This guide provides an overview of CP Sermon Library settings. Access settings at Messages → Settings in your WordPress dashboard.
Note: The settings menu appears under your configured content label. The default is Messages → Settings.
Main Tab (cpl_main_options)
Primary Color
Set the primary accent color used by the media player and UI elements.
Site Logo
Upload an image to use as the logo for your messages.
Default Thumbnail
Upload a fallback thumbnail image used when a sermon or series doesn’t have a featured image set.
Button Labels
- Play Video Button — Text displayed on the video play button (default: “Watch”)
- Play Audio Button — Text displayed on the audio play button (default: “Listen”)
Messages Tab (Item Options — cpl_item_options)
Note: This tab is labeled with your plural content label (default: “Messages”).
Content Labels
Customize the terminology used for sermons:
- Singular Label — What to call a single sermon (default: “Message”)
- Plural Label — What to call the collection (default: “Messages”) — this also sets the admin menu name
- Slug — URL base for sermon archives (default: derived from the plural label)
Display Options
- Single Page Template — Choose the layout for individual sermon pages (default or vertical)
- Image Aspect Ratio — Set the aspect ratio for sermon thumbnails
- Messages Per Page — Number of sermons to display on the archive page
Info Items & Meta Items
Control what information displays with each sermon:
- Info Items — Content shown prominently (e.g., date, speaker, series)
- Meta Items — Secondary content (e.g., topics, scripture, downloads)
Transcript Settings
- Show Transcript — Show or hide the transcript section on sermon pages
Variation Settings
If variations are enabled (see Advanced tab):
- Variations Enabled — Enable sermon variations for this content type
- Variation Source — Select the source for variations (e.g., Service Types)
Filter Settings
- Disable Filters — Selectively disable individual filter facets (topics, scripture, seasons, speakers, service types, year) on the sermon archive page
Podcast Exclusion
At the individual sermon level, each sermon has an “Exclude from Podcast” checkbox in its edit screen to prevent it from appearing in the podcast feed.
Series Tab (cpl_item_type_options)
- Singular/Plural Labels — Customize series terminology
- Slug — URL base for series archives
- Image Aspect Ratio — Aspect ratio for series artwork
- Series Per Page — Number of series to display on the archive page
- Messages Per Series — Number of sermons shown within a single series view
- Messages Sort Order — How sermons are ordered within a series (ascending or descending)
- Messages Sort By — Sort sermons by title or publish date
- Disable Filters — Selectively disable individual filter facets (topics, scripture, seasons, year) on the series archive page
Speaker Tab (cpl_speaker_options)
- Singular/Plural Labels — Customize speaker terminology (changing the plural label also changes the URL slug)
- Enable Permalinks — Create individual speaker archive pages
Service Type Tab (cpl_service_type_options)
Note: This tab only appears when Service Types are enabled in the Advanced tab.
- Singular/Plural Labels — Customize service type terminology
- Default Service Type — Set the default service type for new sermons
Podcast Tab (cpl_podcast_options)
Note: This tab only appears when the Podcast Feed is enabled in the Advanced tab.
Configure your podcast feed settings:
- Podcast Image — Cover artwork (1400×1400px minimum, square format)
- Title — Your podcast name
- Subtitle — Brief description
- Description — Full podcast description
- Item Image — Check to include the sermon’s featured image in the podcast episode description
- Provider — Podcast provider name (typically your church name)
- Copyright — Copyright statement
- Link — Your church website URL
- Email — Contact email (required by directories)
- Category — iTunes podcast category (combined category/subcategory selection, e.g., “Christianity (Religion)”)
- Clean — Check this box to indicate non-explicit content (typically checked for churches)
- Language — Primary language
- iTunes New Feed URL — Only used when migrating feed URLs
See the Podcast Setup Guide for more details.
Advanced Tab (cpl_advanced_options)
Modules
Enable or disable content types and features:
- Enable Series — Toggle the Series post type (enabled by default)
- Enable Speakers — Toggle the Speakers post type (enabled by default)
- Enable Service Types — Toggle Service Types for multi-service churches (disabled by default)
- Enable Podcast Feed — Toggle the podcast feed (disabled by default). When enabled, a Podcast settings tab appears.
- Adapter Integrations — Enable/disable integrations like SermonAudio (disabled by default). When enabled, an adapter-specific settings tab appears.
Settings
- Default Menu Item — Choose whether the admin menu defaults to Messages or Series (defaults to Series; only appears when Series is enabled)
Built-in Terms
- Enable Built-in Seasons — Use the plugin’s curated list of church seasons
- Enable Built-in Topics — Use the plugin’s curated list of sermon topics
Filter Settings
- Show Counts — Show or hide the count of items in each filter option
- Count Threshold — Minimum number of sermons for a filter option to display (default: 3)
- Disable Filters — (Deprecated) Use the per-post-type “Disable Filters” settings on the Messages and Series tabs instead
- Sort per Taxonomy — Sort filter options by sermon count or alphabetically (configured per taxonomy: topics, scripture, seasons, speakers)
Debug Mode
- Enable Debug — Turn on verbose debugging output in Messages → Tools → Log
Sermon Audio Tab (cpl_sermon_audio_adapter_options)
Note: This tab only appears when the Sermon Audio integration is enabled in the Advanced tab.
Configure your SermonAudio connection and import settings:
- API Key — Your SermonAudio API key (found at sermonaudio.com/members)
- Broadcaster ID — Your SermonAudio broadcaster ID
- Ignore Messages Before — Optionally set a date to skip importing older sermons
- Start full import — Begin a full import of all sermons from SermonAudio
- Update Check — How often to automatically check for new sermons (e.g., twice daily)
- Check Now — Manually trigger an update check
- Check Count — Number of sermons to check per update
License Tab
- License Key — Enter your Church Plugins license key
- Activate/Deactivate — Manage license activation
- License Status — View current status (active, expired, etc.)
Saving and Applying Settings
- Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of any settings tab
- After changing URL slugs, go to Settings → Permalinks and click “Save Changes” to flush rewrite rules
- Label changes take effect immediately (including the admin menu name)