Church Team Widget for CAR

Version: 1.0.0
Author: Bo Kelleher
License: MIT
Description: Elementor widget for displaying team members and church staff. Works with Church Attendance Reports and Church Directory plugins.

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📦 Overview

Church Team Widget for CAR adds a native Elementor widget for displaying team members, staff, and ministry leaders. No shortcodes needed—just drag and drop into your Elementor pages!

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✨ Features

✅ Native Elementor Widget

• Drag-and-drop interface
• Real-time preview in Elementor editor
• No shortcodes required
• Fully customizable in Elementor

✅ Display Options

• Grid or list layouts
• Filter by committee/ministry
• Limit number of members
• Control image sizes
• Customize spacing and alignment
• Show/hide member details

✅ Styling Controls

• Typography controls
• Color customization
• Spacing adjustments
• Border and shadow options
• Responsive settings
• Hover effects

✅ Dynamic Content

• Pulls from team member CPT
• Displays member photos
• Shows names, titles, and bios
• Links to member detail pages
• Committee filtering

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📋 Requirements

• WordPress: 5.0 or higher
• PHP: 7.4 or higher
• Required Plugin: Elementor (free or Pro)
• Recommended: Church Directory for CAR for team member management
• Optional: Church Attendance Reports for full integration

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🔧 Installation

Method 1: WordPress Admin

1. Download the latest release ZIP file
2. Go to Plugins → Add New in WordPress admin
3. Click Upload Plugin and choose the ZIP file
4. Click Install Now and then Activate

Method 2: Manual Installation

1. Download and extract the plugin files
2. Upload the car-team-widget folder to /wp-content/plugins/
3. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress

Method 3: Git Clone

cd /path/to/wp-content/plugins/
git clone https://github.com/bokelleher/car-team-widget.git

Then activate in WordPress admin.

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🚀 Usage

Adding the Widget to a Page

1. Edit any page with Elementor
2. Search for "CAR Team Members" in the widgets panel
3. Drag the widget to your desired location
4. Configure settings in the widget sidebar

Widget Settings

Content Tab:

• Committee Filter: Choose which committee/ministry to display
• Number of Members: Limit how many members to show
• Layout: Choose grid or list layout
• Columns: Set number of columns (grid layout)

Style Tab:

• Image Settings: Size, border radius, spacing
• Typography: Font family, size, weight, color
• Colors: Background, text, accent colors
• Spacing: Margins and padding
• Border: Border styles and colors

Advanced Tab:

• Motion Effects: Entrance animations
• Custom CSS: Add custom styling
• Responsive: Hide on specific devices

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🎨 Example Configurations

Staff Grid (3 Columns)

Widget: CAR Team Members
Committee: Staff
Limit: 9
Columns: 3
Layout: Grid

Leadership List

Widget: CAR Team Members
Committee: Leadership
Limit: 6
Layout: List

Ministry Team Slider

Use Elementor's carousel settings with:

Widget: CAR Team Members
Committee: Youth Ministry
Limit: 12
Columns: 4

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🔌 Integration with CAR Ecosystem

Works With:

• Elementor - Page builder (required)
• Church Directory for CAR - Team member management (recommended)
• Church Attendance Reports - Core plugin (optional)

How It Works:

1. Install Church Directory for CAR (or create team-member CPT)
2. Add team members through WordPress admin
3. Use this widget in Elementor to display them
4. Customize appearance with Elementor's visual controls

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📁 File Structure

car-team-widget/
│
├── car-team-widget.php     # Main plugin file
├── team-widget.php         # Widget class
├── README.md               # This file
├── CHANGELOG.md            # Version history
└── LICENSE                 # MIT License

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🛠️ Development

Widget Class Structure

class CAR_Team_Widget extends \Elementor\Widget_Base {
    public function get_name()       // Widget identifier
    public function get_title()      // Widget title
    public function get_icon()       // Widget icon
    public function get_categories() // Widget category
    public function _register_controls() // Widget settings
    public function render()         // Frontend output
}

Customization Hooks

// Modify widget output
add_filter('car_team_widget_output', function($output, $settings) {
    // Your modifications
    return $output;
}, 10, 2);

// Customize query args
add_filter('car_team_widget_query_args', function($args) {
    // Your modifications
    return $args;
});

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🐛 Known Issues

• Requires Elementor to be installed and active
• Works best with Church Directory for CAR plugin
• Some styling options require Elementor Pro

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📝 Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for detailed version history.

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To contribute:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Copyright (c) 2025 Bo Kelleher

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👤 Author

Bo Kelleher

• GitHub: @bokelleher

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🔗 Related Projects

• Church Attendance Reports - Core attendance tracking plugin
• Church Directory for CAR - Team member directory

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📞 Support

For support, please:

1. Check existing issues
2. Create a new issue if needed
3. Review the Elementor documentation

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🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built for Elementor page builder
• Extends Church Directory for CAR
• Part of the CAR plugin ecosystem
• Designed for church team displays