Automations
What Are Automations?
Automations let you trigger actions automatically when a guest completes a section in your class. For example: when a guest finishes the Check-In section, automatically send them a welcome email. Or when a guest selects a specific branch option, add them to a workflow in Planning Center.
Automations run in the background after a guest interacts with a section — no manual follow-up is needed.
Accessing Automations
1. Open a class in the class builder.
2. Click "Automations" in the class topbar (or navigate to Admin → Classes → [Class Name] → Automations).
3. The Automations page lists every section in the class. Each section has its own automation list.
How Automations Are Organized
The Automations page is organized by section. Each section in your class appears on the page with:
• The section name and type icon
• A list of any existing automations for that section
• An "Add Automation" button
Automations are attached to a specific section. They fire after a guest completes that section.
Creating an Automation
1. On the Automations page, find the section you want to attach an automation to.
2. Click "Add Automation".
3. Select the automation type.
4. Configure the automation's conditions and settings.
5. Save.
Automation Types
Send Email
Sends an email notification to one or more admin or team email addresses when an automation triggers. This is how you notify your staff or ministry leaders about guest activity.
Important: Email automations send to admin/team emails — not to guests. OnArk does not currently support automated emails sent directly to the guest.
When available: Always available for all churches.
What you configure:
• Conditions (optional) — rules that must be true for the email to send (see Conditions section below)
• Recipient email addresses — one or more admin or team emails to notify
• Email content — subject line and body, with the option to include guest data (First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, form answers, etc.)
Use case: Notify a ministry leader when a guest selects their team, alert your team when someone completes a membership class, or send form submission data to a staff email.
Save To Profile Field (PCO)
Saves a value from the guest's class submission into a field on their profile in Planning Center Online.
When available: Only if your church has connected a PCO integration. See Church Settings.
What you configure:
• Conditions (optional)
• Which PCO field to save the value into
• What value to save (can be a static value or pulled from a form field answer)
Use case: When a guest fills out a membership form, automatically update their PCO profile with relevant information like their interest area or membership status.
Add to Workflow (PCO)
Adds the guest to a workflow in Planning Center Online, so your team is notified and can follow up.
When available: Only if your church has connected a PCO integration.
What you configure:
• Conditions (optional)
• Which PCO workflow to add the guest to
Use case: When a guest completes a class, automatically add them to a "New Member Follow-Up" workflow in PCO so a pastor or team member reaches out.
Conditions
Conditions let you control when an automation fires. By default, an automation with no conditions fires every time a guest completes the section. Adding conditions makes the automation more targeted.
How Conditions Work
A condition is an "If... Is..." rule. You pick:
1. A field — something the guest did in that section (e.g., "Selected branch", "Answered question", "Completed section")
2. A value — what the field's value must be for the condition to be true
Multiple conditions are combined with AND logic — all conditions must be true for the automation to fire.
What Can Be Used as Conditions
Conditions available depend on the section type:
| Section Type | Available Conditions |
|---|---|
| Check-In | Check-in completed; Guest's campus (if PCO multi-campus integration active) |
| Branch | Which branch option the guest selected |
| Form | Form submitted; A specific field was answered; A specific option was chosen; A specific ministry was selected |
| Test | Test completed |
| Text | Section completed |
| Video | Section completed; A specific video prompt was answered |
| Completion | Section reached |
Example Conditions
• "If [Branch Section] selected branch Is [Interested in Volunteering]" → Add to PCO Workflow "Volunteer Interest"
• "If [Form Section] [Ministry field] Is [Worship Team]" → Send Email to worship team leader notifying them of a new interested guest
• "If [Check-In] completed" → Send welcome email
Reordering Automations
Drag automations within a section to reorder them. The order determines the sequence in which they are executed.
Deleting an Automation
Find the automation and use the delete option on its card. This permanently removes the automation rule.
Common Questions
When does an automation fire? Immediately after a guest submits or completes the section the automation is attached to.
Will an automation fire for admin previews? No. Automations only fire for real guest check-ins, not admin previews.
Can I send an automated email directly to a guest (e.g., "You've completed Step 1 — here's Step 2")? Not yet. Email automations send to admin/team email addresses only. To follow up with a guest, set up an automation that notifies your team when the guest completes the section, and have your team reach out manually or via your own email platform. Auto-email to guests is on the product roadmap.
Do automations fire retroactively for past guests? No. Automations only fire going forward from when they are created. Guests who completed a class before an automation was added will not trigger it.
Why don't I see PCO automation options? PCO automations only appear if you have connected a Planning Center Online integration. Go to Admin → Settings → Church to connect PCO. See Church Settings.
Can I have multiple automations on the same section? Yes. You can add as many automations as needed per section.
What happens if an automation fails to send? Automation run results are tracked in the system. If an automation fails (e.g., an email bounces or a PCO sync error occurs), it is logged but does not affect the guest's class experience.
Can I have form responses emailed to someone? Yes. Create an Email automation on the form section, choose the trigger (e.g. form submitted), select the data you want included, and set the recipient email(s). The email goes to admin/team addresses — not to guests. See the Automations article for full details on Email automation setup.
If I add an automation after a class launches, will it apply to past completions? No. Only guests who complete the triggering section after the automation is published will trigger it. Past completions are not backfilled — add automations before launching if you want everyone's data to flow.
When is a Planning Center profile created for a guest? A PCO profile is created (or matched) after the guest submits their email, name, and phone (or whatever fields your check-in/form collects that OnArk maps to PCO). So the profile is created or matched as soon as that data is submitted and the PCO integration is active.
How do I set up PCO automations (save to profile fields, add to workflow)? In your course, open Automations in the sidebar. Create an automation and link inputs (form fields, completion dates, etc.) to PCO profile fields or workflows. To use a custom PCO field, create it in Planning Center first, then click Refresh Data in Church Settings so it appears in OnArk's dropdown. To use a workflow, the PCO account that connected OnArk must be a manager of that workflow. See Church Settings for PCO connection details.
When a guest checks in to a second class, does it create a duplicate PCO profile? No. OnArk matches by email and links to the guest's existing PCO profile rather than creating a new one.
Does PCO show that someone fully completed a class, or only that they checked in? Check-in creates or matches the PCO profile. Completion is only reflected in PCO if you set up an automation that fires on a specific section (e.g. the last section) and saves a completion date or value to a PCO custom field.
How long until OnArk data shows in Planning Center? Usually within a few minutes of the guest completing the step that triggers the automation.
PCO: data isn't showing or was saved to the wrong profile. What do I do? The automation likely did run, but the data may have gone to a duplicate profile. In PCO, create a list filtered by the field you're saving (e.g. "Growth Track completed date") to find where the data actually landed. Other checks: confirm the PCO connection hasn't expired (disconnect and reconnect in Church Settings if needed), and click Refresh Data if a new PCO field isn't showing in OnArk.
Workflows aren't showing in OnArk automation dropdowns. The PCO account that connected OnArk must be a manager of that workflow in Planning Center. If they're not, the workflow won't appear. Have that person check their PCO permissions or refresh the connection.
"Refresh Data" in Church Settings didn't sync past guest data. That button refreshes the list of available PCO fields and workflows in OnArk — it does not re-sync past guest activity. To re-run missed automations, contact support.
Do you integrate with Subsplash (or other tools)? We don't have a native Subsplash integration. You can link to your OnArk classes from Subsplash, your website, or anywhere else. For deeper integrations, contact us to discuss what's possible.