Version 3.0 of SermonAudio Is Here!

A new website milestone—version 3.0!

We have officially launched the next major release of the SermonAudio website! While there are a number of significant design and functional improvements you’ll immediately notice, the biggest changes are actually under the hood.

One of the difficulties of software development is the constant change in tools, frameworks, libraries, and plugins that are essential in modern websites. In our case, we were several versions behind internally. What this means is that packages we depend on to make the site work were no longer supported.

That’s why, at the beginning of this year, we began the arduous process of migrating the entire platform. No small feat! And 7 months later, we are finally done.

Over-the-hood enhancements.

Admittedly, the biggest changes are under the hood—things our devs would only appreciate. But there are plenty of dramatic "over-the-hood" improvements as well.

An incredible new Church Finder
A completely overhauled navigation menu with pinning support
Floating player support for audio, video, webcasts, and radio
Dramatically improved autocomplete search
New articles section to browse, search, and enjoy
New image asset manager for articles
A beautifully presented, comprehensive overview of features
A streamlined broadcaster signup experience

Church Finder is worth the new version.

If you don't get any other benefit from version 3.0, the newly minted Church Finder will be worth it all. Rewritten from scratch, it’s faster, buttery smooth, and more capable than ever. Find churches near you. Explore churches by denomination. Discover churches in need of a pastor. It’s an entirely new way to find like-minded churches around the world.

Try out the new Church Finder here:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/churchfinder

Navigation menu overhaul brings new functionality.

Sometimes it's the little things that make the biggest difference. It might sound silly, but hours were spent getting the navigation menu just right. Why? Because navigation is the gateway to the entire site, and the greatest of features can go unnoticed if they’re difficult to find. We all know this to be true.

The new menu design now organizes all areas of the site more clearly, eliminating the need to hunt within submenus to find what you want. Sections are also collapsible and sticky. You can close sections you don't need, and the site remembers your preferences.

Best of all, you can pin almost anything to the top for the ultimate in instant access. Pin anything from menu items, sermon series, speakers, or broadcasters. We think you're going to love the new navigation menu!

Floating player keeps playback uninterrupted.

The sermon player is arguably one of the most important features on the world’s largest sermon site. For years, we’ve wanted playback to continue uninterrupted as you navigate around the site. Well, we finally have it!

Start playing any audio, video, webcast, or radio stream, and it will continue in an unobtrusive floating player docked at the bottom of the page. It even remembers where you left off, so you can pick right back up the next time you return.

Autocomplete just became really useful.

We're all about speed and efficiency around here, and getting around on the site is no exception. The top bar site search just got a major usability boost. Start typing and you’ll now see actual results instantly—broadcasters, speakers, sermon series, articles, and more.

You can still press the slash key “/” from any page to jump straight into search, quickly access your search history, or type any Scripture reference to go directly there. A good thing just got a bunch better!

New image asset manager for articles.

Broadcasters have enjoyed the ability to post Articles on SermonAudio for some time. With this new release, we now have introduced support for a fully integrated image asset manager. Upload images directly into your articles with drag-and-drop support, search and sorting, inline captions, larger previews, real crop guides, and a cleaner deletion workflow.

Best of all, images are stored directly on our own Vault Storage, with 1GB of image storage included for every broadcaster.

Overview of features just got the first-class treatment.

If you know us, you'll know that one of our biggest frustrations is working so hard on great features and functionality, only for it to be hidden and not get the first-class treatment we believe it deserves.

Well, we've taken a big step in righting that wrong. The entirely new Our Services section now takes every major function of the site and gives it its own beautiful landing page, complete with helpful graphics and a clear breakdown of everything it has to offer.

Take a look at our features overview:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/overview

Hassle-free new broadcaster signup.

And last but not least, we’ve completely revamped our broadcaster signup experience to make getting started as hassle-free as possible. It’s simpler, cleaner, and fully integrated with the rest of the new design. We hope you’ll love it—and we hope you’ll encourage other churches to join us!

Check out our new signup page:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/signup