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Onboarding: Getting Started with Text In Church

Welcome to your Onboarding On Demand workshop! 🎉 In Part 1, we’ll walk through the foundational elements of your Text In Church account, helping you get familiar with the layout, essential settings, and smart ways to personalize your setup.

Kyra Rine avatar
Written by Kyra Rine
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Navigating the Dashboard

At the top left corner, you’ll see a small box that lets you expand or collapse the sidebar. If you prefer more screen space (like many of us do), you can keep it minimized and simply hover over icons to see where they lead.

On the top right corner, you’ll find several helpful tools:

  • New Message (+) – Start a message from anywhere in your account.

  • Keypad – If you’ve added Calling, you can dial people directly here.

  • Learn Tab – Contextual help based on where you are in the platform (like Connect Cards or Workflows).

  • Chat Bubble – Need help? Click here to chat with our support team anytime.

  • Notification Bell – Stay updated on account activity.

  • Account Icon – Access your profile, settings, or switch to dark mode (we’ll stay in light mode for this walkthrough).

Important Settings to Set Up First

Head down to the Settings in the bottom left-hand corner. You’ll find powerful features packed in here. For today, we’ll focus on a few key areas:

1. Users

Add all your admins and users. These are completely free and unlimited!

Pro Tip: Each person should use a unique email and mobile number so they can log in securely using two-factor authentication. No more sharing codes!

You can also set specific permissions for each user. (We’ll link to a video on that in Part 2.)

2. Branding

Add your logo (under 400px) and brand colors here. These will automatically appear on your Smart Connect Cards and QR codes—adding a professional, polished look.

Don’t forget to click “Update Details” to save—this section does not auto-save.

3. Subscription Settings

This is where you’ll find important info like:

  • Your monthly reset date (this varies by account)

  • Message allotment (e.g., 500 messages/month—yours may differ)

  • Options to purchase bundles or upgrade plans if you’re consistently going over

  • Email usage (emails are unlimited!)

  • Connection limits based on your plan (number of phone numbers you can use)

Remember: Incoming messages are free and don’t count toward your message allotment!

4. Phone Numbers

You can:

  • Label numbers (e.g., “Youth Line,” “Prayer Line”)

  • Add additional numbers for $4/month

  • Host or port your landline depending on whether you want messaging-only or full calling functionality

Not sure which to choose? We can help you decide—just message us!

5. Integrations

Text In Church integrates with many church management tools including:

  • Planning Center

  • Church Community Builder (CCB)

  • MailChimp

  • Rock RMS

  • Breeze

  • Elvanto

  • ChurchStamp

  • Zapier

For Planning Center, your people must exist in Groups or Lists to sync properly. Once connected, your data will stay in sync automatically.

You Made It Through Part 1! 🎉

Great job getting started. These foundational steps set the stage for effective, intentional communication with your people. In Part 2, we’ll go deeper into tools like Smart Connect Cards, Automated Workflows, and message templates.

Need help in the meantime?

Keep going: [Watch Part 2 of Onboarding On Demand ➝]

Related Articles
Onboarding: Setting Up Groups for Targeted Communication
Welcome to Your Text In Church Onboarding Workshop Series
How to Set Up a Connect Card That Actually Gets Filled Out
How to Add People to Your Text In Church Account (Without Losing Track of Anyone)
You're Officially Onboarded! 🎉 Here's What's Next...
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