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How do I change the navigation menu in the mobile app?

Describes how to add, edit, reorder, and remove items in the mobile app menu.

You will need the Full Write App permission to change the app menu. With more than one organization, you need it at a campus of the organization that owns the version.

Your One Church subscription also needs the App Builder add-on, which you can review under Settings & Tools > Your Organization > Billing.

The app menu is the list of links your members see when they tap the 3 bars in the top left of the mobile app. You build it in the App Builder, alongside your app screens.

The separate Menus tab has been retired. The menu now lives in the App Menu panel pinned to the top left of the Builder canvas, and each design version carries its own menu.


Opening the app menu

  1. Go to Mobile App in the left-hand menu.

  2. Open the Builder tab.

  3. Pick the design you want to work on from the Version list. Each version keeps its own menu, so check that you are on the right one before making changes.

  4. Find the App Menu panel at the top left of the canvas. Every row shows the item's icon, its label, and a pill naming where the item sends people. Use the arrow beside App Menu to collapse the panel when you want more room to work on screens.

The App Menu panel at the top left of the Builder canvas.

Warning: When the version you pick is live, One Church shows the banner You are editing the live, published design. Changes appear in the app immediately. Menu changes to that version reach your members as soon as they save.

Adding an item or a header

A menu can hold two kinds of row. An item is a link: it has a label, an icon and a destination. A header is a label on its own, used to group the items beneath it.

  1. Click the + button in the top right of the App Menu panel.

  2. Choose Add item or Add header. The Add Menu Option window opens with your choice already selected under Type.

  3. Fill in the fields, then click Done.

  • Label - the text that appears in the menu. Required. Keep it short so it fits on a phone screen.

  • Icon - the icon shown to the left of the label. Required for items. Start typing to search the icon list.

  • Destination - where the item takes someone. Required for items. Choose Custom Screen for a screen you built, Feature for a built-in area such as Giving or Groups, Form for one of your forms, or URL for a web address.

Once you pick a destination, a second field appears so you can name the exact screen, feature, form or address. Some destinations add a third field of their own. Choosing the Giving feature, for example, adds a Giving Portal field so you can point the item at a specific portal.

Tip: The choice between an item and a header is permanent. You cannot convert one into the other later, so if you pick the wrong type, add a new row and remove the original.

The Add Menu Option window with the Type, Label, Icon and Destination fields.

Editing an item

  1. Click the 3-dots menu at the end of the row you want to change.

  2. Choose Edit. The Edit Menu Item window opens with the same fields you filled in when the row was created.

  3. Make your changes and click Done.

The same 3-dots menu also offers Go to screen, which jumps the canvas to the screen the item points at, and Insert above and Insert below, which add a new row in that exact position.

The 3-dots menu on a menu row with Edit, Go to screen, Insert above and Insert below.

Reordering the menu

Drag a row by the handle on its left edge and drop it where you want it. The order in the panel is the order your members see in the app.

Removing an item

  1. Click the 3-dots menu at the end of the row.

  2. Choose Delete.

Warning: Deleting a row removes it right away and it cannot be undone. On a live version, the item disappears from the app as soon as it is removed.

The Delete option in a menu row's 3-dots menu.

Your changes save on their own

The App Menu panel has no Save button. A moment after each change, One Church saves it for you and confirms with the message Successfully saved menu item.

This is different from the screen editor on the same page. Edits to screens wait behind a You have unsaved changes! banner until you click Save Now, and they are lost if you navigate away. Menu edits are never held back that way, so take care when the menu belongs to a live version.

Tip: Members already using the app see menu changes the next time they close and relaunch it.

Items some members will not see

An item that points at the People feature is hidden from anyone who cannot use your member directory. When you choose that destination, the Edit Menu Item window tells you so: Only users who are signed in and have access to the People directory will see this item.

The item stays in your menu either way. It simply does not appear for members without directory access, so there is nothing to fix if a member tells you they cannot find it.


Which menu your members see

A menu belongs to the design version it was built in, so the menu a member sees comes from the version they are shown. One Church picks that version in this order for a signed-in member:

  1. The version for their Campus Attended, when that campus is in the organization they are viewing.

  2. Otherwise, the version for the organization they are viewing.

  3. Otherwise, the base version.

A guest who is not signed in sees the organization's version, or the base version if the organization has none.

Organization and campus versions count only if the organization holds an App Builder seat. Without a seat, members see the base version, and the organization or campus setting is kept for when a seat is added. Changing or publishing the base version is a whole-account action, so it needs Full Write App at every campus of every active organization.

Under an organization, the app lists that organization's events, groups, sermons and forms, plus those available to All. The featured events on the home screen follow the same rule.

Trying a different menu

To try a different menu without touching a live one, use the 3-dots menu beside the Version list and choose Copy. The copy carries the original's menu with it, and you can change it freely. When you are ready, make the copy live. How do versions and publishing work in the App Builder? explains how.

The Copy option in the 3-dots menu beside the Version list.

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