The Church360° Unite team is excited to announce some big changes to the Edit Page experience. Not only has the Rich Text Editor been upgraded, but we are introducing the ability to add rows and cells, as well as the option to switch the type of cells to change the type of content that is displayed.
When we first introduced Church360° Unite, we included six page layouts with up to four cells. Over the years, we've heard feedback that our users would like more options, but there was no consistency in the layouts that were requested. Rather than try to find layouts that we think would work best, we've built it so that you can create your own.
Now when you are in Edit Page, you will see "+" buttons to the top, right, and bottom of a row. By clicking on these buttons, you can add a row above or below that row or add additional cells to the row from the right. You can add as many rows as you would like and up to four cells per row.
You can also drag and drop cells from one row to another, just make sure there is no more than three cells already in the new row.
With these changes come some changes to the side panel:
Previously, Church360° had one type of cell for all purposes: rich text. Now, in addition to an improved rich text experience, users can also choose Carousel, Feed, and Calendar.
The new rich text editor is similar to the previous one but will work better with today's browsers and has added layers of security to prevent bad code from breaking your site.
Since a single click will now cause a cell to be selected to drag to another row, we've added an Edit button to each rich text cell. By clicking this button in the top right corner, it allows you access to edit the contents of that cell.
In addition to some better options for inputting pictures (watch the video to see more), you still have all the common options that were previously available. The one exception is Source, which would let you view the source code of a cell.
This new editor cleans up the code in a way that makes it more readable and efficient for browsers, so the code is protected from editing. However, if you would like to add code to a cell, you may still do so by adding a block of code as a cell element.
When you have edited a cell but not yet published the changes, there will be an orange dot in the top right corner to indicate there are unpublished changes.
One of the most requested features is the ability to add rotating images to your site. The new Carousel cell type now makes this an option!
To change the cell type from Rich Text to Carousel, click the setting cog in the top right corner of a cell, click "Edit Cell Type," and when given the option, select "Carousel." Then click change. Please note that this will delete any contents of the cell that already exist. You are now ready to edit your Carousel cell.
Your cell will now display the banners with handles on each side for switching to the next or previous image.
The Feed cell type allows you to display a list of posts from a feed.
To change the cell type from Rich Text to Feed, click the setting cog in the top right corner of a cell, click "Edit Cell Type," and when given the option, select "Feed." Then click change. Please note that this will delete any contents of the cell that already exist. You're now ready to edit your Feed cell.
Your cell with now display a listing with links to the most recent feed posts from the selected feed.
The Calendar cell type is like the Feed cell type, but it allows you to display a list of events from a calendar or multiple calendars.
To change the cell type from Rich Text to Feed, click the setting cog in the top right corner of a cell, click "Edit Cell Type," and when given the option, select "Calendar." Then click change. Please note that this will delete any contents of the cell that already exist. You're now ready to edit your Calendar cell.
Your cell will now display the events the current week, including date, time, location, calendar, and of course, title.
We hope you enjoy these changes! If you have any questions about this new feature, please contact our software support team at support@cts.cph.org or (800) 346-6120.