The Funeral Programme Builder: A Complete Guide

A funeral service has many moving parts. There is the opening prayer, the welcome, the music, the tributes, the eulogies, the committal — and someone needs to keep all of it on track, in the right order, on time. TributePoint's Programme Builder gives you a digital order of service that the director controls and the entire audience can follow live on their phones. No printed booklets. No confusion. Just a dignified, well-run service.

Why a Digital Programme Makes a Difference

The traditional printed order of service has served families for generations — but it has real limits. Programmes must be printed days in advance, which means last-minute changes are impossible. They run out. They get left behind on chairs. Family joining from another city or country never receive one. And when the service runs over time or an item is changed on the day, nobody knows.

A digital programme solves every one of these problems:

• It lives on every guest's phone — no printing, no distribution
• It updates in real time as the director advances through each item
• Family watching from anywhere in the world can follow along, not just those physically present
• Last-minute changes — a different speaker, a song removed — are instant
• The MC always knows exactly what comes next without looking at paper notes
• Progress is visible: guests see exactly how far through the service they are

Above all, a well-run service is a gift to the family. When the programme flows smoothly, people can give their full attention to honouring the person who has passed — rather than wondering what happens next or watching the MC shuffle through papers.

The Programme Builder — Building Your Order of Service

The Programme Builder is where you create the order of service before the day of the funeral. You access it from your tribute's edit page — look for the Programme button, which takes you to the full programme management page. The builder is the Edit Programme tab.

Each row in the builder represents one part of the service. You can add as many items as you need, reorder them by dragging, and group them into sections. Everything saves automatically as you work, and you can come back to make changes at any time — even on the morning of the service.

The start time

At the top of the builder you will find a Start Time field. Enter the time the service is due to begin (for example, 10:00). TributePoint uses this together with each item's duration to display calculated times throughout the programme. You will also see a Total Duration counter updating as you add items, so you can immediately see if the service is running longer than expected.

Every Field Explained

When you add a programme item, you fill in up to four fields plus an optional director's note. Here is exactly what each one means and how to fill it in.

Section Headings — Organising the Service

A long service can be hard to follow when all the items are in a single flat list. Section Headings let you divide the programme into named parts — giving both the director and the audience a clear map of the entire service.

Typical examples for a South African Christian funeral might be:

• Part 1 — Arrival & Welcome
• Part 2 — Scripture & Readings
• Part 3 — Tributes
• Part 4 — Message & Sermon
• Part 5 — Committal & Recessional

To add a section heading, tap the + Section button at the bottom of the builder. A heading row will be added — give it a name, then drag it to the right position. Headings are shown in purple in the audience view, grouping the items beneath them into a visual card. They do not count as programme items — the director never needs to "complete" a heading.

Paste Mode — Import from WhatsApp or Word

Many families already have a programme written out in a WhatsApp message, a Word document, or a printed sheet. Instead of retyping everything item by item, you can use Paste Mode to import it all at once.

Tap the Paste Text button at the bottom of the builder. A text box will appear. Simply paste your raw programme text — one item per line — then tap Convert to Items. TributePoint will intelligently parse the text and create programme rows automatically.

For best results, structure your pasted text like this:

Even if your original text is less structured — a simple list without times — TributePoint will still import each line as a separate activity and you can fill in the times and durations afterwards.

The Director View — Running the Service

The Director View is the tool you use on the day of the service to run the programme in real time. It is the Live Control tab on the programme page. On mobile, this is designed to be used comfortably with one hand — the director can hold their phone and advance the programme without any fuss.

Now In Progress panel

At the top of the director view is a "Now in progress" panel showing the current programme item in large, clear text — including the person responsible. This gives the director an instant at-a-glance view of where the service is without having to scan a list.

The progress bar

Beneath the current item panel is a progress bar showing how many items have been completed out of the total — for example 3 / 8 done. Both the director and the audience see this bar filling up as the service progresses, giving everyone a clear sense of pacing.

Sharing the audience link

At the bottom of the director view is a Copy Audience Link button. This copies the public, read-only link to the audience view — the page your guests open on their phones to follow the programme. Share it via WhatsApp before the service begins.

Item Status — Pending, In Progress, Completed

Every programme item has one of three statuses. Understanding these will help you follow what is happening both as a director and as a guest.

At any given time, only one item can be "in progress". Tapping a pending item in the director view sets it as current. Tapping a completed item reactivates it — useful if you need to return to something unexpectedly.

The Audience View — What Guests See

The audience view is a separate, public-facing page that any guest can open on their phone. It shows the programme in a clean, light design with no controls — guests can watch the progress but cannot make any changes.

The audience view shows:

• The name of the deceased, service date, and programme director's name
• A progress bar showing how far through the service the programme is
• All programme items, grouped into sections if you have added headings
• The current item highlighted in pulsing blue — always visible at a glance
• Completed items ticked off in green with strikethrough text
• Scheduled times for each item so guests know when to expect each part

The audience view updates automatically every 5 seconds — so when the director taps "Done & Next", all guests on their phones will see the programme advance within seconds. There is no need to refresh.

Director PIN — Giving the MC Access

In many services, the person running the programme on the day is the MC (Master of Ceremonies) or the officiating minister — not the family member who created the tribute on TributePoint. The Director PIN feature solves this cleanly.

The owner of the tribute can set a PIN of 4 or more characters in the Settings tab of the programme page. The MC is then given two things:

1. The programme page link (for example tributepoint.co.za/program.php?id=123)
2. The PIN

When the MC opens that link on their own phone, they see a PIN entry screen. They type the PIN — and instantly they have the full director view with all controls. No TributePoint account is required.

The PIN session lasts 7 days, so the MC stays logged in across the morning of the service even if they close and reopen the page. The tribute owner can change or remove the PIN at any time from the Settings tab.

Private Director Notes

The Notes tab in the programme page gives the director a private scratchpad — a free-form text area that auto-saves as you type. Notes are completely private and never visible to the audience.

Use this space for things like:

• Names and contact numbers of speakers
• Reminders — "Confirm pallbearer positions before the committal"
• Cue notes — "Signal choir 2 minutes before item 6"
• Any last-minute information you need on the day

In addition to this shared notes area, each individual programme item has its own director note field (the small + Note toggle when building items). These per-item notes appear in the director view when that item is active — a perfectly timed private prompt at exactly the right moment.

Step-by-Step: From Builder to Running the Service

Frequently Asked Questions