How to Add Registration to Your Church or Camp Website: a Button or the Whole Form

Your website is where people go to decide. A parent looking at summer camp, a couple thinking about the marriage retreat, a family checking what time the Christmas program starts: they read your page, they're interested, and then they have to find the way to sign up.

If that way is a line at the bottom saying "email the office to register," or a link buried in last month's newsletter, you lose people at the exact moment they were ready. Here is how to put registration where they already are, on any kind of website, and how to tell which part of your site is actually bringing people in.

Three ways to add registration

Most organizations should start with a button. It works almost everywhere, it's hard to miss, and nothing can go wrong with it. Put the form itself on the page when your site is the main way people find the event and you want them to stay there.

Where to put it

1. On the event's own page, near the top. People shouldn't have to scroll past the whole description to find it. Add a second button at the bottom for people who read everything.
2. On your home page during sign-up season. A banner or a button in the first screen from the week registration opens until it closes. Take it down after, so it never leads to a closed event.
3. Wherever you post the date. Calendar pages, the youth or camp page, the "Upcoming events" list. Every place that mentions the event should let people act on it.
4. Check it on a phone. Most people will tap your button on a phone. Make sure it's big enough to hit with a thumb and isn't hidden behind a menu.

What the button should say

Say what happens, and name the event when there's more than one on the page. "Register for Summer Camp" beats "Click here," and "Get tickets" beats "Learn more" when the next step is buying. Use your site's main color, or one that stands out against it, and make sure the text is easy to read on it. One button per event, so nobody has to guess which one is right.

Where to paste the code

Every website builder has a place for a bit of HTML. A button or a form is just a short piece of code you copy and paste there.

• WordPress: edit the page, add a Custom HTML block, paste, and click Update. In Elementor, use the HTML widget.
• Squarespace: add a Code block, paste, and save.
• Wix: click Add Elements, then Embed Code, then Embed HTML, and paste.
• Webflow: drag in an Embed element and paste.
• Anything else: paste the code into the page's HTML where it should appear, or ask whoever runs your site. It's a two-minute job for them.

If it doesn't show up

• Look at the published page, not the editor. Site builders' preview modes often hide embedded code. Publish, then open the real page.
• Some sites block scripts. If the form is missing, use the plain version of the code (in Regify it's the "If your site blocks scripts" option), or use a button instead.
• Speed and caching plugins on WordPress can delay or block the form. Exclude the registration script in the plugin's settings.
• Some hosted plans strip code out. WordPress.com plans below Business remove this kind of code. A button still works there.

Know which button is working

If you put registration on your home page, the event page and the youth page, it helps to know which one people actually use. Give each place its own button rather than pasting the same one everywhere, and look at the numbers after the first week. The button nobody clicks is either in the wrong place or saying the wrong thing.

Common mistakes

• A PDF to print and mail back. Every step between "I'm interested" and "I'm signed up" loses people, and a printer is a big step.
• "Email the office to register." It turns one decision into a back-and-forth, and the office spends sign-up season answering it.
• The button only at the bottom. Many people never scroll that far, especially on a phone.
• Linking to a general events page. Send people straight to this event's registration, not a list they have to search.
• Leaving last year's button up. Take it down, or point it at the new event, the day registration closes.

How to do this in Regify

Open your event and choose Share & website button. You'll find your event link and share buttons, a Register button, and the registration form for your website, all on one page.

A Register button

1. Under Register button for your website, type where it will go ("Church website") and click Create button.
2. Change the text, color, size and shape, then click Save style.
3. Click Copy code and paste it on your site. Prefer a plain link? Click Copy link and use it in emails, texts and social posts.

Make one button for each place you put it, and the Share page shows how many registrations each one brought in. Turn a button off and it opens your event page instead of the form, so an old link never leads to a dead end.

The registration form on your page

1. Under Registration on your website, add your website's address (www.yourchurch.org). An organization admin does this once.
2. Name the widget and click Create widget.
3. Keep the Recommended code, click Copy code, and paste it where the form should appear.
4. Publish your page and open it to check.

People fill in the whole form, pay and get their confirmation without leaving your site. It only appears on websites you've listed, so nobody can copy your form onto theirs. Before registration opens, it shows a countdown and lets people ask for a reminder.

The full walkthrough, with screenshots, is in our help guide: Add registration to your website.

Why organizers choose Regify

Regify was built for churches, camps and community organizations: family registration in one checkout, forms per person, waivers, payment plans and QR check-in. Free events are free. Paid events are 1% + $0.50 per paid registrant plus card processing, with no monthly fee. If you're choosing a system for camp, our 12 questions to ask camp registration software is a good place to start, or see what Regify does for churches and camps.