Terminology
Key product words you’ll see in Communicate. Many of the classics start with C—your pastor would be so proud. For short definitions and SEO-style primers, also browse the Glossary.
“Campaign”
A Campaign is the overarching plan for an event or initiative (Easter, VBS, a sermon series). It has a title, start and end dates, category, and color, plus optional brief, assets, and a Communication Schedule. Campaign status is Draft, Active, or Archived (use Archive—there is no campaign “Complete”).
“Communication”
A Communication is one scheduled message on a channel—email, social post, slide, text, and so on. Most live on a campaign; you can also create standalone communications on the Calendar. Status on the entry is Draft, Active, or Done (the Calendar View filter for finished items is labeled Completed).
“Channel”
A Channel is the medium you plan against. Channels appear as rows on the Calendar and on a campaign’s Communication Schedule. Open Channels in the sidebar to add catalog or custom channels.
“Category”
A Category is a label for organizing campaigns (and related pickers/filters)—for example Youth, Kids, or All Church. Manage them under Categories in the sidebar.
“Calendar”
The Calendar is the week-by-week grid of communications by channel. Sidebar label is Calendar (not “Matrix”). Views include Weeks and Days.
“Timeline”
The Timeline shows campaigns as bars across weeks so you can see overlap and durations. Quick Add creates a campaign by dragging dates; dragging to move or resize existing campaigns is Plus.
“Copy”
Copy is messaging text. On a campaign, long / medium / short Copy fields (rich text) hold reusable wording; on each communication, use Content for the piece you’re actually sending. On Plus, ✨ Generate can draft copy for you; see AI Copy Generation.
“AI Features” / “Church Voice”
AI Features (Plus) is the church-wide switch an Owner or Admin turns on in Admin Console → Church Profile to enable Generate. Church Voice is the writing profile (Voice & Tone, Language Guidelines, Writing Examples) that makes AI drafts sound like your church. See AI Copy Generation.
“Colors”
Colors (sidebar Colors) are saved brand swatches for campaign and communication pickers.
“Channel Preferences”
Optional per-channel rules—Preferred day (No preferred day or a weekday), Preferred time, and Blocked days—that guide where new communications land. Available on Essentials and Plus. See Quick Start: Channel Preferences.
“Schedule” / “Channel Schedules”
A Schedule (Plus) is a repeating channel slot on the Calendar—configured on the channel as Schedule or Global schedule. Product name for the feature: Channel Schedules. On a campaign page, the planning grid is the Communication Schedule (different thing).
“Template”
Templates (Plus) reuse a communication plan across campaigns. Smart template (timeline, Start/End anchor, preference- and schedule-aware apply) is recommended; Legacy template uses a fixed week-and-day grid. Apply from the campaign schedule with Template → Template Preview.
“Assignment” / “Comment”
Assignments and Comments are Plus collaboration features. Assignment progress uses Received, In Progress, On Hold, and Complete (that “Complete” is assignment progress—not campaign or communication status). Comments support replies, attachments, thumbs-up, and @mentions on the assignment row.
“Request”
A Request (Plus) is a ministry promotion request submitted on a form—Youth Camp in the email, Groups signup in announcements. The team reviews it in Inbox. Request status is Submitted, Needs info, Approved, Denied, or Closed—independent of handling progress. After Approved, you can optionally Generate campaign. This is not campaign approval.
“Campaign approval”
Optional one-person sign-off on a campaign plan: Waiting for approval / Approved. Any member, including a Viewer, can be the tagged approver. See Campaigns.
“For you”
A strip on Requests, Campaigns, and Assignments that lists only work waiting on you. Unread comments stay as dots, not For you cards.
Multi-campus terms (Plus)
These apply only when your organization is on Plus, multi-campus is turned on, and setup is complete enough for the feature to surface in the UI. Otherwise the app reads like a single campus—no Global workspace row, no global vs campus campaign chrome, and no branched campus schedules on campaigns.
- Workspace — The WORKSPACE control in the top navigation: Global (all campuses you can access) vs a named campus. It filters lists, changes what you can edit on some screens, and persists per user. Start with Workspace (Global and campus); full behavior is in Multi-campus (Plus).
- Global (campaign or communication) — Centrally owned, coordinated across campuses; blue / globe cues when multi-campus is active.
- Campus-owned — Owned by one campus; gray / map cues and the campus name.
- Campus — A location in Campuses (and Admin Console). See glossary: Campus.
Training shorthand: Global is shared across campuses. Campus is specific to one location.
Plans and roles
- Essentials and Plus — Billing plan names. Many collaboration and automation features (templates, channel schedules, assignments, comments, Timeline edit, Requests, AI Copy Generation) are Plus. Viewers are unlimited on both plans. Team seats: Essentials 1, Plus 5. Optional campaign approval is on both plans.
- Owner, Admin, Manager, Editor, Viewer — Roles that control what you can create, edit, or only view. See User Permissions and Roles.
Additional Resources
For more detailed guidance, explore our Documentation and Glossary. Questions? support@communicate.app.