Blog

November 20, 2020

Closed for Thanksgiving Week 2020

We're closed the week of Thanksgiving: Monday, November 23 through Friday, November 27. We will reopen on Monday, November 30. Enjoy this time of returning thanks to God for our many blessings this year and always!

November 19, 2020

New Online Focus: 5 Things to Get Your Church Website Ready for Christmas

More than ever before, your church's online presence is vital, especially as we approach Christmas. Since 2015, we've offered a quick list of details to check on your church website in expectation of visitors during the Christmas season. In 2017 we expanded to Ten Things for Your Church to Check on your website, and if you're not familiar with the post be sure to give it a quick glance for some still-helpful tips. This year we're offering a new, more specific list that's focused on your online presence during this extraordinary time.

1) Check Domain Expiration/Update Contact Email
Your website is your contact point, and if your domain name expires that means your website is inaccessible to everyone. We've talked before about how important it is that you manage your church domain name and update your contact email with them. The quick take is: a) make sure to renew your domain name before it expires, and b) check that your contact email is up to date with the domain registrar (we're not your registrar, just your webhost).

2) Test Menu Links
Click through all your menu items on your website to make sure they actually go to a webpage. You'd be surprised how often this gets overlooked, and an important informational page may be left out in the cold.

3) Review Email and Group Texting Lists
Email and text notifications are essential during this season of special services or bad weather cancellations. Now is a good time to review your church contact lists for duplicates, updates, or deletions.

4) Focus on Live Video Streaming
Watching church live online has grown in demand, and your church may already be streaming. Give your stream a quick review for any issues (image quality, audio level, framing the image, lighting, etc.). When streaming extra Christmas services, remember you'll be using more bandwidth than normal with a larger online viewing audience. If you're happy with your streaming, that's great! If you're looking for a streaming service that is unbranded and embedded on your website, we're now offering Video Streaming Packages to our current OCS clients starting at $40 per month. To learn more or get started, use our Contact Form or text us at 877-715-4627. 

5) Update the "What to Expect" Page
We've talked before about creating a special page to help visitors understand what to expect at your worship service (style, dress, parking). In this exceptional time, be sure to update your page so new visitors are aware if your church faces in-person situations such as social distancing, masks, etc.

September 25, 2020

The All-New Church Texting 3.0 is Here

Click above to view the Walk Through Video for an overview.

The all-new Church Texting 3.0 (formerly Group Texting) is here! We're pleased to reveal the ground-up rebuild of our popular Group Texting platform, now with the following features:

• Texting from a phone number, not an email address
• Select your own private number, not shared with other churches
• Receive responses and have them forwarded to multiple other cells phones (such as staff)
• Reply from your phone to responses using your church texting phone number
• 400 character count text message allowance
• Send rate: 10 texts per minute
• Unsubscribe text included
• Send immediately or schedule for later
• Detailed and searchable logs with status for each number
• Send automated welcome text when adding contacts
• Improved Group Subscription Management, allowing you to add all contacts to new group with just one click

Though this is new software, your current Group Texting contacts and groups will now appear in Church Texting. Just log in to the OCS3 Beta to start using this today.

September 24, 2020

Closed for Fall Break 2020

It's time for our Fall Break, so we'll be closed Monday, September 28 through Friday, October 2. While we'll still be notified of server emergencies, any other questions will be answered when we reopen on Monday, October 5.

September 03, 2020

Closed for Labor Day 2020

We will be closed on Monday, September 7 in honor of Labor Day and will reopen on Tuesday, September 8.

August 06, 2020

More Website Sections Added in 3.0

Beta Testers for 3.0 Website Builder now have over 30% more sections now available for building webpages. From a Featured Video with Background Image to a second layout for Staff, testers will find more specialized sections such as Event Pricing, Frequently Asked Questions, and Testimonials.

Check out the seven new sections added in the last two weeks:

1. Featured Video
2. FAQ
3. Staff 2 (a different layout from our first Staff section)
4. Event Pricing
5. Call to Action
6. Video/Text section
7. Testimonials

Sections coming soon: 

• Footer (second layout) 
• Map (second layout)
• Featured with Icons (2 layouts)
• Quick Stats

Once we've integrated the Blogging, Forms, and Podcasting, we'll be out of Beta for the Website Builder!

July 22, 2020

New Sections for 3.0 Website Builder (and more on the way)

We have two new sections for the 3.0 website builder that are ready for use in your Beta account! You'll see them when you click to add a new section in our 3.0 Website Builder, "Video/Text" and "Testimonials". 

1. Video/Text: Two column section with Video at left with Title and Text to right

2. Testimonials

And keep an eye out for the next six new additions that will be showing up through the next two weeks.

• Featured Video
• FAQ
• Call to Action
• More Map Layouts
• Additional Staff Layout
• Additional Footer Layout

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