What this section covers: The common, everyday tasks involved in keeping your Churchnet website fresh and accurate — adding news, updating events, managing email subscribers, uploading documents, and updating people's details.
Once your site is set up, ongoing maintenance is straightforward. Most tasks take two or three minutes. The system has been designed so that anyone who can use email can manage the content — and that principle holds in practice.
Adding a news item
News items are the most commonly added content. They appear on the site's homepage and on the relevant church's page, and are automatically archived after six months so the site never looks out of date.
Log in to the admin panel
Go to manage.churchnet.co and sign in.
Go to Articles
Under the relevant church or group, select Articles and click "Add New Article".
Write your news item
Give it a title and write the content. You can include images and formatted text. There's no minimum or maximum length — a one-paragraph notice is fine.
Save and it's live
Click save. The news item appears on the site immediately. Subscribers who have opted in for email updates will be notified automatically.
Updating events and the diary
Events appear in the diary section of the site. Past events are automatically archived — you don't need to delete them. The diary always shows what's coming up.
To add or update an event, go to the relevant church or group in the admin panel, select Activities, and add or edit from there. You'll need a date, time, title, and brief description. Location and contact details are optional but helpful.
For regular events (weekly services, monthly meetings), you don't need to add each one individually. The system supports recurring events — set the pattern once and it populates the diary automatically.
Managing email subscribers
Visitors to your site can sign up to receive email notifications when new content is posted. This is one of the most valuable features — it keeps your congregation connected without requiring them to remember to check the website.
Subscribers receive an email when:
- A new news item is published
- A new event is added
- A reminder is sent automatically one week before an event they signed up for
To see your subscriber list, go to Email Updates in the admin panel. You can see who has subscribed, their preferred frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly), and you can remove subscribers if needed. You can also send a manual update at any time.
Mention the email update option in your weekly notices, pew sheet, or newsletter. A prompt like "Sign up for website updates at [yoursite].churchnet.co" can significantly increase how many people stay connected.
Adding or updating documents
To add a downloadable document (annual report, safeguarding policy, newsletter, etc.), go to Files in the admin panel and upload the file. It becomes available for download on the site immediately. You can add a title and description, and choose which section of the site it appears in.
Old documents can be archived rather than deleted — they stop appearing publicly but remain in the system in case they're needed later.
Updating people and roles
Clergy and wardens change. Roles are reassigned. When this happens, updating the site takes a couple of minutes under People in the admin panel — change the name, update the contact details, reassign the role. Everything updates immediately.
When a person leaves — clergy moving on, a warden stepping down — remember to update their login access as well as their public listing. Under Web Users in the admin panel you can remove or disable their account.
Keeping content fresh
A website that hasn't been updated for months sends the wrong signal — it suggests the church may not be active, or that nobody is paying attention. The good news is that a small amount of regular maintenance goes a long way.
A practical approach that works well for many parishes:
- Assign one person (or two sharing the role) to update the site regularly
- Include "update the website" in the weekly routine — it takes five minutes
- Set a reminder before major events (harvest, Christmas, Easter) to check all listings are current
- Review the "Who's Who" section once a year to make sure all contacts are still current