How to collect member info on your eCatholic website
In this article:
Since Connect integrates directly with your eCatholic website, people who aren’t yet members of your Connect organization can sign up right on your site. You won’t need any embed codes or third-party forms. Once your website is integrated with your Connect organization, you have three easy options to get started.
See it in action
Take a quick interactive tour of all three options before you set them up.
Three ways to collect sign-ups on your website
1. Footer sign-up: one sign-up on every page
Turn on the global "Join section" and it appears above your footer on every page of your website. Visitors who sign up are added to your organization's list of all members.
In edit mode, scroll to the footer, open Footer Settings, toggle Display Join section above footer to On, click Save, then publish the footer with the green checkmark.
Full steps: Collect member sign-ups in your website footer
2. Join Groups module: sign up for one group or several
Drag the Join Groups module onto any page to let visitors sign up for the groups you choose. Select a single group, or select several. When you select more than one, visitors see checkboxes so they can join one group or many with a single submission. Use it on a ministry page, a parish-life page, or a dedicated "Stay connected" page.
Click Add Content → Add-ons → drag the Join Groups module (under Connect) into a content region, choose your group or groups in the settings dialog, and save. Publish the page to make it live.
Full steps: Collect group sign-ups on a website page
3. "Subscribe to Messages" on any form
Already collecting information with a Forms module, such as event registrations, a contact form, or a volunteer sign-up? Add a "Subscribe to Messages" opt-in to the form's Email field and choose which Connect group submitters join if they opt in. Alert email recipients see which group each submitter opted into.
Full steps: Adding members to Connect groups through forms
Which option should I use?
- Footer sign-up is the quickest way to start. One toggle gives every page a sign-up, and visitors are added to your organization's member list.
- Join Groups module fits when you want visitors to choose specific groups, such as a youth group, the parish newsletter, or a ministry's updates. It also works as a dedicated sign-up page.
- Subscribe to Messages on a form fits when people are already filling out a form and you'd like to offer to add them to a group at the same time.
You can use all three together.
What happens when someone signs up?
- After the visitor submits the form, they see the message "Thank you! Please check your email for a link to confirm your subscription," and an email is sent to them asking them to confirm.
- They are added to your group (or groups) right away, but with a pending status until they confirm that they want to receive your messages.
- Once they click the confirm subscription button in the email, they start receiving messages from your group.
- If they don't confirm, Connect sends two more reminders: one 24 hours after they signed up and one 72 hours after.