Getting Started with Online Birthdays
Applies to: ChurchArt Pro Birthdays Feature
Adding MyChurch Birthdays to your Web site is as easy as 1 … 2 … 3!
Step 1: Choose the Look You Want.
Step 2: Edit Your Birthday List.
Step 3: Add MyChurch Birthdays to your website.
It's quick and easy to add, remove or edit birthdays anytime. Plus there's no limit to the number of birthdays you can have on your list.
Step 1: Choose the Look You Want.
Use the custom display options to make MyChurch Birthdays match the look of your existing website. Choose colors, clip-art and fonts, set the display size, and write your own special messages.
Use the Display Options section shown below to make your list match the look of your webpage. Click the Save & Preview button to have your choices appear in the Preview section on the right.
Experiment a bit until you get just the look you want.
You can make changes anytime and as often as you need. When you're finished here, be sure to click the Save & Preview button before going to Step 2: Edit Your Birthday List to add names.
Step 2: Edit Your Birthday List.
Add, update or remove names, dates and email addresses.
If this is the first time adding birthdays, we recommend using the Bulk Upload List link to get started.
Type in your member's birthdays by entering the First Name, Last Name, Birthdate and whether or not you want to show the age. Separate each element with a comma:
Format: First Name, Last Name, Email, Birthdate (2/27 or 2/27/1971), ShowAge (True or False)<br>Example: John, Doe, jdoe@email.com, 6/12, False
If you're pasting your list from another source into the Bulk Upload window, use the drop-down menu to select the character you used to separate the fields:
You can make changes to your list as often as you need. There's no limit to the number of birthdays you can add.
If you include an email address, site visitors can send an email message to that person right from the birthday list.
Step 3: Add MyChurch Birthdays to your website.
Adding MyChurch Birthdays to your website is as simple as copying and pasting the custom code provided. Check the Preview first to be sure it looks the way you want it to. Then follow the instructions in the HTML Code to Add to Your Web Site section.
And that's all there is to it!
Why Aren't Birthdays Showing up on My List?
There are two possible reasons birthdays don't show up on your list:
1: You have no birthdays on your list. To add birthdays, go to Step 2: Edit Your Birthday List
2: There are no birthdays in the time period your list is set to display. To change the time period, go to Step 1: Choose the Look You Want and change the number of days in the Show Next box.
Be sure to click the Save & Preview button after you make any changes.
If the entire MyChurch Birthdays box doesn't show up on your website, the link on your webpage is incorrect. Go back to Step 3: Adding MyChurch Birthdays to Your Website. Copy and paste the entire HTML code again.
My church doesn't have a website, can I still use this feature for my newsletter?
MyChurch Birthdays was specifically designed to be plugged into websites. It wasn't designed for printed newsletters.
However, you can copy a birthday list into a Word document (or other document) using this method:
1. Click on the Birthdays link to display the Get Started Adding Birthdays page.
2. On the right side of that page is the birthday list. Click the link: Click here to see all birthdays.
3. Highlight the entire name list INCLUDING the line of text above the names.
4. Copy the highlighted area using the Ctrl + C keys.
5. Open a Word document and paste the list into it using the Ctrl + V keys. (You can paste into other programs too.)
Your page should now have a table with three columns: 1) e-mail envelopes, 2) names (age), and 3) dates.
You can rearrange the table's columns, rows and cells however you want. For example, delete the first column, and then highlight the entire remaining table and select Merge Cells. That will create a single column with a name on top followed by its date on the next line. The list alternates name, date, name, date, etc. You can try other arrangements.
TIP: The key to getting the table's cells to line up correctly is to make sure you copy the line of text above the actual list of names.