This guide provides an overview of CP Sermon Library settings. Access settings at Series → Settings, or under Messages if Series is turned off, in your WordPress dashboard.
On a new install the top-level admin menu is Series. To change it, go to Series > Settings > Advanced > Set default menu item (this option only appears when Series is enabled). If you choose Messages, turn Series off, or rename a label, the menu name changes to match.
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.
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 sets the Messages menu label. On a new install the top-level admin menu is Series. To change it, go to Series > Settings > Advanced > Set default menu item (this option only appears when Series is enabled). If you choose Messages, turn Series off, or rename a label, the menu name changes to match.
- Slug — URL base for sermon archives (default: derived from the plural label)
Template Options
- Single Page Template — Choose the layout for individual sermon pages (Default (2 column) or Vertical (1 column))
- Image Aspect Ratio — Set the aspect ratio for sermon thumbnails. Options: Use Series Aspect Ratio, Square (1:1), Standard (4:3), Landscape (16:9)
- Messages Per Page — Number of sermons to display on the archive page
Info Items & Meta Items
Control what information displays with each sermon. The choices are Publish Date, Topics, Scripture, and, when those modules are enabled, Speakers, Series, and Service Types.
- Info Items — Items shown under the title on the single view, grid view, and list view
- Meta Items — Items shown above the title on the single view and at the bottom of the card in the list view
Transcript Settings
- Transcript — Show or Hide the transcript section on sermon pages (default: Hide)
Variations
Enable Variations (beta) and Variation Source appear only after a variation source exists. Turn on Enable Service Types on the Advanced tab (or a supported add-on), save, and reopen the Messages tab. Until then, this section only explains that Service Types or an add-on is required.
- Enable Variations (beta) — Enable or Disable (default: Disable)
- Variation Source — Select the source for variations (for example, Service Types)
Filter Settings
- Disable Filters — Check the facets to hide on the sermon archive: Topics, Scripture, Seasons, Speakers (when Speakers are enabled), and Year
Exclude a Sermon from the Podcast
After Enable Podcast Feed is set to Enable, each sermon edit screen shows Exclude from Podcast in Message Details. Check it to keep that sermon out of the feed.
Series Tab (cpl_item_type_options)
- Singular Label and Plural Label — Customize series terminology
- Slug — URL base for series archives
- Image Aspect Ratio — Default (No Aspect Ratio), Square (1:1), Standard (4:3), or Landscape (16:9)
- Series Per Page — Number of series to display on the archive page
- Messages Per Series — Number of sermons shown on a single series page
- Messages sort order — Descending or Ascending
- Messages sort by — Title or Publish Date
- Disable Filters — On the series archive this hides Seasons and Year
Speaker Tab (cpl_speaker_options)
- Singular Label and Plural Label — Customize speaker terminology (changing Plural Label also changes the URL slug)
- Enable Speaker permalinks — Link the speaker’s name to the speaker page that shows their messages
Service Type Tab (cpl_service_type_options)
Note: This tab only appears when Service Types are enabled in the Advanced tab.
- Singular Label and Plural Label — Customize service type terminology
- Default Service Type — Shown after at least one service type exists. With none created, the tab shows a link to add one.
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:
- Image — Cover artwork (the field description asks for 1400×1400 to 3000×3000, JPG or PNG)
- 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. When enabled, a Podcast settings tab appears.
- Enable Sermon Audio Integration — Enable or disable the Sermon Audio connection (disabled by default). When enabled, a Sermon Audio settings tab appears.
Settings
- Set default menu item — Choose whether the admin menu uses 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 Topics, Sort Scripture, Sort Seasons, and Sort Speakers (when Speakers are enabled) — By Message Count or Alphabetically. Scripture uses By Scripture Order instead of Alphabetically.
Data
- Enable Debug — Turn on verbose debugging output in Series → 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
- Minimum Audio Duration — Skip sermons whose audio is shorter than this many seconds. Useful for filtering out intros, announcements, and short clips. Leave blank to import everything.
- 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 License / Deactivate License — Enter License Key, click Save Changes, then use the button that appears. Activate License shows when the saved key is not active. Deactivate License shows when it is. A green check mark is shown next to an active key.
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)