How to create/edit a widget to display events, blogs and more

What are widgets?

In ChurchDesk, there are several types of widgets that you can add to your ChurchDesk website. Our widgets can also be added to other websites.

We have widgets for displaying events, blogs, fundraisers and more. Widgets replace what we used to call calendar views and blog views.

Widgets are elements that you can add to your website when you want to show upcoming calendar events, latest blog posts and what you are fundraising for as a church.

Widgets are created in our website module (see screenshot)

On this page:

Design and settings for your widgets
How to create a new widget
Widget > Actions
How to insert a widget on your ChurchDesk website
How to insert a widget on your website that wasn't created in ChurchDesk

Design and settings for widgets

At the top of the page under Widgets, you can see - and change - your default settings for widgets. That is, the colors of the text and background.

To change the default colors, tap on the color for Primary color and Card background color respectively. Finish with Save.



In widget design, if you have our Studio add-on, you can change the appearance of your default widget.



Corner style: Here you can select square or round corners
Show shadow: Here you can select or deselect the shadow
Widget font: Here you can freely choose between the different fonts that can be used on the website.

If you have Studio, you can also change the design settings for the individual widgets.

How to create a new widget

Step-by-Step Guide

Go to Website > Widget
Click on Create widget.
Select widget type: Event widget or Blog widget.



Edit the new widget following the instructions below according to the selected feed type:

New Event Widget

Widget name: Give the new widget a name
Locations: Here you specify which resources (church, parish hall, etc.) the event must take place in to be included in your widget
Event categories: Here you can add the categories to which the new widget should be linked
Number of events per page: Here you add how many events it should display at a time
Allow visitors to apply filter: Click here if you want to allow your website visitors to filter the events
Display event image: If you click here, you can insert a default image for the event. If you activate this button and do not insert an image, a default image will automatically be added
Customize color scheme: Here you can freely choose a different primary and/or background color for the new widget

Finish with Ok.

New Blog Widget

Widget name: Give the new widget a name
Blog categories: Choose which blog categories you want your widget to collect
Number of blogs per page: Here you add how many blogs to display per page
Number of blogs per row: Here you add how many blogs to display per row (1, 2 or 3)
Allow visitors to apply filter: Click here if you want to allow external visitors to filter your blogs
Display blog image: If you click here, you can insert a default image in the blog. If you enable this button and do not insert an image in the individual blog, this default image will automatically be used
Customize color scheme: Here you can freely choose a different primary and/or background color for the new widget. A transparent background can also be selected here.

Finish with Ok.

Widget > Actions

By clicking on Actions on the right side next to the specific widget, you will get the following options:



Edit: Here you can change the settings for the individual widget



Example: Here you can see how the widget looks on the website



View code: Here you can copy the code that you can use to insert the widget on other pages.



Copy: Here you can copy your widget and create a new one with the same content and new details

Delete: Here you delete your widget

Insert your widgets on your ChurchDesk website

Go to the page where you want to insert, for example, an overview of upcoming events, latest blog posts, etc.

In the row you want to insert the widget on, create a new Dynamic Content Module and in the settings, select the type of widget you want to insert by selecting a category. Then you can select the desired widget from the element list. Once the widget is inserted, the final result can be seen under Preview.

Insert widget with dynamic content module

Select category for the widget type and element for the specific widget

Inserting widgets in websites that weren't created in ChurchDesk

Adjust the standard settings for your widgets, if needed, and create the widgets you need.
If you click on "Actions" next to the widget you want to use, you'll see the following options:



Click on "Get Code" and this will view pop up:



You can insert the widgets in your website by copying the code and inserting it into the HTML code of your website.

Make sure that the events are set to public so that they can appear in the widget. Only public events can be displayed on the website.

Updated on: 05/06/2024