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A WordPress user account lets a member of your congregation log in to your church website and access restricted content — the member directory, their personal schedule, the registration form to edit their own details, Ministry Chat, and the Our Church app. This page explains how to create accounts individually and in bulk.
Why user accounts matter
A subscriber-level WordPress account gives someone access to any page on your website that uses Church Admin shortcodes or blocks showing personal data — the address list, their rota schedule, and so on. Without an account they can’t log in, which means they also can’t use the Our Church app or declare their availability for the schedule.
Accounts also unlock the registration shortcode in edit mode — logged-in members can update their own household details without an admin having to do it for them.
Before you start — set up the new user email template
When a user account is created, Church Admin automatically sends the new user an email containing their username and password. Before creating any accounts, it’s worth customising this email so it looks and sounds like it comes from your church rather than a generic system message.
Edit the template at Church Admin → Settings → Registration email settings — scroll to the New user email template section at the bottom. See Registration email settings for full details of the available shortcodes.
Method 1 — Create an account for one person
Find the person in the directory by searching in Church Admin → People. If they have an email address and a GDPR reason recorded on their record, a Create user account link will appear in their record.
Alternatively, at the bottom of the person’s edit screen you can manually assign a username or link an existing WordPress user account to their directory entry — useful if someone already has a WordPress account on your site that needs connecting to their Church Admin record.
Once created, the person is automatically sent the new user email with their login details.
Method 2 — Create accounts for everyone at once
Important — check your email setup first
Creating accounts in bulk sends one email per person. Most shared web hosts limit outgoing email to around 100 messages per hour — if your congregation is larger than that, sending all at once will cause emails to fail or be dropped.
Before running a bulk account creation, make sure Church Admin is configured to queue and send emails in batches. See Setting up email with Church Admin Plugin for how to do this. This applies even if you use a third-party email service — transactional emails (individual account emails) are sent separately from bulk marketing emails.
Running the bulk account creation
Once your email is set up and tested, go to Church Admin → People → Create users.
Tick the member types you want to give accounts to — you might choose to start with Members and Regular Attenders before extending to Visitors, for example.
Click Create users. Church Admin will create a subscriber-level WordPress account for everyone in the selected member types who has an email address recorded and doesn’t already have an account. Each person receives the new user email automatically.
Username format
The format used to generate usernames — for example johnsmith or john.smith — is set in Church Admin → Settings → Registration email settings. It’s worth choosing your preferred format before creating accounts in bulk so all usernames are consistent. See Registration email settings for the options.
What the new account gives access to
- The member directory — if you have an address list page set to require login
- Their personal schedule — viewing and managing their rota availability
- Editing their own household details — via the registration shortcode or block
- Ministry Chat — if Chat is enabled and they are part of a ministry
- The Our Church app — app login requires a WordPress account linked to a directory entry
- Acts — setting and tracking personal faith-sharing goals