Trellis

Start a new season of groups

Wrap up the last season, set up this season's groups, leaders, schedules and rosters, and get them listed on Find a group.

When to use this

When your groups restart after a break: in the fall, in January, or whenever your church launches a new round. Trellis doesn't have semesters or terms. A season is the groups you have, their leaders, and the meetings on their schedules, so starting one means updating those.

Before you start

  • You need to be office staff or an admin. Admins also change Groups Settings.
  • Groups must be on for your church.
  • Know which groups are continuing, which are ending, which are new, and who leads each.
  • Check how many people will be in groups. Groups is free for up to 25 people in groups. Past that, an admin turns on More group members. See Pricing.

Steps

Look back at last season

  1. Open Groups. On All groups, open the more menu beside Email groups and choose Export attendance.
  2. Set From and To to last season's dates.
  3. Press Download a PDF, or choose a shape and press Download the spreadsheet.

Groups that are ending

Trellis doesn't have a way to archive a group yet. For each group that's ending, choose one:

  1. To keep its history: open the group, then Profile, set Status to Not taking new people, and press Save. It still shows on Find a group under Full or closed.
  2. To remove it: on Profile, press Remove this group. Its roster, meetings, attendance and resources go with it, and this can't be undone. The people stay in People. Export its attendance first.

Kinds of group

  1. An admin opens Groups, then Settings, and checks Kinds of group.
  2. Add any new kind this season needs, like a class.
  3. Check On Find a group for each kind you want people to find, and Follows up on visitors for each kind that should.

Kinds of group explains each switch.

Groups that are continuing

For each one, open the group, then Profile:

  1. Update Meets on, From and Until (optional) if they've changed. Upcoming meetings without roll move to the new day.
  2. Update Usually at, Neighborhood and Address.
  3. Set Status to Open to new people, and Room for to how many it can take.
  4. Check the sentence in Who it’s for, in a sentence (shown on Find a group), and About this group.
  5. Press Save.

New groups

  1. On All groups, press New group.
  2. Fill in the name, kind, day, time, and the leader's name and sign-in email.
  3. Press Create group.

Create a group has every field.

Leaders

  1. On each group's Profile, check Who can open this group.
  2. Add new leaders with Add by email.
  3. Remove anyone who isn't leading this season with Remove. They stay on the roster as a member.
  4. A week later, look at Leaders not signed in on All groups and follow up with anyone still on it.

When one leader hands a group to another, use Hand over a group.

Schedules

For each group, open Schedule:

  1. Press Add weekly meetings.
  2. Pick the First date and How many weeks (up to 30 at a time), then press Add dates.
  3. Open any date the group won't meet, like a holiday, and set Kind to Break, no meeting.
  4. Add any events with Plan an event.

Leaders can do this for their own groups. See Plan a group's meetings.

Rosters

  1. Open a group, then People, then Add several.
  2. Tick people under From the church list, or type new people in rows.
  3. Set Their role and Joined, then press the add button.
  4. For someone leaving a group, open them in that group, press Edit, then Remove from this group.

Tell people

  1. Use Email groups on All groups to write to your groups. See Send an email.
  2. Point people to Find a group. People not in a group see it on Your week.

If something goes wrong

  • Trellis won't add more people. You've reached the free allowance of people in groups. An admin can turn on More group members under Church settings, then Parts and billing.
  • A group isn't on Find a group. Check its kind is ticked On Find a group, and that it isn't a sample group.
  • A group shows as Full. Its roster has reached Room for. Raise the number on Profile, or leave it.
  • A leader can't see their group. Check the email on their card matches the one they sign in with. See Someone can't sign in.
  • A meeting landed on the wrong day. Open it on Schedule, change the Date, and press Save.

Who to ask

  • An admin changes Groups Settings, kinds of group, and More group members.
  • Office staff create groups and assign leaders.
  • A group's leaders can update its profile, schedule and roster.
  • For anything else, write to Trellis support at support@trellischurch.app.

Still stuck? Ask Silas

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