New Features Guide: Planning Center's October 2024 Updates
Here's your inside scoop on Planning Center's latest feature updates. From enhanced communication tools to streamlined workflows, these updates are designed to make your ministry more effective than ever.
📧 Personalized Church Communications
NEW: ​Church-Branded Emails from Lists and Automations​
Finally, your church communications can maintain consistent branding! Now, you can send emails from your church's name instead of individual staff members. Here's what's new:
Emails will appear from your church's name while using ​mailer@churchcenteronline.com​(still the same)
Reply-to address can now be set to your church's general email
Available for both Lists and Automation emails
Easily toggle between your personal and church email addresses
Full tracking of which admin created each email in the profile communication tab
This huge update brings some much-needed flexibility to sending emails to lists and not having to worry about being the person who received all replies in their personal inbox. Now, you can send the emails using your church’s general email address as the reply-to address.
*Pro Tip: Update your Account Settings to ensure your church's email address is correctly configured before using this feature.
🛡️ Enhanced Form Management
NEW: Two Major Form Updates to Streamline Data Collection
1. ​Improved Form Submissions Display​
Now showing form headings and field descriptions
Better printing functionality with form titles
Enhanced readability for submission reviews
Complete context for each form field
2. ​Spam Prevention Tool​ (New for Organization Administrators)
Block specific email addresses from form submissions
Dedicated spam management interface
Automated filtering of blocked submissions
No notifications or automation triggers for blocked emails
Visual indicators on profiles with blocked addresses
Planning Center has reimagined how forms work to better serve both your staff and congregation. The form submission experience has been enhanced to include complete context for every response. Now, when reviewing submissions, you'll see the answers, section headings, and field descriptions that guided the respondent. This context helps when reviewing responses, especially for complex forms like volunteer applications or event registrations.
Alongside these display improvements comes a robust new spam prevention system. Organization administrators now have access to a dedicated spam management interface, allowing you to block problematic email addresses from submitting forms proactively. When an email address is blocked, the system automatically filters out their submissions, prevents notification triggers, and provides visual indicators on affected profiles. This strategic approach to form security helps maintain the integrity of your data while reducing administrative overhead.
You will find this new spam email management feature under People > Settings (dropdown) > Manage spam list.
đź‘Ą Unverified Social Media Links Removed
NEW: ​Automated Social Media Profile Imports Discontinued​
Planning Center has significantly enhanced your congregation's privacy and data accuracy by discontinuing automated social media profile imports.
What's Changing:
Discontinued: Automatic imports from LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and Instagram
Removed: All unverified social media profiles from third-party integration
Preserved: Previously verified and manually added social media links
Available: Manual social media link addition capability
Planning Center's social media integration has undergone a significant change that's important to understand. Previously, the platform utilized a third-party service that automatically searched across LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to match your church members with their social media profiles. This automated system would find and link these profiles to your members' Planning Center accounts.
However, the social media landscape has evolved considerably. Social platforms have strengthened their privacy measures, making it increasingly difficult to search and match. This led to growing concerns about accuracy, as the automated system sometimes connected incorrect profiles to members' accounts. Additionally, rising privacy considerations and changing attitudes about automated data collection made it clear that a more mindful approach was needed.
What's Happening Now:
Any social media links that were automatically imported but never verified are being removed
If your staff manually added social media links, these stay in place
If you previously verified any auto-imported links, these also stay in place
📱 Mobile Experience Upgrades
NEW: Church Center Chat Update and Workflow refinements in the People Mobile App
​Church Center App Chat Filters​ (v2024.10.7)
Navigate conversations like a pro with new filtering options:
Filter by all groups
Filter by teams and plans
Select specific group conversations
Choose specific team discussions
Persistent filter settings across sessions
​New Workflows-only Mobile Access​ (v2.14.0)
Dedicated access for workflow managers
Streamlined mobile interface
Focused workflow management on the go
Perfect for volunteer leaders
The mobile experience in Planning Center has undergone a significant update, particularly when managing workflows. Now, volunteers with the "Workflows only" permission in People can access those workflows in the People mobile app, creating a focused environment for workflow managers and participants. This streamlined access means volunteer leaders and staff can handle their responsibilities from anywhere without needing full system access.
Additionally, the Church Center app now features an intelligent chat filtering system. Gone are the days of scrolling through mixed message feeds – users can now curate their chat conversations based on groups, teams, or ministry areas. These filters persist across sessions, creating a personalized communication experience that adapts to each person's unique engagement with your church.
✨ Check-ins Optimization
NEW: ​Customizable Pre-check Experience​ (v2024.10.10+)
Take control of your check-in process:
Option to minimize the confirmation barcode display
Customizable security code visibility
Streamlined check-in confirmation messages
Full control through Check-Ins event settings
The latest update to Church Center's Pre-Check system brings welcome flexibility to your check-in process. Understanding that different ministries have varying security needs, Planning Center has introduced customizable barcode visibility settings. This enhancement allows you to minimize barcode displays where appropriate while maintaining robust security measures for sensitive areas like children's ministry. Admins can now choose between streamlined confirmations for adult programs and security protocols for children and student services, managed through simple event settings. This adaptability ensures that your check-in process matches the specific needs of each ministry area while maintaining appropriate security levels.
What's Next?
Planning Center has been busy with new features and updates, and we’ll continue to highlight those updates regularly and discuss how they will benefit you. These updates are one of the reasons we love Planning Center. They continue to listen to their users and the feedback they provide to update the apps consistently. If you need help implementing any of these new features or would like assistance with any area of Planning Center, Threefold Solutions provides monthly options for coaching and support. You can find out more at ​www.threefold.solutions/services​.
Jason Silbernagel
Co-founder, Threefold Solutions
P.S. We assist with coaching, training, strategy, and support.
#1: Need help with implementation? Reach out to us at info@threefold.solutions or contact us here.
#2: Want to learn more? Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
#3: Stay in the know with our weekly newsletter, The Fold. Each week we discuss topics on church growth and management, volunteer and staff engagement, leadership development, and more.
