Articles on: Website
This article is also available in:

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

This article guides you through the creation and management of widgets in ChurchDesk. Learn how to create customizable Event and Blog Feeds, configure their design, and integrate them both on your ChurchDesk website and on external websites.



In this article you will find


General Widget Settings


You can access the widgets and their settings via the Website module.



Design Options
On the left under Design Options, you can globally set the Primary Color (for titles and elements) and the Card Background Color (in the overview on the website) for all widgets. You can set the colors via color palette, RGB & Hex code. Furthermore, it is now possible to display suggested content on blog/event pages for all widgets.


To hide the "You might also be interested" section (suggested/related content) from all event and blog widgets, go to Website > Widgets and disable the suggested content option in the Design Options at the top left. This toggle switches the related-events section off for all widgets at once. Note that related events are shown chronologically (the next upcoming events); selecting them by category or venue is not currently supported.



Widget Design (only for Studio
In the Widget Design section, provided you have subscribed to ChurchDesk Studio, you can change the appearance of your standard widget.

  • Corner Style: Here you can choose between square and rounded corners.
  • Show shadow: Here you can select or deselect shadows.
  • Widget font: Here you can freely choose between the different fonts that can be used on the website.


Additionally, with Studio, you also have the option to customize the design options for each widget individually (more on this below).



Creating a New Widget


Note: Only blog posts and events with the visibility setting "Public" will be published on the website. Only authorized roles can set this.


  1. Go to Website > Widgets
  2. Click on Create Widget

  1. Select the Widget type: Event Widget or Blog Widget
  2. Edit the new widget and make the respective settings


Event Widget


Widget Name: Give the new widget a name; this is only visible internally.
Include events from: If you belong to a portal community, you can choose between your own or the portal calendar.
Locations: Here you can filter by resources. If the field remains empty, all resources are automatically included.
Event Categories: Here you can filter by categories. If the field remains empty, all categories are automatically included.
Time range: Choose whether all events should be displayed, only a certain period, or a certain number of days in advance.


Note: Even when "All upcoming events" is selected, the widget only displays events scheduled up to about one year in advance. This limit exists to ensure the website's performance. Events with a longer lead time (e.g. trips planned and promoted early) will not appear in the widget until they fall within this one-year window. As a workaround, such events can be linked separately via a dedicated subpage with the registration details.

Number of events per page: Here you specify how many events should be displayed at once.


Note: For multi-day events (e.g. an event lasting a full week), the widget always shows only the event's start date, and this date does not update day by day. To display each day individually, create the event with daily recurrences for the week, so that every day gets its own event card. You can also set the widget to show only one card per page, so visitors always see the current day and can page through to further dates.

Show Location Address: You can choose whether the address for the event should be displayed in the widget overview or only when the individual appointment is selected via the widget.
Show Event Image: If you click here, you can enable/disable displaying an image for the event in the widget overview. Below that, you can set a default image. This will be automatically inserted into the widget if you have not stored your own image in the respective calendar event.
Allow visitors to filter: Click here if you want to allow external visitors to filter events. If the filter is activated, you also have the option to choose whether visitors can also filter by districts or not.


Troubleshooting: Events appearing under the wrong category

If events from other categories appear in a widget (for example, all events showing up in a "Services" widget), check the following:

  • Widget category filter: Open the widget under Website > Widgets > Actions > Edit and make sure the correct category is selected under Event Categories. If this field is left empty, all categories are automatically included and all events will be displayed, even if the widget heading only mentions one category.
  • Standard "All Events" widget: The standard widget displays all events by design. If you need a filtered view, edit the dedicated widget (click the pencil icon on the module) and select the relevant category rather than relying on the "All Events" widget.
  • Additional categories on the event: An event can be assigned to more than one category. When creating an event there is a "Main category" plus an "Additional categories" field. If "Services" (or another category) was selected there, the event will appear in that category's widget even if a different category dominates in the calendar view. This is the most common cause.
  • Location filter: The "Locations" (resources) filter also affects which events are shown.


Studio:Customise color scheme: Studio users can choose a different primary and/or background color for the new widget. If the checkbox is activated, the corresponding selection option appears.


Be sure to confirm with "OK" at the end, so that all your settings are saved.



Blog Widget


Widget Name: Give the new widget a name; this is only visible internally.
Include Blog from: If you belong to a portal community, you can choose between your own or the portal blog posts.
Blog Categories: Here you can filter by categories. If the field remains empty, all categories are automatically included.
Number of Blogs per Page: Here you specify how many blogs should be displayed on the page in total.
Number of Blogs per Row: Here you can specify how many blogs should be displayed per row (1, 2 or 3).
Default Image: If you click here, you can insert an image into the blog. If you activate this button and do not insert an image, a default image will be automatically inserted.
Allow visitors to filter: Click here if you want to allow external visitors to filter events.


Studio:Customise color scheme:* Studio users can choose a different primary and/or background color for the new widget. If the checkbox is activated, the corresponding selection option appears.



Note: Users of the Paymenst & Giving module can also create a Donations Widget. We describe how to do this here.



Editing Widgets


When you click on "Actions" on the right side next to the respective widget, you will get the following options:

  • Edit: Here you can change the settings for the individual widget mentioned earlier in the article.
  • Preview: Here you can see how the widget looks on the website.
  • Show Code: Here you can copy the HTML code of the widget.
  • Copy: Here you can create a duplicate of the existing widget.
  • Delete: Here you can irrevocably delete the widget. A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm this step.


ChurchDesk has three standard widgets that you cannot edit or delete: "All Events", "All Blogs" and "All Donation Projects".


In addition, there is also the "Slideshow" widget, which cannot be copied or deleted. More information about the Slideshow can be found here.


Embedding Widgets on Your ChurchDesk Website


Go to the page where you want to insert the widget, e.g., an overview of upcoming events, the latest blog posts, etc.


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



Embedding Widgets on Your External Website


If you want to embed this widget view on an external website, click on "Actions" on the right side next to the respective widget.
There you can have the "Show Code" option displayed and then copy it.


Exactly how you need to embed this HTML Code in your respective system must be checked in the help section of your website system.


By the way, the same applies to our forms, the newsletter widget, individual public files from the group module, as well as individual blogs or events. Whenever a code or a direct link is made available, you can integrate it into your external website.





Keywords: Widgets, Event-Feed, Blog-Feed, Website, Design, Settings, Content, Embedding, Calendar, Blog posts, Share Calendar, Share Events, Blogs

Updated on: 16/10/2026

Was this article helpful?

Share your feedback

Cancel

Thank you!