply select the type in the “Media Type” dropdown menu. For articles, ensure they belong to your custom topic (e.g., “Archeology”) when adding a new article or by editing previously uploaded articles. Simply select the topic in the “Topic” dropdown menu. Note: You can add/manage/rename media types and topics directly on the “Media Types” page and “Topics” page inside the sermons and articles modules.
- Create a new [blank] page for your items to appear on in the page manager. Title it appropriately and place it where you wish for it to appear in your site’s navigation structure (e.g., “Bible Class Audio” or “Archeology Articles”).
- Inside the “Options” page within the sermons and articles modules, you’ll find a list of display pages. You can assign a page for each media type and/or topic. Simply select the page you created for the custom media type and/or topic and click save. This will cause only sermons of that media type or articles of that topic to appear on your selected page.
- Repeat this process for any additional media types/topics as you wish. Note: You cannot combine multiple types and topics onto the same page; do not attempt to pair multiple types/topics on the same display page. You do not have to create a custom page for each type/topic as the default sermon and article pages will still display all sermons/articles of all types and topics.
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Alternatively, you can create direct links to sermons and articles using any of the search and filter options. These direct links could then be used within pages or as redirected links in your navigation menu. To find and use direct links, follow the steps below:
- Use the search and/or filter options on the front-end/public sermons or articles page as desired and click “Filter” (e.g., if you wish to filter sermons only be a certain speaker, select the speaker from the dropdown menu).
- Once the filtered results appear, notice the URL/website address in your browser’s address bar. Copy this URL.
- Log into Congregate Admin. Now you can paste this custom URL when creating a link on a page, widget, etc. (in our example, it will direct visitors to a list of sermons pre-filtered by the selected speaker).
- To create a link in your site’s navigation menu to the custom filtered results, create a new [blank] page in the page manager, title it appropriately, and place it where you wish for it to appear in your site’s navigation structure. Inside the page’s properties, paste the custom URL inside the “Redirect to Another URL” field (in our example, it will direct visitors to a list of sermons pre-filtered by the selected speaker). Click save.
Anyone who appears in the directory can be assigned a user account, regardless of their membership status. However, each person must have a valid and unique email address in the directory in order to have a user account. If a person already has a user account, he or she will not appear in the dropdown menu for selection. If a person is using the same email address as another user account, he or she will not appear in the dropdown menu for selection.
Sign up for a free Google Analytics account and configure it for your website. Inside of Congregate Admin, you’ll be able to add the unique Google Analytics ID they provide to you. After this code has been added to your site, you can go to the Google Analytics website to view your stats, visitors, page views, etc. Note: only public pages and content are tracked.
After making sure your search engine indexing option is enabled on your website, you can submit your site to Google using their site submission link. Note: Congregate has no control over when, if, and how your website will be displayed on Google or any other search engine and there is no way to guarantee a particular ranking on search engines.
All Congregate data, media, files, databases, etc. are stored across multiple servers and platforms for performance and security. As such, Congregate does not offer “backups” or “exports” of client sites, other than what data can be exported from directly inside Congregate Admin (e.g., the member directory, church visitor data, etc). We highly recommend clients keeping a local copy of any file(s) uploaded to Congregate for any future transfers, re-uploads, migrations, etc.
Yes; Whether self-hosted or through our WordPress hosting packages, the Congregate for WordPress plugin allows your Congregate public and member content to be integrated into a WordPress site. Once integrated into the WordPress platform, you can then choose to use nearly any theme, plugin, or page builder you wish. See our Congregate for WordPress page for details.
Yes; as a Congregate subscriber you gain access to all of Congregate’s newest updates to our platform and mobile app. Congregate is updated multiple times per year offering new features and enhancements.
Yes! Whether self-hosted or through our WordPress hosting packages, the Congregate for WordPress plugin allows your Congregate public and member content to be integrated into a WordPress site. See our Congregate for WordPress page for details and our pricing page for service plans that include WordPress.
Congregate does not offer online giving. However, you can link-to or embed a giving form/widget from various online giving providers. Each provider would offer instructions on how to integrate their service into your website.
Congregate does not offer live streaming. However, you can link-to or embed a video/livestream from various streaming providers. Each provider would offer instructions on how to integrate your stream/videos into your website.
If you are interested in gaining access to our API, please contact us directly.
To read our up-to-date privacy policy, please click the Privacy Policy link at the bottom of our website.
To read our up-to-date terms of use, please click the Terms of Use link at the bottom of our website.
Congregate cannot retrieve usernames or passwords.
If you forgot your Congregate username and/or password, please access the member section of your website or Congregate Admin and choose the password retrieval link. After you enter the email address or username associated with your account, a password reset link will be emailed to you. After resetting your password and you can then login.
If you are a member and need additional assistance with your user account, please contact your local church website administrator; Congregate does not manage user accounts.
To upgrade your account, please visit https://www.congregateonline.com/upgrade.
If you would like to request to change your recurring payment method (e.g., from check to credit card), simply visit the payment center and initiate a new automated payment and discontinue your current payment method. If you need to update your payment account (credit/debit card or bank account number), choose “update by account details” inside the payment center.
To add premium services to your account, please visit https://www.congregateonline.com/upgrade.
To read our up-to-date billing policies, please click the Billing Policies link at the bottom of our website.
If you wish to close your Congregate account, please have the main point of contact on your account contact our support team. We will be happy to address any concerns and/or close your account if you desire.
Congregate has no contracts or commitments. You can cancel anytime without penalty. Congregate services are billed monthly and you will receive a pro-rated refund for any month(s) you may have pre-paid for but not used.
To update any of the points of contact on your account, login to Congregate Admin using an all access administrator account and click the “Account” link in the upper right.
To view your service plan and features, login to Congregate Admin using an all access administrator account and click the “Account” link in the upper right.
To view current data usage, login to Congregate Admin using an all access administrator account and click the “Account” link in the upper right.
If you’re on a qualified service plan and are using Congregate-hosted email, you can request new email accounts and/or forwarders via the “Mail” link inside of Congregate Admin. If you wish to update an email forwarder, simply re-submit the same forwarding address with updated recipients and we will update your forwarder on-file.
To view Congregate’s mail servers, port numbers, and general settings, click the “Mail” link inside of Congregate Admin. Then, follow the instructions in your email application to add new a IMAP or POP3 email account.
Yes, we do!
A message may not be delivered if an ISP thinks it contains spam or if an attached file is too large. Consider uploading and linking to files instead of attaching them directly to the email itself. Always be aware of and try to avoid any verbiage, images, links, or other content within your email that may appear to be spam-related to an ISP’s spam filter/algorithm.
Email passwords cannot be retrieved. If you have lost your email password, please contact us to reset it.
Yes; we offer an iOS and Android app for members. Click for full information and details.
Yes; we offer a Congregate Admin web app for use on your iOS and Android browser. Click for full information and details.
Please view our Congregate Members app troubleshooting section for full information and details.
Congregate cannot retrieve usernames or passwords.
If you forgot your Congregate username and/or password, please access the member section of your website and choose the password retrieval link. After you enter the email address or username associated with your account, a password reset link will be emailed to you. After resetting your password and you can then log into the app.
If you are a member and need additional assistance with your user account, please contact your local church website administrator; Congregate does not manage user accounts.