Porchlight
How Porchlight works

Leading a group

  1. 1Pick what it usesWhen you start a group, pick what kind it is: one that meets regularly, one that picks dates as it goes, a trip or retreat, a reunion or celebration, or a big meeting. That sets it up with what it's likely to need. Change any of it in Manage (top right of the group's page) → Features: care calendars, reflections, prayer requests, shared meals, jobs, rides, sign-ups and more. Turning something off just tucks it away.
  2. 2Set when you meetTap Manage, then Schedule, and add your regular meeting: every week, every other week, or certain weeks of the month (like the 1st and 3rd Sunday).
  3. 3Or plan week to weekA book club that meets Friday or Saturday, wherever? Skip the repeating schedule and tap the + Plan tile at the end of the dates on the group's page each week. It fills in from last time, with your usual days and places a tap away.
  4. 4Pick whereSame place each time, or rotate between homes (when you ask someone to host, whoever's gone longest without hosting is suggested first). A coffee shop this week? Give that date a place, and nobody needs to host. On a date's page, open Host and tap Ask someone to host; they say yes in the app. Turn on Anyone can offer to host (Manage → Features) to let people volunteer.
  5. 5The meal, the plan and jobsIn the same form, switch on a shared meal and list what's needed (start from a template, or save yours as one for next time), add the plan (agenda) for the evening, and the jobs people can sign up for. On a computer it's all on one screen.
  6. 6Take a breakNot meeting in June and July, or over the holidays? In Schedule (in Manage), tap Add a break, pick the dates, and leave Every year on if it repeats. Repeating gatherings skip it; one-time gatherings still happen.
  7. 7Invite peopleTap the faces at the top of the group's page, then Invite: share the link or the code. Anyone with it can join. A new code is at the bottom of the same sheet.
  8. 8Invite onlyTurn on Invite only in Manage. The group's link then lets people ask to join; you let them in (or not) on the People page. For someone you want straight in, Invite on the People page → Make link: it's theirs alone, works once, and lasts a month. Linked groups can still join.
  9. 9Share filesA flyer, a study guide, a map: Manage → Files adds a PDF or a picture to the group's page. For one gathering, open it and use Files under In this gathering. Anyone in the group can open them. Don't need it? Turn Files off in Manage → Features.
  10. 10Poll the groupManage → Poll the group: a question and a few answers, one pick each or as many as apply. Everyone hears, and it sits at the top of the group's page with the answers so far. Picking a night instead? Plan a gathering, then Not sure which night? Ask the group.
  11. 11Link groupsLead two groups? Manage → Linked groups lets one group's members join the other any time, with a Join button on their group's page. No code needed, so it keeps working when the code changes. A group can be linked to any number of others.
  12. 12See the treeLinked groups make a tree: a church, its congregations, their hubs, the community groups in each. Tap Related groups under In this group to see it drawn, with your group highlighted (when the whole tree is just yours and one group under it, that group shows there instead). Open a group you're in, tap one you're not in to see what it's about and Join it (if it's right under one of yours). To start a new group under one you lead, open it and go to Manage → Linked groups → Start a new group under it.
  13. 13Link with someone else's groupDon't lead the other group? In Manage → Linked groups, tap Invite to make a link code and send it to its leader. When they tap Accept in their group's Linked groups and enter it, their members can join yours. Neither of you has to join the other's group. A code works once, for a month.
  14. 14Handle the exceptionsOpen any date's page and tap the pencil, then Edit gathering details to move it or change the place; Cancel this date is at the bottom. Only that date changes (to change every date, edit the Schedule). When you change the day, time or place, you choose whether to tell everyone. A cancelled date can be brought back with It's back on, or deleted, from the pencil.

Before a gathering

  • Planning a retreat or trip? Start it as its own group: New group → A trip or retreat. See Trips and retreats for everything it can do.
  • Your tools are together in Manage, at the top of the group's page: Schedule, Features, Announcement, Attendance and more. Dates from your schedule appear by themselves, with a small repeat mark. For something extra (a picnic, a service day), tap the + Extra tile at the end of the dates (+ Plan if the group has no schedule).
  • Tap the All tile at the end of the dates to see every date, Past, This week and Coming up, with how many are coming, who hasn't answered, and what still needs someone (a host, jobs, dishes). On a computer it's a table.
  • Open any date: under In this gathering, anything not set up for it yet (an agenda, jobs, a shared meal; for a trip, meal crews, a packing list and rooms) has a button to set it up. Once it's set up, open its row to change it.
  • Want the page in a different order? Tap the pencil at the top of a gathering to move cards up or down, hide them, or bring one back with Add a card. Pick Just this date or (in a group that keeps meeting) This and later dates, then Save. Use the usual puts a date back the way it was.
  • Give a gathering a cover picture: the pencil, then Edit gathering details, then Upload or From a link. For every date of a schedule, open it in Manage → Schedule and set its Cover picture there (a date with its own picture keeps it). It shows across the top of the gathering, on the group's page and on Next up.
  • Give a gathering a Reading or topic (the pencil, then Edit gathering details, or when you plan it): "Chapters 10–14", "John 3:1–21". It shows on the gathering, the group page, the invite and the Sunday email.
  • Each date's menu planner is the host unless you pick someone else. They (and leaders) get a Plan the menu button in the Menu row, and see everyone's dietary needs. Need three desserts? Tap + next to a dish so more than one person can bring it; tap the number to make it "or more" (two sides or more: anyone can still bring one, but it stops counting as needed once two are coming). Tap the speech bubble on something open-ended, like "an entree", and whoever brings it says what it'll be.
  • Someone else running a date? Open it and tap Pick a gathering leader. For that date they can do what a leader can: change the time and place, the plan, jobs and the menu, answer for people, and take attendance. The reminders about what's still open go to them instead of you.
  • Set up jobs for your gathering (childcare, leading, snacks, anything). People sign up themselves, or you can assign someone.
  • Skip the study one week? Open that date, then Agenda, and tap Edit the plan to change it just for then. Or open Jobs and tap Edit jobs to switch a job off for that date.
  • Add a one-time gathering (a picnic, a service day). Everyone hears about it right away. It can run over several days, have a limit on spots, a sign-up date, and a cost.
  • Turn on Rides (Manage → Features) so people can offer a seat or ask for one. It's off unless you turn it on, and any one gathering can have it on or off: open its Rides card and use Rides on this date.
  • A menu you'll want again? In the menu planner, tap Save as a template. Anyone planning a meal in the group can start from it.
  • Not sure which night? Tap + Plan (or + Extra), then Ask the group, offer a few dates, and everyone ticks the ones they can make. Tap Pick on the winner and it goes on the calendar.
  • A few days before, leaders get a heads-up about anything still uncovered: a host or open jobs. You'll also hear if someone drops out at the last minute.

Keeping everyone in the loop

  • Setting things up and don't want to ping everyone yet? Turn on Quiet mode in Manage. It's on for a day; pick An hour or A week to change that. Nobody gets emails or notifications about the group until it ends or you turn it off. The chat still works. While it's on, you'll see Quiet until … under the group's name.
  • On a gathering, tap the count of who's coming to see who hasn't answered, and tap Remind to nudge them (once an hour per gathering, so nobody gets flooded).
  • Post an Announcement (in Manage) to pin a note to the top of the group page ("No childcare this week"). Everyone's told, and it comes down on its own after the time you choose.
  • Every Sunday afternoon, everyone gets a short email with the week ahead: gatherings, what's still needed, the reading and birthdays. See it from your profile with Preview this week's email.

After a gathering

  • Open it and tick Who came? (it starts from who said yes). Someone new came? Type their name at the bottom to add them, no app needed. You'll get a nudge the next morning. Nobody's notified, and only leaders see it.
  • Look back any time under Attendance (in Manage): who came to each gathering you recorded, and each household's record, like "came 3 of the last 4".
  • Encourage people to add reflections: a moment, a photo, a prayer request. They're kept with the gathering.

People, privacy and help

  • Make others leaders: tap People, then tap someone. Every group needs at least one.
  • Someone who won't use the app (an older member without a smartphone)? At the bottom of the People page, tap Add someone who won't use the app. You answer for them on each gathering: tap the count of who's coming, then Answer for someone without the app. Put them in a car, a room or a crew like anyone else. Nobody can sign in as them; if you add their email, reminders go there, and if they ever sign in with it, the account is theirs.
  • Leaders can remove any chat message or reflection, and can see reflections people marked Just me and the leaders.
  • Need help? Need a hand? Ask support, at the bottom of Manage, reaches Porchlight support, and shares the encrypted chat and reflections with them while they help. Stop sharing any time.
  • Deleting a group is at the bottom of Manage: Delete this group. It removes everything, photos included, and can't be undone, so after a few seconds you type the group's name to confirm. The group's Time zone (when reminders go out) is a row in Manage too.