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What's New — July 2026

Channel Preferences, Channel Schedules, Smart Templates, template conversion, and a refreshed Templates experience—an overview of the latest release.

#release-notes #updates #features #channels #templates #scheduling

What's New — July 2026

Scheduling that matches how you actually send—and templates that keep up

This release is about making the calendar feel like your church’s real rhythm, not a blank grid. You can set preferred days, blocked days, and optional times per channel; build repeating Channel Schedules on Plus; and plan campaigns faster with Smart Templates, Template Preview, and one-click conversion from Legacy templates.

Use this page as the overview. Each section links to step-by-step guides when you want the how-to.

Channel Preferences — Essentials and Plus

Every channel can now carry light scheduling rules per campus: a preferred day, optional preferred time, and blocked days you never want to use for that channel.

When you add or move communications, Communicate nudges placements toward those rules—fewer “wrong weekday” mistakes without locking you into a rigid grid.

Channel Schedules — Plus

Channel Schedules are named, repeating slots on the calendar—weekly email, first-Sunday newsletter, midweek social rhythm, and similar. You can optionally lock a schedule so communications stay inside that slot.

Schedules work alongside Preferences: Preferences guide day-level habits; Schedules define recurring bundles you can see and plan around on the Calendar and Campaign Schedule.

Smart Templates — Plus

Smart Templates replace the old “Day 1 = campaign start” grid for new work. You anchor a template to campaign Start or End, drag channels onto a timeline, and set how each item should land—Follow Preferences, Follow schedule, Choose day, or Auto.

When you Apply on a campaign, Communicate places communications on real dates using your current Channel Preferences and Schedules. Template Preview shows ghost placements first so you can drag, fix conflicts, then commit.

Legacy Templates still work for existing plans, but new work should move to Smart Templates—they align with the scheduling tools in this release.

Convert Legacy Templates to Smart Templates — Plus

You no longer have to rebuild old templates from scratch. On the Templates page, each Legacy template card shows Convert to Smart Template with a Convert button.

Conversion:

  • Creates a new Smart Template (your Legacy copy stays as-is)

  • Keeps the same name, length, and category

  • Anchors to campaign Start and maps your week/day layout into the Smart timeline

  • Sets placement modes from your current Channel Preferences and Channel Schedules where it can

  • Opens the Smart Template builder so you can review and fine-tune before your next apply

  • Learn more: Templates · Quick Start: Smart Templates

Refreshed Templates page

The Templates page is now a card grid instead of a dense table—easier to scan at a glance.

Each card shows Smart or Legacy, category, duration, and communication count. Click a card to open the editor. Use the ⋮ menu for Duplicate or Delete. Search templates and filter by category work like the Campaigns list.

Planning details on communications

Communications can now carry an optional time (shown on calendar pills) and rich-text Notes separate from copy—handy for internal planning without cluttering the message body.

Calendar view options and channel catalog

The Calendar View menu lets you show or hide Global, Campus, Drafts, and Completed communications. Channels use a catalog of preset types; on Plus multi-campus orgs, channels are opted in per campus.

Team access and permissions

Category access lets you limit Managers, Editors, and Viewers to specific categories—useful when campuses or ministries should only see their slice of the calendar. Viewers also get a focused sidebar: Calendar, Campaigns, and Help.

Where to go next

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