Overview
The Church Finder pages require the church entities have been imported into the database. This could be from an ACMS import, a manual import script, or entered manually. Updates to church entities should be done in the system of record. This means if the church entities have been imported via ACMS, use ACMS to update the details of the church. This avoids loss of data when the entities are imported by a synchronization script or other import in the future.
Please note that the information below will help to setup and configure the List and Detail view pages of the Church Finder in a basic design layout. Additional design requirements will need to be handled by the entity web design team.
How to
Configuring website pages
General workflow
- On the website is a page for listing all the church entities.
- Below the list view page, should be a subpage for church entity details.
- Depending on the design template of the website, there may be page presets for the List and Detail views.
- If page presets are not available:
- The list view page should implement the "Church Finder" block.
- The detail view page should use the "Church Detail" block. (use Church Header block as page header).
- These pages will need to be designed to look good for all device widths.
Using page presets
- Expand the Web module by clicking on it
- Click on the title of the website you are working on
- At the top of the page tree, click on the Add page button
- In the modal, provide the page name ("Church Finder" suggested)
- Leave the slug as is, click on Create button
- The Page preset screen will come up on the right side
- Click on ALPS - Church Finder - List view (or the preset for your design)
- Click on the page menu for Church Finder page and select Add subpage
- In the modal, provide the page name ("Church details" suggested)
- Leave the slug as is, click on Create button
- The Page preset screen will come up on the right side
- Click on ALPS - Church Finder - Detail view (or the preset for your design)
- The Detail view page and the List pages need to be configured, so the Church Finder will work correctly. See the instructions below for configuring the Church Finder and Church Detail blocks.
- Once you have configured the pages and blocks, test the list page in the frontend and verify clicking on the church entries in the list, will send you to the detail page correctly.
- Once the Church Finder is working, you can add this to the menu.
Using Church Finder and Church Detail blocks
If your design does not have the Church finder page presets, you will need to make the Church Finder List view and Detail view pages manually.
- Expand the Web module by clicking on it
- Click on the title of the website you are working on
- At the top of the page tree, click on the Add page button
- In the modal, provide the page name ("Church Finder" suggested)
- Leave the slug as is, click on Create button
- The Page preset screen will come up on the right side. (Depending on your design, you will want to use a page for the List view that gives you the entire width of the page to work with.)
- Click on the page menu for List view page and select Add subpage
- In the modal, provide the page name ("Church details" suggested)
- Leave the slug as is, click on Create button
- The Page preset screen will come up on the right side. (Depending on your design, you will want to use a page for the Detail view that gives you the entire width of the page to work with.)
- Click on the Church Finder List view page
- To the page, drag and drop the following blocks in this order:
- (each block goes inside block above it)
- Section block
- Container block
- Church Finder block
- Click on the Church Finder Detail view page
- Use the image below as a template for the blocks needed on the page. This is a basic design or layout for the page.
- Recommended blocks:
- Church header
- Breadcrumbs
- Church Detail
- (Make sure and add the proper layout blocks as shown in the image)
Configuring the Church Finder and Church Detail blocks
Once the List view and Detail view pages are in place, they will need to be configured. Start with the Detail view page first, as it will be needed by the List view page.
Detail view page:
- Click on Page settings
- Navigate to the Advanced tab
- Scroll down to Dynamic contentand set the following:
- Set checkmark in field Has a dynamic url
- Set Resource to Entity
- Set Entity type to Church
- Click on Update button
- Navigate to the General tab and set the following:
- Title = {Entity.title}
- Name = your choice (name to display in page tree and popup)
- Description = {Entity.description}
- Hide in menus = set checkmark in field
- Click on Update button
- Navigate to the SEO tab
- The fields are populated from the General tab.
- Overwrite these if you need to.
- Set Image = {Entity.image}.
- Set Type = Website.
- Click on the Update button.
List view page:
- On the List view page, click on the Church Finder block.
- Under the Properties tab, scroll down to Detail page and set the Detail page you created.
- Now, you will need to configure the map and filtering for your context:
- Default visible region: in the search field set your country, state or region for map area displayed.
- Pro tips:
- Use the zoom (+ and -) to adjust the zoom level.
- Move the map pin to locate the map center where it is needed.
- Entity types: Church.
- Entity: set the parent entity of the churches (Conference or Union or Division).
- There are additional settings you can try out to get the map working with the available features and displaying your churches correctly.
- Make sure you Save all changes!
- Then click on View online to see the List view in the frontend of the website.
- Click on a church in the list and make sure you get to the detail page for that church.
Notes:
- If churches disappear on the map, make sure they are in the proper entity.
- If you see churches from another region on the map, check your entity.
Additional information
to review 2026-02-03