Set Up Parish Life
When your parish decides to use Parish Life, the first thing you'll want to do is initialize your data. This means you're going to upload certain information you have in PDS records into Parish Life. You can choose to upload as much or as little information as you want.
- On the Information tab, click Parish Life. Alternatively, you can access this process in the File menu, under Data Synchronization > Synchronize with Parish Life.
- Select Upload Member Information, and click Next.
- Select Initialize App Data, then click Next.CAUTION:
If you're initializing again after the first time, click OK to acknowledge that this will delete all existing data and upload the data you select this time.
We do not recommend re-initializing after you've completed the setup process. If members have signed up and you re-initialize, their login credentials will be deleted, and they will have to sign up again.
To update data after you've set up Parish Life, use the Upload Member Information option instead.
- Select the keywords options that display to members for phone types, email types, and titles, then click Next.
- Enter your parish's upcoming Mass names, dates, and times that are available to members. Enter the maximum number of attendees for each mass, or enter 0 if you don't want to limit attendance. Click Next.Note: You can upload Masses now or at a later time using the upload process.
- Select the funds you want to include in parishioners' giving history. Members only see the activity name associated with each fund. Click Next.Note: You can upload funds for giving history now or at a later time using the upload process.
- Use the selections to build a list of members whose contact information you want to upload to Parish Life. These members will not be able to log in until you invite them. Click Next.
- Review the list of members to upload, then click Next.
- Enter your parish's contact information. This displays in Parish Life for members to call or email, so make sure the parish staff answering are able to handle questions about the portal.
- Click Copy Login URL, and paste it somewhere safe for future reference. This is your parish's unique link that you can put on your parish website to allow members to sign up for a Parish Life account. For steps on how to do this, see the procedure for "Allow Members to Sign Up" on Invite People to Parish Life.
- When you're ready to set up Parish Life and upload the selected data, click Upload.
After you initialize the data for the portal, you can invite people to use Parish Life.