Domains› Engagement› Steps› Configure Steps›

Edit Step Types

From the Step Type page click the Edit button to change the step type settings.

  1. Name - Provide the name of the step type.
  2. Active - Set the step type to active or inactive.
  3. Description - Provide a description for the step type.
  4. Highlight Color - Choose the color to use for the step type. This color appears in the charts and in each chart legend where Step Types are displayed.
  5. Icon - Choose the CSS icon to use for the step type.
  6. Show Count on Badge - Select this option if you want the number of completions for the step type to be shown on the corresponding badge. See the Steps Badges chapter for full details.
  7. Engagement Type - Defines whether the step is a Milestone or an ongoing Rhythm. Milestones mark significant events like Baptism, while Rhythms track ongoing behaviors such as Small Group participation.
  8. Organizational Objective - Describes the main focus of the step and how it supports your organization’s mission. This setting uses a Defined Type called Organizational Objective that includes the following Defined Values:
    1. Outreach – Connect with those outside the church to share the love and message of Christ.
    2. Discipleship – Guide individuals to grow in their faith and deepen their relationship with Jesus.
    3. Activation – Empower individuals to serve others and participate in God’s mission.
  9. Impact Weight - Indicates how significant the step is in a person’s journey. Higher values show greater impact or investment. To calculate impact, multiply the number of completed steps by each step type’s Impact Weight and sum the totals.
    1. Example: 100 completions × Weight of 3 = Impact Score of 300.
  10. Prerequisite Steps - Use this field to require completion of one or more steps before starting this one.
  11. Completion Options - Configure how the step can be recorded, tracked, or completed, including:
    1. Allow Multiple: Select whether the step can be completed more than once by the same person.
    2. Spans Time: Select whether the step occurs over a period of time or in a moment of time.
    3. Is Date Required: You can choose whether the date associated with a step is required. This applies to both Start and End dates if the step
  12. Call to Action Path - The Step TypeCall to Action Path helps turn Steps into clear, actionable invitations. It’s designed for websites and mobile apps so people can easily see what their next step is and how to take it.
    1. Call to Action Label: The text shown on the button (e.g., “Join Now” or “Start Step”). Keep it short, clear, and action-focused.
    2. Call to Action Link: The URL where the next step happens, such as a form or registration page.
    3. Call to Action Description: A short explanation of what the action does and why it matters.

The Call to Action Path is an exciting way to make Steps more actionable. These will be used for websites and mobile apps to make discovering your next step and how to take it effortless.

Tip

Missing Some Prerequisites?
Behind the scenes we have programming that prevents two step types from being set as prerequisites of each other. For example, if Baptism is configured as a prerequisite to the Serve step, then the Serve step won’t appear in the list of available prerequisite steps for Baptism.

The step type configuration also has settings for Step Attributes, Workflows and Advanced Settings. We will cover each of these areas individually in the following sections below.

Step Attributes

One or more attributes can be associated with a step type, using the page pictured below.

Assigning attributes to step participants is a great way to track details beyond whether a person simply started or finished a step.

We should pause a moment here to highlight the Show on Bulk option pictured above, which is described in the Bulk Entry section. Regardless of whether the Show on Bulk option is used, the attribute value can always be set for an individual from the Step Entry or Bulk Entry pages.

Tip

Baptized Here Attribute
This attribute comes out of the box for the purpose of baptism tracking. Using this as your way to track baptism makes it easier for us to help you track common metrics.

If you need more information on setting up attributes in general, check out our Person and Family Field Guide.

Workflows

We’ve seen how workflows can be added at the program level, but they can also be added to individual step types. As you might have guessed, the key difference is that workflows added to a step type will only be used for that particular step.

For additional details on using workflows in Steps, see the Editing Step Programs section. For every other detail you could imagine related to workflows in general, see our Blasting Off With Workflows manual.

Advanced Settings

The Advanced Settings panel has options for customization and automation as described below.

  1. Auto-Complete Data View - New steps will automatically be added and completed for the people in the selected Data View when the Steps Automation job runs. This job respects the 'Allow Multiple' and 'Prerequisite Steps' configuration options described above. If a person is found by the Data View, any currently incomplete steps of this type will be completed for them. If 'Allow Multiple' is not enabled for the step type, and if the person hasn't taken the step, then a new step will be added in a Complete status. If 'Allow Multiple' is not enabled, and if the person already has a Complete step of this type, then nothing will happen for that person.
  2. Allow Manual Edit - If this is disabled, people will not be able to add or edit steps of this type from the Person Profile page. This does not prevent manually editing steps from within the step program pages.
  3. Card Content Lava Template - This is the Lava used to display the card content for Steps. See the Editing Step Programs section for additional details on cards. Generally, you shouldn’t need to make changes here.
Edit Step Programs Steps Charts