{"id":9538,"date":"2025-04-14T17:19:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T15:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/?post_type=docs&#038;p=9538"},"modified":"2026-10-08T13:27:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:27:31","password":"","slug":"start-a-free-trial-period-for-your-churchtools-website","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/website-and-finder\/first-steps-website\/start-a-free-trial-period-for-your-churchtools-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Start a free trial period for your ChurchTools Website"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Are you thinking about trying out the ChurchTools Website? Here are a few good reasons why that&#8217;s a really great idea: <\/p>\n\n\n<!--presto-player:video_id=39--><figure class=\"wp-block-video presto-block-video  presto-provider-youtube\" style=\"--plyr-color-main: var(--presto-player-highlight-color, #2563eb); --presto-player-logo-width: 150px; \">\n\t<presto-player \n\t\tpreset='{&quot;id&quot;:5,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;YouTube Optimized&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;icon&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;skin&quot;:&quot;modern&quot;,&quot;play-large&quot;:true,&quot;rewind&quot;:true,&quot;play&quot;:true,&quot;fast-forward&quot;:true,&quot;progress&quot;:true,&quot;current-time&quot;:true,&quot;mute&quot;:true,&quot;volume&quot;:true,&quot;speed&quot;:true,&quot;pip&quot;:false,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:true,&quot;captions&quot;:false,&quot;reset_on_end&quot;:true,&quot;auto_hide&quot;:true,&quot;show_time_elapsed&quot;:false,&quot;captions_enabled&quot;:false,&quot;save_player_position&quot;:false,&quot;sticky_scroll&quot;:false,&quot;sticky_scroll_position&quot;:&quot;bottom right&quot;,&quot;on_video_end&quot;:&quot;select&quot;,&quot;play_video_viewport&quot;:false,&quot;hide_youtube&quot;:false,&quot;lazy_load_youtube&quot;:true,&quot;hide_logo&quot;:false,&quot;border_radius&quot;:0,&quot;caption_style&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption_background&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;is_locked&quot;:true,&quot;cta&quot;:[&quot;&quot;],&quot;watermark&quot;:[&quot;&quot;],&quot;search&quot;:[&quot;&quot;],&quot;email_collection&quot;:[&quot;&quot;],&quot;created_by&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-20 11:19:03&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-20 11:19:03&quot;,&quot;deleted_at&quot;:&quot;&quot;}'\n\t\tbranding='{&quot;logo&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;color&quot;:&quot;#2563eb&quot;,&quot;logo_width&quot;:150,&quot;player_css&quot;:&quot;&quot;}'\n\t\tchapters='[]'\n\t\toverlays='[]'\n\t\ttracks='[]'\n\t\tblock-attributes='{&quot;playsInline&quot;:true,&quot;id&quot;:39,&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/wX3mIxpYOSE&quot;,&quot;preset&quot;:5,&quot;video_id&quot;:&quot;wX3mIxpYOSE&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ChurchTools Website \\u2013 Ein U\\u0308berblick&quot;}'\n\t\tanalytics=''\n\t\tautomations\t\tprovider='youtube'\n\t\t\t\tid=\"presto-player-1\"\n\t\tsrc=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wX3mIxpYOSE?iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;playinline=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1\"\n\t\tmedia-title=\"ChurchTools Website \u2013 Ein U\u0308berblick\"\n\t\tcss=\"\"\n\t\tclass=\"presto-video-id-39 presto-preset-id-5 skin-modern\"\n\t\tskin=\"modern\" \n\t\ticon-url=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/plugins\/presto-player\/img\/sprite.svg\" \n\t\tpreload=\"\" \n\t\tposter=\"\"\n\t\tyoutube=\"{&quot;noCookie&quot;:true,&quot;channelId&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;show_count&quot;:false}\"\n\t\tprovider-video-id=\"wX3mIxpYOSE\"\n\t\tvideo-id=\"39\"\n\t\tlazy-load-youtube\t\tvideo-attributes='{}'\n\t\tplaysinline\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\n\n\t<\/presto-player>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the trial period, you can try out all the features and publish your content. Your website link is publicly available, so others can also view the website using this link. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group ct-box ct-box-blue has-background is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1ccdadb1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"border-radius:8px;border-left-color:#22c55e;border-left-width:0.5rem;background-color:#dcfce7;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"margin-top:0.5rem;margin-right:0.5rem;margin-bottom:0rem;margin-left:0.5rem\"><strong>Tip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"margin-top:0rem;margin-right:0.5rem;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-left:0.5rem\">If you decide to do so and purchase a licence for your website during or at the end of your trial period, all your data will be retained and you can carry on working straight away. We explain how to book your licence in this article <a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/help\/system-einstellungen\/lizenz\/35-wie-buche-ich-eine-lizenz\/\" data-type=\"docs\" data-id=\"7657\">\u201cHow to Purchase a License?\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Start a free trial period<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In ChurchTools, open the <em>&#8220;Manage&#8221; menu<\/em> (1) and navigate to &#8221; <em>Public Relations<\/em> &#8221; (2). Under <em>&#8220;ChurchTools Website<\/em> &#8221; (3), start the <em>free trial period<\/em> (4) for your congregation&#8217;s website.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Manage-menu_Public-relation-funktion.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"462\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Manage-menu_Public-relation-funktion.png\" alt=\"Screenshot Manage menu_Public relation funktion\" class=\"wp-image-97387\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6957753767900728;width:271px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Manage-menu_Public-relation-funktion.png 462w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Manage-menu_Public-relation-funktion-209x300.png 209w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Manage-menu_Public-relation-funktion-356x512.png 356w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CleanShot-2026-10-07-at-12.58.33.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1192\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CleanShot-2026-10-07-at-12.58.33.png\" alt=\"View a screenshot of the public relations website\" class=\"wp-image-97627\" srcset=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CleanShot-2026-10-07-at-12.58.33.png 1192w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CleanShot-2026-10-07-at-12.58.33-767x251.png 767w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CleanShot-2026-10-07-at-12.58.33-300x98.png 300w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CleanShot-2026-10-07-at-12.58.33-360x118.png 360w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CleanShot-2026-10-07-at-12.58.33-1024x335.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1192px) 100vw, 1192px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Grant permissions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the ChurchTools Website, you can automatically import public posts, calendar events, and information about individuals or groups from ChurchTools into your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After clicking &#8221; <em>Start Free Trial Period<\/em>&#8221; select <em>the posts, calendars, and <\/em><em> people<\/em> for whom you want to grant access. <em>Public groups<\/em> are automatically accessible. We explain exactly how to do this in the article <a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/website-and-finder\/public-relations\/how-do-i-manage-the-approvals-for-the-churchtools-website\/\">&#8220;How to manage access permissions for the ChurchTools Website?<\/a>&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you&#8217;ve granted all the permissions you want to grant, click &#8221; <em>Start Free Trial Period<\/em>&#8221; again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Costless-Testphase.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1571\" height=\"1001\" src=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Costless-Testphase.png\" alt=\"Screenshot\" class=\"wp-image-97709\" srcset=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Costless-Testphase.png 1571w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Costless-Testphase-300x191.png 300w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Costless-Testphase-1024x652.png 1024w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Costless-Testphase-768x489.png 768w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Costless-Testphase-1536x979.png 1536w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Costless-Testphase-360x229.png 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1571px) 100vw, 1571px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group ct-box ct-box-blue has-background is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1ccdadb1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"border-radius:8px;border-left-color:#22c55e;border-left-width:0.5rem;background-color:#dcfce7;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"margin-top:0.5rem;margin-right:0.5rem;margin-bottom:0rem;margin-left:0.5rem\"><strong>Tip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"margin-top:0rem;margin-right:0.5rem;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-left:0.5rem\">If you&#8217;d like to skip this step for now or make changes later, you can do so by navigating to &#8221; <em>Public Relations<\/em> &#8221; &gt; &#8221; <em>ChurchTools Website&#8221;<\/em> in your ChurchTools account and sharing the relevant information under &#8221; <em>Sharing<\/em> &#8221; on the left-hand side. We explain exactly how to do this in the article <a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/de\/help\/website-und-finder\/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit\/wie-gebe-ich-daten-fuer-die-churchtools-website-frei\/\" data-type=\"docs\" data-id=\"35115\">\u201cHow to manage permissions for the ChurchTools Website?<\/a>\u201d. <\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you&#8217;ve started the trial period in ChurchTools, your website will be set up for you.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under <em>&#8220;Users<\/em> &#8221; (1), your ChurchTools account (2) is now listed as a user with the Role of &#8221; <em>Administrator&#8221;<\/em> for the ChurchTools Website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_User.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1906\" height=\"582\" src=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_User.png\" alt=\"Screenshot ChurchTools Website User\" class=\"wp-image-97716\" srcset=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_User.png 1906w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_User-300x92.png 300w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_User-1024x313.png 1024w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_User-768x235.png 768w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_User-1536x469.png 1536w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_User-360x110.png 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1906px) 100vw, 1906px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group ct-box ct-box-blue has-background is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1ccdadb1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"border-radius:8px;border-left-color:#22c55e;border-left-width:0.5rem;background-color:#dcfce7;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"margin-top:0.5rem;margin-right:0.5rem;margin-bottom:0rem;margin-left:0.5rem\"><strong>Tip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"margin-top:0rem;margin-right:0.5rem;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-left:0.5rem\">Are you working with a team to test and maintain the website? We explain how to add more users to your ChurchTools Website in the article <a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/help\/website-und-finder\/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit\/22-wie-fuge-ich-benutzer-fur-unsere-website-hinzu\/\" data-type=\"docs\" data-id=\"7677\">&#8220;How to add users to our ChurchTools Website?<\/a>&#8221; <\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Configure the website<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under &#8221; <em>Overview<\/em> &#8221; (1), you can now <em>open<\/em> your <em>website<\/em> (2).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here you&#8217;ll also find the <em>link to your website&#8217;s admin area<\/em> (3), where you can configure the website for your congregation. You&#8217;ll automatically be signed up here using your ChurchTools credentials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_Overview.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1952\" height=\"704\" src=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_Overview.png\" alt=\"Screenshot ChurchTools Website Overview\" class=\"wp-image-97719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_Overview.png 1952w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_Overview-300x108.png 300w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_Overview-1024x369.png 1024w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_Overview-768x277.png 768w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_Overview-1536x554.png 1536w, https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ChurchTools-Website_Overview-360x130.png 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1952px) 100vw, 1952px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you thinking about trying out the ChurchTools Website? Here are a few good reasons why that&#8217;s a really great idea: During the trial period, you can try out all the features and publish your content. Your website link is publicly available, so others can also view the website using this link. 1. Start a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"doc_category":[502],"doc_tag":[],"knowledge_base":[225],"class_list":["post-9538","docs","type-docs","status-publish","hentry","doc_category-first-steps-website","knowledge_base-website-and-finder"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"year_month":"2026-10","word_count":241,"total_views":"2815","reactions":{"happy":"0","normal":"0","sad":"0"},"author_info":{"name":"Jasper Stehmeier","author_nicename":"jstehmeier","author_url":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/author\/jstehmeier\/"},"doc_category_info":[{"term_name":"First Steps","term_url":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/website-and-finder\/first-steps-website\/"}],"doc_tag_info":[],"knowledge_base_info":[{"term_name":"Website and Finder","term_url":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/website-and-finder\/","term_slug":"website-and-finder"}],"knowledge_base_slug":["website-and-finder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/9538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/docs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9538"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/9538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97721,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/9538\/revisions\/97721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"doc_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_category?post=9538"},{"taxonomy":"doc_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_tag?post=9538"},{"taxonomy":"knowledge_base","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge_base?post=9538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}