Features Overview
What's new in 7.3
ChurchCRM 7.3 expands the platform with a community plugin ecosystem and improves group check-in, navigation, and timezone precision:
- Community Plugin System — browse and install plugins from approved registries directly from Admin → Plugins. Community plugins are audited for security and localization compliance. The Holiday Calendar is the first community plugin available.
- Kiosk expanded to all group types — the self-service check-in kiosk now supports any group, not just Sunday School. Any event with a linked group can use kiosk check-in.
- "Wall-clock" timezone precision — events are saved in the local wall-clock time of the church, eliminating daylight-saving edge cases.
- Timeline filters — filter notes and attendance entries on member and family profile pages by type or date range.
- Breadcrumb navigation — added throughout the admin UI for easier wayfinding.
- Events Dashboard improvements — correctly sorts by date and auto-scrolls to the current month on load.
- Regional locale grouping — language chooser now groups locales by world region, with native-language names shown.
- Event roster enhancements — member photos now appear on event rosters; attendance badge contrast improved.
What's new in 7.2
- Event MVC epic — all event-related pages migrated to the modern Slim 4 MVC architecture, removing 2,000+ lines of legacy code. Events are faster, more consistent, and fully mobile-responsive.
- Unified event editor — the pop-up and full-page event editors are now identical, with timezone-aware time saving.
- Mobile-first UX — 44 px touch targets, safe-area insets, iOS zoom prevention, and responsive stat cards across all pages.
- Church Info latitude/longitude — expose and override your church's map coordinates directly in Church Info settings.
- Permission consolidation — essential security features (password change, 2FA) remain accessible even with limited permissions.
- CSRF hardening — anti-forgery protection added to all remaining delete pages (GHSA-3xq9-c86x-cwpp).
- 27-locale translation campaign — Hindi, Arabic, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese variants, Turkish, and more fully updated.
What's new in 7.1
ChurchCRM 7.1 is the largest UI overhaul in the project's history:
- Modern UI — the entire application shell migrated from AdminLTE / Bootstrap 4 to Tabler / Bootstrap 5, with a responsive sidebar, mobile-friendly layout, RTL support, and optional dark mode.
- Maps without an API key — interactive maps and geocoding use OpenStreetMap + Nominatim. No Google Cloud account or API key required. See Maps & Geocoding.
- Guided first-run setup — onboarding wizard walks administrators through password, church info, and setup checklist.
- Automatic database migrations — upgrades apply pending migrations automatically on the next page load.
- Redesigned dashboards — stats-based dashboards for Events, Groups, People, and Finance.
- Modern CSV import — drag-and-drop upload, auto-mapping, and per-row Classification and Family Role columns.
- User Settings redesign — single tabbed page for profile, password, 2FA, dark mode & accent color, localization, and API tokens (
/v2/user/{id}). - Export Hub — new Admin → Export page groups all export formats (CSV, ChMeetings, database backup) in one place.
- Notification system — dismissible banners with wildcard version matching and per-user dismiss state.
- 46 languages — including new Filipino (Tagalog) and Malayalam locales.
- FrankenPHP Docker image and DDEV for local development.
What's new in 7.0
- Plugin system — MailChimp, Vonage SMS, OpenLP, Gravatar, Google Analytics, External Backup, and Custom Menu Links moved to optional plugins. Install only what your church needs.
- Leaflet maps — replaced Google Maps and Bing Maps. Private by default, no API key required.
- PHP 8.4 required — take advantage of the latest performance and type-safety improvements.
- 44 languages — with browser locale auto-detection on first visit.
- Church Info Center — new
admin/system/church-infoadmin page for church configuration. - Auto-upgrade on boot — database migrations run automatically; a new smart version check prevents running old code on a newer schema.
- Self-service 2FA — users can enroll and manage two-factor authentication from their own settings page.
Core Features
- Congregation Management
- Families — Household records with shared contact info, pledge history, and unified family/member profiles.
- Persons — Individual member profiles with contact details, roles, church history, notes, and timeline filters.
- Self Registration — Members can register themselves through an online form.
- Online Verification — Members can review and confirm their own contact information.
- Notes — Private or shared memos on person and family records, with timeline filtering.
- Properties — Custom labels (e.g. "Homebound", "Choir Member") for people, families, and groups.
- Finances
- Donations — Record contributions and link to family pledge accounts.
- Envelope — Track giving by numbered donation envelopes.
- Deposits — Batch donations into deposit slips with printable bank forms.
- Pledges — Track multi-year giving commitments with a dedicated Pledge Dashboard.
- Events — Create one-time or recurring events, track attendance, manage child check-in/out, and use the unified event editor.
- Groups — Ministry teams, committees, Bible studies, small groups, or any other grouping. Includes kiosk check-in support.
- Sunday School — Specialized group dashboard with roster and attendance tracking.
- Kiosk Check-in — Self-service check-in tablets for any event with a linked group. Parent alerts via email or SMS.
- Calendar — Shared church calendar with offcanvas event editor and timezone-aware event times.
- Fundraiser — Manage auctions and fundraising events where members buy and sell items.
- Reports & Queries — Directories, mailing labels, birthday lists, financial statements, and custom queries.
- Volunteers — Track member availability for specific roles and find volunteers for upcoming needs.
- Data Import — Import member records from CSV, including Classification and Family Role columns.
- Export & Data — Export Hub with CSV, ChMeetings format, and database backup — all in one place.
- Backup / Restore — Full database backups with one-click restore.
- Localization — 46 languages, regional grouping, and browser auto-detection.
- User Management — User accounts, role-based access, granular permissions, and 2FA.
- Plugins — Extend ChurchCRM with community and built-in plugins. Install from approved registries.
External Integrations (via Plugins)
| Plugin | Purpose |
|---|---|
| MailChimp | Sync congregation list for newsletters and mass email |
| Vonage SMS | Send SMS parent alerts from kiosk check-out |
| OpenLP | Push member names and attendance counts to worship software |
| Gravatar | Display member photos from Gravatar-linked email addresses |
| Google Analytics | GA4 tracking on authentication pages |
| External Backup | Automated offsite database backup |
| Custom Menu Links | Add custom navigation links to the admin sidebar |
| Holiday Calendar | Optional community plugin adding a holiday event calendar |
All integrations are optional. Enable only the plugins your church needs under Admin → Plugins.