Working with Lists


The Lists module allows you to create custom lists of profiles in your database. Use the Lists module when the list of people you need to create would not best fit into a ministry, church role, or your growth path. Some examples might include: a list of people who volunteered for something; or a list of people with a specific skill set (like doctors). Keeping a list of the doctors in your church could be useful if you tend to run medical missions. But being a doctor is not a ministry, nor a church role, nor does it fit in the growth path. And so Lists is the right place to put it.


When to use a list

A general rule of thumb is to use a list when your list of people isn't a Ministry, a Church Role a Small group or a Growth path activity. 


How lists are organised

It is important to understand how lists are structured. To help you stay organised we have added a List Category feature that allows you to group your lists into categories. Every list needs to fall under a list category. For example, you might create a list category called "Volunteers" and then create individual lists in that list category for all the different kinds of volunteers you want to record.


Suggestion: It is practical to create a category for your general usage lists like, all the men in your church or all the August birthdays that everyone can use instead of creating a duplicate list for themselves. And then to create a category for each ministry area where they can save their own lists.


Creating a new list category

To create a list category:

  • Open the main menu and click Church Life >> Lists.

  • Click New Category.


  • Fill in the Category Name
  • Display Order: Choose the display order for the list. "1" places the category at the top when viewing your categories, "2" places it second, etc.
  • List Sort Rules: You can choose from FieldID, Alphabetically, or Display Order to determine how you would like the lists within this category to be arranged.
  • Click Save. 


Creating a new list

To create a new list:

  • Decide if you need to create a new list category for this list, or whether it fits under a current list category. If you need to create a new list category follow the steps outlined above.

  • To add a new list to a list category, click the View Lists button next to the correct category.


  • This opens the list view. Click the New List button.

  • List Name: Fill in the name of the new list.

  • Category: Select which list category it belongs to.

  • Display Order: Choose the display order for the list. "1" places the list at the top when viewing your lists, "2" places it second, etc.

  • Who can edit this list?: Set the permission levels for editing this list. This topic is covered in detail in "Permission Levels". 
  • Metric: This module is in beta phase. Once completed the Metric module will allow you to generate reports for the lists you have activated.

  • Show on mobile app: Select whether this list will be displayed on the mobile app.

  • Is Active: Select whether the list is active or not. This feature allows you to disable the list while you edit it. Once you are done, you can set it to active again.

  • Description: Fill in a short description of the purpose of the list.

  • Click Save.


Adding profiles to a list

To add profiles to a list:

  • Open the List module from the main menu: Church Life >> Lists.

  • Open the list you want to add people to by clicking the Lists button next to the list category and then clicking the List Members button.

  • In the text field provided, start typing the name of the person you want to add (you will need to type in 3 letters before the system will auto-suggest someone). 

  • Click on the name of the person you would like to add, and then click the Add button. They will then be added to your list.

  • To remove a person from a list simply click the Remove button next to their name.

  • Quick tip: if you need to quickly add someone to your database click the Quick Add button in the top menu bar. Note: This will only add them to your database; you will still need to add them to the list of your choice.


Adding people to lists from a search

If you want to add a set of people to a list you can do this easily do this with Advanced search and the instructions found in this help file:  Add people to a custom list from a search.


Sending messages to a list

Sending messages to a list, whether they are SMSes, emails, or Push-Notifications, is very easy. All you need to do is open a list by clicking the List Members button next to a list, and then clicking the Send Message button.

From there you can select what kind of message you would like to send.

Do you have feedback about the Lists module? We would love to hear from you! Please click here to send us your thoughts or just click below to tell us how you found this article.