Navigating the Member Portal

The Member Portal is the congregation-facing side of Wired Church. While the admin area is for staff and leadership, the portal is where your church members interact — sharing in the community feed, joining groups, submitting prayer requests, messaging each other, viewing events, and managing their own giving.

This guide walks through every section of the portal so you know what your members will experience.

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Portal vs. Admin — What's the Difference?

Wired Church has two distinct areas:

A person can have access to both. If a staff member's user account is linked to a member record, they'll see a Switch to Portal option in their admin user menu, and a Switch to Admin option in their portal user menu. The two areas are completely separate interfaces with separate navigation.

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How Members Access the Portal

Members log in at your organization's Wired Church URL:

https://app.wiredchurch.com/login

After entering their username and password (and completing two-factor authentication if enabled), they land on the Portal Dashboard.

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Portal Navigation — Desktop

On desktop and tablet screens, the portal uses a left sidebar similar to the admin area but styled for the member experience.

The sidebar includes the following sections, each represented by an icon and label:

1. Dashboard — Personal hub with upcoming events, recent prayer requests, group activity, and giving summary
2. Community — Church-wide social feed
3. Groups — Small groups and ministry teams you belong to
4. Prayer — Prayer wall for sharing and praying
5. Messages — Direct and group messaging
6. Events — Upcoming church events with RSVP
7. Directory — Searchable member directory
8. Giving — Online giving and donation history
9. Media — Video library and sermon archive
10. Devotionals — Daily devotionals and Bible reading plans
11. Leaderboard — Points, achievements, and streaks

The sidebar can be collapsed to icon-only mode by clicking the collapse button at the bottom, giving more room for content.

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Portal Navigation — Mobile

On mobile devices, the portal switches to a bottom tab bar with the five most-used sections. The remaining sections are accessible through a More drawer.

Bottom Tab Bar

The five tabs visible at all times are:

1. Community (home icon) — The main social feed
2. Groups (people icon) — Your groups
3. Prayer (hands icon) — Prayer wall
4. Messages (chat icon) — Conversations, with an unread badge count
5. More (three-dot icon) — Opens the full navigation drawer

The "More" Drawer

Tapping More slides up a drawer from the bottom of the screen containing the remaining navigation items:

• Dashboard
• Events
• Directory
• Giving
• Media
• Devotionals
• Leaderboard
• Profile & Settings
• Sign Out

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Section-by-Section Guide

Community Feed

The Community section is a church-wide social feed where members can share updates, photos, encouragements, and celebrations with the entire congregation.

What members can do:

• Post — Write text updates, attach photos (up to 4 per post), or share links. Posts go to the entire church community.
• React — Tap a reaction button on any post. Available reactions: Heart, Pray, Celebrate, Amen.
• Comment — Open the comment thread on any post to reply. Comments support text and a single image.
• Pin — Admins can pin important posts to the top of the feed. Pinned posts show a pin indicator and stay at the top regardless of age.

The feed sorts by most recent activity (new posts and posts with new comments rise to the top). Members can pull down to refresh on mobile.

Groups

Groups are the core of small-group life in the portal. Each group has its own dedicated space with posts, events, resources, and announcements.

Main groups view:

• Shows all groups the member belongs to, displayed as cards with the group name, icon, member count, and last activity timestamp.
• A Discover Groups button lets members browse groups that are open for new members and request to join.

Inside a group:

• Posts — Group-specific social feed (same functionality as the Community feed but scoped to group members only)
• Events — Group events with RSVP. These are separate from church-wide events and only visible to group members.
• Resources — Shared files, links, and documents uploaded by group leaders. Useful for Bible study materials, sermon notes, and handouts.
• Announcements — Group leaders can post announcements that pin to the top of the group page.
• Members — List of group members with roles (Leader, Co-Leader, Member).

Prayer Wall

The Prayer Wall is a dedicated space for sharing prayer requests and praying for others.

Features:

• Submit a Request — Tap the + New Prayer Request button. Choose a type:
  • Praise — Something to celebrate
  • Request — A need for prayer
  • Urgent — Time-sensitive need (displayed with a highlighted border)
• Privacy Controls — When submitting, choose visibility:
  • Public — Visible to all members, with your name shown
  • Anonymous — Visible to all members, but your name is hidden (shows "Anonymous Member")
  • Leaders Only — Only visible to Org Admins and staff with appropriate permissions
• Pray — Tap the Pray button on any request to indicate you've prayed. The requester is notified that someone prayed for them (anonymous if the request is anonymous). The pray count is visible on each request.
• Comments — Open a prayer request to leave an encouraging comment or follow-up.

Requests are sorted by most recent by default. Members can filter by type (Praise, Request, Urgent) or by "My Requests" to see their own.

Messages

The Messages section provides private, direct messaging between members and group conversations.

Capabilities:

• Direct Messages — One-on-one private conversations with any member who has messaging enabled in their privacy settings.
• Group Conversations — Multi-person message threads. Any participant can add additional members.
• Message Content — Text messages with optional image attachments.
• Reactions — Tap and hold a message to add an emoji reaction.
• Read Receipts — Small avatar icons below a message show who has read it.
• Block — Members can block other members to prevent incoming messages. Blocked members cannot see the blocker's profile in the directory either.

New message notifications appear as a badge on the Messages tab and as push notifications (if the member has enabled them).

Events

The Events section shows upcoming church events in a clean, browsable format.

What members see:

• Event List — Upcoming events sorted by date, displayed as cards with the event image (if uploaded), title, date, time, location, and a brief description.
• Event Detail — Tap an event to see the full description, location map, registration details, and who else is attending.
• RSVP — Tap Going, Maybe, or Not Going. If the event has registration enabled with a capacity limit, RSVPs are first-come-first-served and members see how many spots remain.
• Calendar View — Toggle between list view and calendar view (month or week) using the view switcher at the top.
• Add to Calendar — Each event has an "Add to Calendar" button that downloads an ICS file for Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook.

Directory

The member directory lets congregation members find and connect with each other.

Features:

• Search — Search by name. Results update as you type.
• Profile Cards — Each member is displayed as a card with their profile photo (or initials), name, and campus.
• View Profile — Tap a card to see the member's full profile (subject to their privacy settings).
• Send Message — Quick action to start a direct message conversation.
• Family Groups — Members in the same family group are linked, making it easy to find related members.

Privacy controls are respected throughout the directory. Members who have opted out of the directory (via their privacy settings) do not appear in search results or the directory listing. See the Profile & Privacy section below.

Giving

The Giving section is where members make online donations and view their giving history.

Online Giving:

1. Enter a dollar amount.
2. Select a fund from the dropdown (General Fund, Missions, Building, etc. — configured by your admin team).
3. Choose frequency: One Time, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, or Monthly.
4. Enter payment details (credit/debit card via Stripe's secure form) or use a saved payment method.
5. Tap Give to complete the donation.

Giving History:

• View a chronological list of all personal contributions — both online gifts and offline gifts entered by staff.
• Filter by date range, fund, or payment method.
• Download or email a Giving Statement for any date range (commonly used for year-end tax statements).

Media

The Media section provides access to sermon recordings, video content, and other church media.

• Video Library — Browse videos by category (Sermons, Bible Studies, Special Events, etc.).
• Watch Progress — Videos remember where you left off. A progress bar on each thumbnail shows how much you've watched.
• Categories — Filter by category using the tab bar at the top.

Devotionals

Daily devotionals and structured Bible reading plans.

• Daily Devotional — If your church publishes daily devotionals, the current day's content appears at the top.
• Reading Plans — Browse and join multi-day reading plans. Each day has a passage and optional reflection content.
• Progress Tracking — Check off completed days. A progress bar shows how far you are through each plan.
• Bible Highlights — Save and annotate passages as you read.

Leaderboard

The gamification hub that tracks engagement and rewards participation.

• Points — Members earn points for actions like checking in, giving, completing devotionals, praying for others, and posting in groups.
• Leaderboard Rankings — See where you stand among the congregation. Rankings update in real time.
• Achievements — Badges earned for milestones (e.g., "First Gift," "7-Day Prayer Streak," "Group Leader").
• Streaks — Consecutive-day streaks for daily devotionals, prayer, and check-ins. Don't break the streak.

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Profile Settings and Privacy Controls

Members manage their own profile and privacy settings through the portal. Access these by tapping the user avatar in the header (desktop) or navigating to Profile & Settings in the More drawer (mobile).

Profile Information

• Display Name — How your name appears to other members.
• Bio — A short personal bio visible on your profile.
• Profile Photo — Upload or change your profile picture.
• Spiritual Gifts — Self-reported spiritual gifts (visible on your profile).
• Interests — Tags for hobbies and interests, useful for connecting with like-minded members.
• Contact Info — Phone and email (visibility controlled by privacy settings below).

Privacy Controls

Members have granular control over what others can see:

Notification Preferences

Members choose how and when they receive notifications:

• Push Notifications — Enable/disable for each category:

  • New messages
  • Prayer request updates (someone prayed for you)
  • Group activity (new posts in your groups)
  • Event reminders
  • Announcement alerts
  • Achievement unlocked

• Email Notifications — Same categories, delivered as email digest:

  • Immediately
  • Daily digest
  • Weekly digest
  • Off

• Quiet Hours — Set a time range when push notifications are silenced (e.g., 10 PM to 7 AM).

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Portal Dashboard

The portal's home screen (Dashboard) is a personalized summary of what matters to the logged-in member.

Sections include:

• Welcome Banner — Greeting with the member's name and a daily scripture or devotional excerpt.
• Upcoming Events — Next 3 events they've RSVP'd to, or the next 3 church events if they haven't RSVP'd to any.
• Prayer Requests — Their most recent prayer requests with pray counts, plus one highlighted community request.
• Group Activity — Preview of the latest posts from their groups.
• Giving Summary — Year-to-date giving total (visible only to the member, never to others).
• Achievements — Recently earned badges and current streak status.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do members get their login credentials? There are three ways:

1. An admin creates a user account for them under Admin > Settings > Users and shares the credentials.
2. The admin sends an invitation email, and the member sets their own password.
3. Self-registration is enabled (Admin > Settings > Portal), and members sign up directly. Self-registered users need admin approval before their account is linked to a member record.

Can members see the admin area? No. Members with only portal access see a completely separate interface. The admin sidebar, contribution entry, attendance recording, and all management tools are invisible to them. Only users with an admin or staff role (and explicit module permissions) can access the admin area.

What if a member doesn't want to be in the directory? They can set their Directory Visibility to "Hidden" in their privacy settings. This removes them from search results and the directory listing. They can still use all other portal features.

Can members edit their own contact information? Members can edit their portal profile (bio, photo, interests, spiritual gifts). Core contact information (legal name, address, phone, email) is managed by staff in the admin area to maintain data integrity. Members can submit a change request through their profile, which creates a task for staff to review and approve.

Is the portal accessible on all devices? Yes. The portal is fully responsive and works in any modern web browser on desktop, tablet, and mobile. There is no separate native app — the web experience is optimized for mobile with a bottom tab bar, pull-to-refresh, and mobile-friendly touch targets.

Can I disable specific portal sections? Yes. Under Admin > Settings > Portal, you can toggle individual sections on or off. If your church doesn't use devotionals, disable it and members won't see it in their navigation. The same applies to the leaderboard, media library, and other optional sections.

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Related Articles

• First-Time Setup — Creating Your Church
• Inviting Staff and Setting Roles
• Dashboard Overview