Why did FORMED change?
In short, because our users asked us to change.
We have been hard at work these past few months listening to you, your parishioners, and all of our customers and we are excited to announce the new and improved FORMED.
In response to what you asked for, the original FORMED that you know and love now has improved performance, an enhanced search tool, new features, and new ways for our users to watch our programming, listen to audio or read e-books on their connected TVs and devices.
Watching great Catholic content at your parish just got a whole lot easier. In addition to browser, iOS, Android and TVOS, we now offer Roku, Amazon Fire and many more avenues for you and your parishioners to engage with our content.
Offline playback, My List creation and the ability to resume watching where you left off are all features requested by our users that are now on the platform.
Additionally, an improved search function will help you better discover the content you are looking for, making it easier to find our movies, programs, e-books and audio.
Lastly, our newly designed user interface, mirroring some of the best-of-breed On-Demand solutions in the market, will make navigating the experience even more enjoyable.
Do my parishioners still need to use our parish code or custom registration URL?
Registering has become a lot easier and parish codes and custom registration urls are no longer needed for your parishioners to register for FORMED through your parish! Now, parishioners simply need to go to formed.org/signup and find your parish to register.
Will my parishioners user emails and passwords still work?
Passwords are difficult and insecure. Which is why many technology companies are moving toward passwordless authentication, relying on the security of technology giants like Google, Facebook and Amazon. In short, passwords are being phased out online. We debated doing this ourselves, and in doing our research, we found that the number one reason for the majority of our support calls was lost passwords. Additionally we wanted to provide the most secure solution to our users. The decision became clear. We too would move away from passwords. Going forward, your emails will still work. You will just be authenticated through your email, rather than directly on the site. Once logged in, you will not need to re-register. Going forward, as long as you don’t log out or clear your cookies, you will remain logged in.
How do new parishioners register for an account?
Registering for FORMED is easier than ever:
- Go to formed.org/signup
- Select your parish
- Register with your name and email address
- Check that email account for a link to begin using FORMED
We’ve created a series of videos to guide your parishioners through logging in, signing up, and using the platform. Watch them here.
Has any of the content changed or gone away?
All of FORMED’s incredible content remains available, with a newly designed user interface that makes navigating the experience even more enjoyable.
How can I find the content I’m looking for?
Our improved search function will help you discover the content you are looking for, making it easier to find our programs, movies, e-books, and audio. Just click “SEARCH” at the top of the page and type in the content you’re looking for.
Where did FORMED Community, FORMED Library, and FORMED Market go?
All of these exciting new additions do not come without an impact. To make these improvements we have had to remove select features. For example, in our efforts to improve the viewing experience we had to identify features that were taking significant amounts of bandwidth but had relatively low usage. These features include FORMED Community and FORMED funding. These features were being used by less than one percent of our total user base. For those it does impact, we apologize. If you are a FORMED Funding parish, your funds remain available to use. We’ve just removed the ability to raise new funds. If you are a parish that actively used the community feature, we are here for you. We are not abandoning the mission to connect you with your parishioners online and have some better ways to solve this in development. Until then, we are creating web resources to help you continue to manage small groups online. The FORMED Library and Market are still available at Market.Formed.org
Where did the Study, Watch, Listen, and Read links go?
We have transitioned to a more intuitive user interface. All content appears on the BROWSE page so everything is in one place. For users who liked the Study, Watch, Listen, and Read buttons, the options of PROGRAMS, MOVIES, AUDIO, and BOOKS still appear at the top of page.
On what devices is the FORMED app now available?
Users have been asking for FORMED to be available on more devices and we’re excited to launch a host of new options! In addition to your web browser, iOS, Android and TVOS, we now offer Roku, Amazon Fire, Tizen and AndroidTV.
Does the FORMED work on my smart TV?
Yes! You can connect to FORMED from your TV by using one of the devices listed above, or if they’re pre-built into your TV, such as Roku, you’re all set!
Does FORMED have offline playback?
Yes! No internet? No problem! We’re excited to now offer offline playback to all FORMED users at no additional charge. Simply download the FORMED app on your portable device, find the content you want to watch offline, and download it to your device. Then watch it anywhere without Internet.
Do I still have the ability to create and share custom clips/topic shares of FORMED content?
Topic sharing has been removed. In its place we now have trailers that are easy to watch and share, no subscription necessary!
Can I save/bookmark all the content I’m interested in watching for later?
Yes! Now you can create a “My List” of all the great content you’re interested in and go back to it when you’re ready to watch. Once an item is added to your My List, it appears at the top of your main browse page.
Where did all the other resources go from the FORMED Leader Resources site?
Important resources for leaders are still available in the RESOURCES section of the FORMED Leader’s site. Stay tuned for a new and improved FORMED Leader Resources site that will include all the resources, updated to help you promote the new and improved FORMED.
Will there be a new FORMED Leader Resources site?
Yes. Coming in late fall is a new and improved FORMED Leader Resources site to match the new and improved FORMED.
I can’t find my Dashboard. Where is it?
With each new app, comes more data. We are now ingesting user data from TVs, tablets, gaming consoles, and more. To integrate this new data into our systems and to better display it for you, we have unfortunately had to temporarily remove the analytics dashboard. We were forced to make a decision to wait to roll out the new apps and launch everything together or give you the very best experience now while we actively work to develop a new dashboard. We chose to give you all the features you have been asking for and thank you for your patience as we update the dashboard.
Will I be able to view/export parishioners that are registered and can I export a CSV file of that information?
For now, you will not be able to view your parishioners or export out a list directly through the site. But rest assured, we have your data safe and secure. If you need to export your users and this is causing undue burden on your parish, please reach out to our Parish Care team, and we will see what we can do as we actively work to develop a new dashboard. We thank you for your patience in the interim.
Will there still be a FORMED Daily Reflections email?
Yes, FORMED Daily emails will continue without interruption. You can direct your parishioners to sign up at
formed.org/daily
This is great, but is my FORMED subscription going to cost more now?
The best part about all these new improvements to FORMED is that they’re available to you at no additional cost!
In the past, the FORMED site has occasionally had technical issues, will this be addressed?
Priority number one with this upgrade has been to address past technical issues and ensure that FORMED is fully functional at all times. The original FORMED that you know and love now has improved performance, with a simplified sign in, faster load times, and an upgraded video player!
If I have additional questions, who should I contact?
ParishCare is happy to assist and can be contacted by email at parishcare@formed.org or by phone at 844-367-6331.
