TentmakerHelp

Blocks

On this page

A block is one piece of a page. You add blocks from the Add a block panel in the page editor (see Editing pages). The panel groups them as Text, Pictures and video, Layout, Site info and Actions. This page follows the same groups.

Every block also has three settings at the bottom of its Block tab:

  • Background changes the color behind the block.
  • Space below sets the gap under it.
  • Full-width band puts a color band behind the block that runs edge to edge.

All three are off until you choose them.

A page can hold up to 60 blocks. A column holds up to 6. A page's own sidebar holds up to 20.

Text

Text

Paragraphs, headings, lists and links. Use it for almost everything you write: a story, a welcome, directions. Highlight words to make them bold or italic, turn a line into a heading, make a list or add a link. A list can be bulleted or numbered.

Callout

One highlighted box to draw the eye. Use it for a notice, a reminder or a welcome, such as "Parking is moving to the east lot this Sunday." It has an optional heading, some words, and a style: a quiet note or a stronger highlight.

Accordion

A list of items that open when clicked. Use it when you have many short answers or sections, such as ministries or common questions. Each item has a title and words. You can add group headings to sort items, and choose a simple or a row style. An item can open when the page loads, can have a picture beside its words (describe it, unless it is only decoration), and can have an address name: with the name bus-ministry, a link to your page followed by #bus-ministry opens that item. Use letters, digits and hyphens, and each name once on a page. A picture can go beside the words or centered below them (choose Where the picture goes); below, you can add a name and a role under it, which suits a leader's portrait. An item can also show up to 6 extra pictures as small thumbnails in a row after its words, with a short heading over them (each needs a description), and tick Enlarge on click to let visitors open them larger. An item with words but no title will not show, so give each one a title.

Table

Rows and columns of plain text, such as a course list or a schedule. It needs a caption (a short name for the table) before you can publish. Leave The first row is a header ticked if your first row holds column names. On a phone the table scrolls sideways.

Section heading

A heading that opens a part of the page, with a small line above it and a few words under it. Use it to start a new section on a long page, such as "Our ministries". Choose Section heading (larger) or Sub-heading (smaller) for the size, and left or centered. It shows nothing until it has a heading. Headings should go in order, so put a smaller one under a larger one. The Checklist warns you if one is skipped.

Lettered list

Items with a letter or number in a tile. Use it for an acrostic, where each letter starts a line (B, A, P, T, I, S, T), or for steps to follow. Under Markers choose Type my own for an acrostic, or Letters, A B C and on or Numbers, 1 2 3 and on to let Tentmaker count for you. Each item has bold lead-in words and a line of words. You can choose how many columns it uses on a wide screen.

Quote

A scripture, a pull quote or a word from someone, with who said it. Type The quote, then Who said it and where it is from, such as a book and verse. You can link to the source and add a round picture. Choose Large, centered or Compact.

Timeline

Items on a vertical line, each with a time or date. Use it for an order of service or a church's history.

Pictures and video

Picture

One picture, with an optional caption and link. You choose it from your library (see Media) and describe it in a few words for people who cannot see it. Tick Enlarge on click and a visitor can press the picture to see it larger. A picture that has its own link does not enlarge.

Picture with text

A picture beside a heading and a few paragraphs. Use it for an introduction to a ministry or a person. You choose which side the picture sits on, how big it is, whether it lines up with the top of the words, and whether the words flow around it. It can have a button.

A grid of pictures, optionally sorted into albums. Each picture opens larger when you press it, in a viewer with Previous, Next, Close and Open the original. Press Escape to close. The arrow keys do not work in the viewer, but Tab moves between its buttons. An older browser that cannot do this shows a plain link to the full picture instead.

Every picture needs a description before you can publish. Two settings help an old gallery stay fresh: Hide after hides it from a date, and Only show albums from the last (years) drops older albums by themselves.

Video

A card that opens a YouTube or Vimeo video in a new tab. Paste the link, then give it a title. Nothing is loaded from YouTube or Vimeo until a visitor presses the card, so it is gentle on visitors' privacy.

Hosted video

A video you uploaded yourself, played right on your page with the usual controls. It never starts on its own. You upload the video on the Videos screen (see Media), then choose it here. The checklist warns you if the video has no captions, and you can still publish. If a video has no speech, tick This video has no speech to caption. You can also add a poster picture, which shows before play, and a caption under the video.

Embedded content

A video, map, giving form or calendar from another site, shown inside your page. Paste the link or the embed code the other site gives you, and give it a title. Only sites on your church's list of allowed sites work. If you paste a site that is not on the list, you cannot publish. A Manager or Owner can allow it from the Checklist tab with Allow this host, or on the Embeds screen (see Custom CSS and embeds). Editors can place an embed from an allowed site but cannot change the list.

Layout

Columns

Two or three side-by-side columns that stack on a phone. Put other blocks inside each column. Use it for a text block beside a picture, or for service times beside contact details. Press Add a block to column (with the column's number) to fill a column. A column cannot hold another Columns block, a Welcome banner, Cards, Staff and a few others. The Add panel only offers what fits.

Cards

A row of boxes, each with a heading, a few words and a button. It is good for Plan your visit. A card's button needs both its words and its link, or neither. A card can instead have a Link for the whole card, so the whole box is one link, named by its heading. Then it has no button, and a card holds only one link. If the words of a card end with a link on a line of its own (such as Directions and map), the card's button normally comes after it. Turn on Show the button above the link at the end of the words to put the button first.

Divider

A thin line or three dots between sections. Use it when a page feels like it runs together.

Space

Empty room between two blocks. Use it when you want a bigger gap than Space below gives.

Site info

These blocks show things that Tentmaker already knows about your church.

Welcome banner

The big opening at the top of a page: your church name, a short line, your service times, and an optional picture and buttons. By default the headline is your church name and the line under it is your tagline, both from Settings. You can type your own instead. It is usually the first block on the front page. A full-width banner has to be the first block on its page.

Staff

Your staff and leaders, in the order set on the Staff screen (see Staff and missionaries). You can show only one group (such as Elders), how many columns to use, and whether to show each person's bio.

Missionaries

The missionaries and ministries your church supports, in the order set on the Missionaries screen. You can group them by region and show or hide photos and the sending organization on the cards. A missionary with a photo, note, link or sending organization has a card that opens their own page; the others are plain cards. If your church has turned the Missionaries module off, this block shows nothing (see Modules).

Upcoming events

The next events on your calendar. Past events drop off by themselves. You choose how many to show, and a list or a row layout. It can show a small date badge and an "All" link under the list.

Month calendar

A month at a glance, with each day's events as links to the Events page, and Previous and Next for the other months. You can start the week on Sunday or Monday, show the days of the last and next month in a lighter color, and choose a compact calendar (names only) or a roomy one (names and times). It can show a link to subscribe to your calendar and a link to all events, in your own words. It shows events that are still to come, so days that have passed in the current month are empty, and you can look up to two years ahead. A repeating event appears on each of its dates, and a cancelled date is marked as cancelled. On a phone the table becomes a list of the days that have something on, so nobody has to pinch and zoom. In the editor, a calendar for a month with no events shows sample dates so you can see its shape; your own events take their place on the live page.

Recent posts

The newest published blog posts. Choose how many, and whether to show the first words of each post.

Service times

When you meet. It follows your Settings unless you type your own, so it stays right when you change the times in one place. You can show it as A simple list, Grouped by day, times at the right, or A strip of large times. Use it on the front page, the visit page and in the sidebar. If you will use it in many places, make it a shared block.

Round icons that link to your Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and other pages. They follow your Settings unless you type your own. You can show round icons only, or icons with their names. Each link has to point to its own service: a Facebook link must be a Facebook address, and so on. The services are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Vimeo, email and phone. When it follows your Settings, it shows your Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X links. For any other service, type the links into the block.

Contact information

Address, phone, email and social links. It also follows Settings unless you type your own. You choose which parts to show.

Actions

Button

A big link, such as "Plan a visit". Give it words and a link. The link can be a page on your site, a full web address, an email link or a phone link. Words like "click here" give a warning, because they do not tell a person where the button goes.

Contact form (placeholder)

For now, this block is a heading, a few words and an email link to the address in your Settings. It does not send messages. A real contact form is coming later: the project plans a Forms module for it.

Which blocks can go where

BlockIn a columnIn a sidebarCan be shared
Textyesyesyes
Calloutyesyesyes
Accordionnonoyes
Tablenonoyes
Section headingyesnoyes
Lettered listnonoyes
Quoteyesyesyes
Timelineyesnoyes
Pictureyesyesyes
Picture with textnonoyes
Photo galleryyesnono
Videoyesyesno
Hosted videoyesyesno
Embedded contentyesyesno
Columnsnonoyes
Cardsnoyesyes
Divideryesyesyes
Spaceyesyesno
Welcome bannernonoyes
Staffnonono
Missionariesnonono
Upcoming eventsnoyesno
Month calendarnonono
Recent postsnoyesno
Service timesyesyesyes
Contact informationyesyesyes
Social linksyesyesyes
Buttonyesyesyes
Contact form (placeholder)noyesno