Display.Church vs. Google Calendar
Embeds
In the age of digitalization, having an easy-to-use, customized, and professional embedded church calendar is crucial to engaging your congregation, organizing events, and facilitating management.
Two widely used options available for churches are Google Calendar and Display.Church. While many things are similar, there are some important differences.
Before we begin: ‘Thank you!’ Google Calendar for giving us the opportunity to integrate with you. It’s because of your provision of a calendar option that we’re able to collect all the necessary details to display our partners' church events.
Thank you, Google Calendar, for being such an amazing partner!
Comparison
Google Calendar specializes in tracking your events, sending you and your guests/participants timely reminders.
Display.Church specializes in making your data pretty. Our integration pulls in your event information and organizes it into fully customizable calendar or group views and event alerts.
Display.Church | Google Calendar | |
Calendar templates | 7 different-looking views | 3 similar-looking views |
Embed options | Calendar views, group widgets, event alerts | Calendar only |
Filtering | Show events with images only, Merge recurring events, by calendar *NEW* Powerful Advanced Filtering: Mix and match all options to create virtually any filtering combination you need. |
Show/hide declined events, show/hide completed tasks, by calendar |
Customize colors & fonts | Over 100 customizable options | Font - no; Each calendar can have different borders and background colors. |
Removing the calendar | Remove the calendar without modifying the website | Must remove the code from the website |
Pros and Cons
Display.Church
Pros
- Versatile with multiple calendar views
- Automated event alerts
- Can embed calendar views, groups widgets, and events alerts
- Advanced filtering options for events
- Full customization with colors and fonts, ideal for branding
- Simple process to remove or unpublish calendar
Cons
- May require more time to get familiar with the interface and features
- Need to buy a plan
Google Calendar
Pros
- Easy-to-use user interface
- Excellent options for notifications and reminders
- Popular and widely recognized in the industry
- Free tier is usually more than enough
Cons
- Limited to 3 similar-looking calendar views
- Cannot display images
- Cannot embed group widgets
- No event alerts
- No advanced filtering
- No font customization
Choice of Calendar Views
Google Calendar offers three, similar-looking, embeddable calendar views: Week, Month, and Agenda. Although showing different timeframes, these views look more or less the same. There is very little design customization available.
Display.Church provides multiple, different-looking, embeddable views for different needs (7 templates at the moment), making it a more versatile option.
In addition, we offer 4 templates to display your small groups, and 1 template that creates an event alert banner.
Group Widgets
Chances are, you already have some kind of small groups display or page. Chances are, it could be much better: more exciting, eye-catching, engaging…not to mention kept up-to-date automatically.
Our new, easy-to-use, cloud-based groups widget is the solution. The big advantage with Display.Church is that you can embed your groups widgets on your church website.
Event Alerts
Event ALERTS is an automated, 'set it and forget it' statement which gives information about an upcoming (or happening now) event. This innovative tool drives conversion and saves you time. You can customize when and where to the event highlight display based on different settings, and you won't have to manually update – the highlight will disappear once the event is over!
Note: Beta testing phase
Filtering Options
Google Calendar allows filtering events based on declined events, completed tasks, and by calendar.
Display.Church offers more design-friendly filtering options, such as displaying events with images only, merging recurring events, and filtering by calendar.
In addition, our *NEW* Powerful Advanced Filtering lets you mix and match your filtering options (according to your integration) in an infinite number of combinations using the connectors:
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Customizing Colors and Fonts
Google Calendar lets you assign unique borders and background colors for each calendar, making it easier to see which event belongs to which topic.
Display.Church allows complete color and font customization to suit your church's branding. You can play around with over 100 customizable options.
Removing the Calendar
To remove a Google Calendar embedded calendar from your website, you need to go to your website and remove it from the website code.
Removing the Display.Church calendar is much easier and more convenient. You just unpublish it without modifying the website. Your calendar waits for you in case you wish to use it again. For example, for special events calendars such as Christmas, Easter, VBS, etc.
Testimonial
One of my biggest problems: creating easy-to-use systems for everybody. Display.Church has revolutionized our website event promotion: our 15 ministries add their events; yet I have full design control.
Sean Stark, Communications Director, Central Church
Awesome Features For Today’s Ministries
Typography
Choose the font type, weight, and size for each
major element to ensure it matches your
website!
Colors & Layout
Choose the colors and calendar or group widget's layout type to
match your specific needs.
No Coding
Set up a calendar view or group widet in 5 minutes or less. No
coding required. A one-time add of one line of
script to your website enables the views to
work.
Automatic Syncing
We’ll ensure your calendar or group widget is always
updated. We update the widgets views once or
twice per day (according to your plan). You can also
push unlimited changes from within the app.
Responsive Design and Mobile App Ready
Your calendar and group widget views meet your congregation on whichever device they are using. Our widgets work on the most modern websites and respond nicely on all devices. Your people can see your widgets via their desktop and mobile browsers. Even more exciting is that you can meet your ministry on their phones via our mobile app.
And Tons More!
• Responsive Format
Our calendar view works on the most modern websites and responds nicely on all devices.
• Multiple Views
Choose from Full Calendar, Weekly View, Events List, Cards (Grid), Cards (List), Slider, and the new Detailed List.
• Auto and manual sync
Automatic: We will ensure your calendar is always updated. Depending on your plan, updates happen once a day
(3 am UTC or 4AM UTC depending on plan) or twice a day (12 am and 12 pm UTC).
Manual: You can always push unlimited changes from within the app.
Getting Started
1. Sign up & Integrate
Sign up and Integrate your Church Management Software Account.
2. Customize (No Coding)
Choose the calendar type you want. Customize the design.
3. Publish and Embed
Publish and embed the calendar on your website.