New layouts, custom colors and Eisenhower's birthplace

What we're excited about: New layouts for interior pages!

Free themes now come with more options that allow you to control the layout of your site's interior pages (i.e., all pages other than your homepage)!

Previously, the layout of interior pages on our free website designs typically included two columns: A smaller left column with site navigation (plus room for additional modules), and a larger right column for your main content. Now, you have more options for those instances when a custom layout may allow you to feature your content more effectively.

It's simple to create attractive interior pages with these improved page layout options! For example, you can enhance pages with featured buttons at the top, full width content areas, and more layout improvements are on the way!

Explore the interior page layout options available with your theme by following the instructions posted in our Help Center:

eCatholic Product Updates: 3 things to know

Keep an eye out for these three features the next time you log into your website!

1

Easily customize your site's colors

All of our free website themes come with vibrant color palettes to help you create your masterpiece. However, we just added the new custom colors feature to several free themes! This allows you to easily select custom color values for your website design without touching any CSS code. It's basically magic. :) 

Using custom colors is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Access the Design Studio, then select the brush and palette button in the left corner.  
2. Click a color swatch to open the color picker tool.
3. Use the color pickers to select a color (see explanation of color picker tools), or type/paste a hexadecimal color value (e.g., #c43838) to use a specific hue.

This means you don't need to be an expert to customize your website with unique colors. So go ahead and find the exact hue to match your brand (or just add some fun flare)! Our custom color picker will guide you to select beautiful complementary colors on your website.

Check here to see if the custom colors feature is available with your free theme.

2

Stop guessing the size of your homepage feature region

It's incredibly easy to add a beautiful feature image on your site's homepage. However, we made a small change to help you get the best results. Now, the dimensions for your site's feature region area are shown in the settings dialog. Next time you go to add a new feature image, look for your theme's feature region dimensions!

3

Check out the eCatholic Payments tab

We've been hard at work expanding the features available with our seamless online donations and payments service, eCatholic Payments. If you're a website Admin, look for the new Payments tab in your blue Admin Toolbar the next time you log in to your site.

Current eCatholic Payments users already utilize the Payments tab to access the Payments Center, which is where you can manage your eCatholic Payments account, transactions, donors, and more.

If you haven't yet seen how easy it is to create online donation and payment forms directly on your website with eCatholic Payments, click the Payments tab on your website to learn more, watch an overview video, or try a demo.

Developer's Roundup

Here are a few improvements we've made to existing features and functionality.

1

Simple logins

When you create eCatholic user accounts, admins and donors can now use email addresses as the username for their accounts. This slight change makes creating accounts simpler, and your users get to remember one less username. If you already have an existing account, usernames can be changed under the Admin Account Settings.

• Create a new Admin User accounts for your website
• Send account creation emails to new donors via eCatholic Payments

2

Krakow theme offers buttons with custom images

When we launched the free Krakow theme, the original design included a set of simple, modern icons you could plug in and use as buttons on the homepage. These mini app-looking icons provide a modern way to promote featured content within your site.

In response to your feedback, we've increased the flexibility of the button feature within the Krakow theme! In addition to selecing one of the built-in icons as a button image, you can now plug your own photos into your homepage buttons.

3

Changing your homepage layout? We’ve found best layout for you!

When switching to a new theme and homepage layout, your homepage will oftentimes need a few manual changes. For example, your featured content may need to be adjusted to fit appropriately inside the new layout. Here's what we've done to help make that transition a little smoother!

If your current homepage layout is unavailable with a newer theme (or the feature region space is a different size)  you will automatically be given a layout that is as close as possible to what you previously had. Of course, you can always go in and pick a different layout if needed. 

While we're on the topic, here are a few suggestions for how to get the best results when changing your homepage layout.

After selecting a new layout:

1. Review the cropping of your homepage feature image(s), as well as the length of your titles and captions. Re-upload and re-crop your feature image(s) if necessary.
2. Check any interior page images, as the size of this space varies across themes. Re-upload and re-crop page images if necessary.
3. Update your custom button images, titles, and captions. Each theme's buttons are sized a bit differently, so re-upload and re-crop your button images to ensure they look their best.

As usual, all your modules and content will be moved over to the new theme -- nothing will be left behind. Pro tip: Whenever you update your site's theme or layout, take time to remove any content you no longer need to clean up the site prior to the new reveal!

Inside eCatholic

At our latest eCatholic Team Summit, a monthly virtual gathering aimed at helping to build our team culture (pictured above), we discussed our customer webinars. We are happy to provide live online webinars to help you become familiar with eCatholic products, and during our meeting we brainstormed ways to keep our webinars helpful, informative, and succinct.

Did you know that U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas?

Why does it matter? Well, Denison, Texas also happens to be the homeland of eCatholic Support Guru Doug Naaden. (If you've ever contacted Support, chances are you've chatted with Doug.) This was just one of many hilarious facts Doug shared during his "Tour My Town" presentation.

CSS Developer Seton Raynor also provided a tour of her hometown, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We learned that Seton's alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is one of the oldest state universities in the United States. And she explained the interesting meaning behind the school's Tar Heel nickname.