CP Sync provides integration with Church Community Builder (CCB), allowing you to synchronize groups, events, and other data with your WordPress website.
Setting Up the CCB Integration
Prerequisites
- An active Church Community Builder account with API access
- Administrator access to your WordPress website
- CP Sync plugin installed and activated
- API credentials (username and password) from your CCB administrator
Connect to Church Community Builder
- In your WordPress admin, go to Church Plugins → CP Sync.
- Open the Connect tab.
- Set Church Management System to Church Community Builder.
- Under Connect to Church Community Builder, enter Subdomain (the part before
.ccbchurch.com), API Username, and API Password. - Click Connect to CCB. It saves the fields and checks them. When the check succeeds, the button changes to Disconnect and the fields lock. If it fails, the tab shows Connection failed or the error message.
Configuring Data Synchronization
Groups Synchronization
Group sync needs the CP Groups plugin to be active. If it isn’t, the Sync Groups toggle is disabled and the Groups tab doesn’t appear.
Group sync settings are on the Groups tab of Church Plugins → CP Sync. The tab appears after you connect to Church Community Builder, while Sync Groups is on.
- Open the Groups tab.
- Optionally, limit which groups sync. On screen the filter reads Pull Groups whereAll or Anyof the following match. There is no separate Groups heading. Click Add Condition to add a condition on Name, Group Type, Inactive, Group is full, Membership Type, Leader Name, Leader Email, Department, Campus, or Childcare Provided. With no conditions, this filter does not remove any more groups. Groups still have to be active and have Public Search checked, as described under Which Groups Sync.
- Click Save all Settings. The button stays disabled until you change a setting.
Groups that stop matching your filter are deleted from your site, and come back as new posts if they match again later.
What Syncs for Each Group
There is no field mapping to set up. CP Sync fills in each group automatically. Where the Data Mapping page already names a CP Groups field, the table uses that name.
| Church Community Builder | CP Groups |
|---|---|
| Name | Title |
| Description | Content |
| Image | Featured image. An image address that contains group-default is skipped. |
| Meeting day and meeting time | Meeting Time Desc. A time that can be read is saved like 7:00pm. With a meeting day, the text is the day, an added “s”, then ” at “, then the time (Monday becomes Mondays at 7:00pm). The day is also saved on its own. If the time cannot be read, Meeting Time Desc is left unset. |
| Childcare provided | Kid Friendly. This is on only when childcare provided is the text true. Otherwise it is off. |
| Group is full | Group is Full. Marked only when CCB’s full value is the text true (any case, surrounding spaces ignored). |
| Campus | The group’s location in CP Locations, only when the CP Locations plugin is active. This is not the Meeting Location field. A plain-text campus is used. If campus is not plain text, the area name is used when that name is present. |
| Group type | Type (default label Type), when the group type is plain text |
| Department | Category (default label Category), when the department is plain text |
| Main leader name | Group Leader |
| Main leader email | Group Leader Email |
| Public signup form URL | Registration Action |
| Group page on your CCB site | Group Details (the View Details link). The address is https://{subdomain}.ccbchurch.com/group_detail.php?group_id= plus the group id when a subdomain is saved, and blank when no subdomain is saved. |
On CP Groups 1.2 or newer, the main leader’s name and email are saved as a Group Leaders row instead of Group Leader and Group Leader Email.
Which Groups Sync
Only groups that are not marked Inactive and have Public Search checked in CCB are synced. In CCB, you’ll find this under Group Actions > Edit Group Settings > Options.
Events Synchronization
Event sync needs The Events Calendar plugin to be active. If it isn’t, the Sync Events toggle is disabled and the Events tab doesn’t appear. The tab appears after you connect to Church Community Builder, while Sync Events is on.
- Go to the Events tab in the CCB settings
- Choose how far ahead events sync with Date Range (see below)
- Click Save all Settings
How Far Ahead Events Sync
Use the Date Range setting on the CCB Events tab:
| Option | What syncs |
|---|---|
| Current and upcoming events (Recommended) | Today through one year ahead. This is the default. |
| Include past 30 days | 30 days ago through one year ahead. |
| All future events | Up to 10 years ahead. |
| Custom date range | The Start and End Dates you choose. |
If you use Custom date range, the Start and End Dates do not move on their own. Check that the End Date is far enough out, or events after it won’t sync.
Event Enrichment
CCB exposes event data through two endpoints with different levels of detail. CP Sync uses both: the calendar listing for the initial import, then the event profile to fill in details that the listing omits.
After each event is imported or updated, CP Sync automatically fetches the event profile to populate:
- Full venue address — street, city, state, and zip (the calendar listing only provides a venue name)
- Event image — the featured image from the event’s profile
Enrichment runs once per event on first import, then re-runs only when CCB reports the event has been modified, so subsequent syncs stay fast. Venues are deduplicated within a sync so events sharing a location don’t trigger redundant updates.
Limitation: Recurring event occurrences from the calendar listing don’t include a numeric event ID and can’t be enriched. These events will import with the venue name only. Master events with a numeric ID enrich normally.
Keeping Hand Edits on Synced Posts
Changes you make by hand in WordPress to CCB-synced events and groups are replaced on the next sync unless you lock the post. On CP Sync 1.0.0 or later:
- Open the event or group in WordPress.
- In the CP Sync box, check Prevent sync from updating this post.
- Save the post.
See What’s New in CP Sync 1.0.0.
Advanced Settings
- Filter Data: Apply advanced filters to control which data is imported
- Import Schedule: Configure automatic sync schedules
- Logging: Enable detailed logging for troubleshooting
XML API Considerations
CCB uses an XML-based API which has some limitations:
- Rate limiting may occur for large data imports
- Some data may not be available through the API
- The API may be slower than modern REST APIs
Troubleshooting CCB Integration
- Authentication Errors: Check your API credentials and permissions
- Missing Data: Verify that your CCB account has the necessary modules and permissions; for groups, confirm Public Search and that the group is not Inactive
- Settings won’t save on some hosts: On servers without PHP’s sodium extension, saving CCB settings could fail on CP Sync 1.0.0. This is fixed in CP Sync 1.1.0; update to 1.1.0. See What’s New in CP Sync 1.0.0
- Rate Limiting: CCB limits API requests; adjust your sync frequency if needed
- XML Parsing Errors: These can occur if the CCB API response format changes
CCB API Resources
- CCB API Documentation (PDF)
- Contact your CCB administrator for specific questions about your CCB implementation
For more help, see the Troubleshooting guide.