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Astro Church Docs

Low-Code Setup

Step 1: Create a GitHub Account

Section titled “Step 1: Create a GitHub Account”

GitHub will act as the “digital filing cabinet” for your website’s content.

  1. Sign up for a free account at github.com.
  2. Pro Tip: Use a church-specific email (e.g. admin@your.church) rather than a personal email. Create a church-specific admin account on GitHub (e.g. sojourners-admin). This makes it much easier to hand off the site to future volunteers.

Step 2: Clone the Website Template

Section titled “Step 2: Clone the Website Template”

Now, you’ll create your own copy of the website “engine.”

  1. Go to the astro-church template page.

  2. Click the green Use this template button and select Create a new repository

  3. Repository Name: Enter your church name (e.g., sojourners-church).

  4. Click Create repository.

Step 3: Create a Netlify Account

Section titled “Step 3: Create a Netlify Account”

Netlify is the service that takes your files from GitHub and turns them into a live website.

  1. Sign up for a free account at netlify.com.

  2. Select Sign up with GitHub. This automatically connects your storage (GitHub) to your host (Netlify).

  3. Authorize Netlify if prompted.

Step 4: Deploy project on Netlify

Section titled “Step 4: Deploy project on Netlify”

This step makes your website live to the public.

  1. In the Netlify dashboard, click Add new project > Import existing project

  2. Under Let’s deploy your project with… select GitHub and authorize the connection.

  3. Select your repository (e.g., sojourners-church)

  4. Give your project a name. Your temporary website url will be https://project-name.netlify.app/.

  5. Leave the rest of the settings at default for now and click Deploy [project-name].

Step 5: Automatic Daily Updates

Section titled “Step 5: Automatic Daily Updates”

To avoid hitting the Netlify free tier limits, we will set your site to refresh once a day rather than every time a change is made.

Part A: Generate a “Build Hook” on Netlify

Section titled “Part A: Generate a “Build Hook” on Netlify”

  1. Open your Project: In Netlify, go to Projects and select the one you deployed in Step 4.

  2. Open Settings: Navigate to Project configuration > Build & Deploy.

  3. Create the Hook: Scroll to the Build hooks section and click Add build hook

  4. Configure & Copy:

    • Name: Enter Daily
    • Save: Click save and copy the generated URL. You will need this for the next part.

Part B: Add the Build Hook as a “secret” to GitHub

Section titled “Part B: Add the Build Hook as a “secret” to GitHub”

  1. Open Repository: Go to your project repository on GitHub.

  2. Navigate to Secrets: Click the Settings tab. In the left sidebar, under the Security section, expand Secrets and variables and select Actions.

  3. Create New Secret: Click the New repository secret button.

  4. Enter Credentials:

    • Name: NETLIFY_BUILD_HOOK
    • Secret: Paste the URL copied from Netlify.

  5. Finalize: Click Add secret.

Step 6: Launch the Content Manager

Section titled “Step 6: Launch the Content Manager”

You don’t need to visit GitHub or Netlify to update your site. You’ll use a custom version of PagesCMS as the content manager (CMS).

  1. Open the Astro-Church CMS

  2. Click Sign in with GitHub and authorize access.

  3. Under Open a project, select your repository.

  4. Click Site Config to configure your site options. Refer to Site Configuration for more details on what each setting does.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”
Setting up Navigation
Add an 'About Us' page
Add a new sermon
Setting Up the Events Page
Set up your Subscribe Form