The smallest setup: one laptop and one person

You don't need a tech booth. A laptop, a cable to the projector or TV, and one person will run a whole service, Scripture readings included. This is what to set up, and what you can safely ignore.

What you need

• a laptop with the desktop app,
• a cable or adapter to the projector or TV,
• the charger,
• internet the day before. On Sunday you can do without it.

That's all. No stage display, no tablets, no second screen at your desk.

Set it up once

1. Connect the projector and set it as an extended screen, not a mirror: System Settings → Displays on a Mac, Win+P → Extend on Windows.
2. In WorshipPro, open Settings → Displays and choose the projector under Main output. Use Show screen numbers if you're not sure which is which.
3. Leave Send output as soon as a saved screen is detected ticked. From now on the picture appears by itself when you plug in the cable.
4. In Settings → Bible & offline, install your translation.

The app recognizes the screen by model and serial number, so it doesn't matter which port you use. If you connect a different projector in another room, choose it once, the same way.

During the week: fifteen minutes

Open Services, click New plan and add your songs and readings. If you can, ask the preacher for the passages now, because you won't have a spare hand for typing later. Finish with Prepare service, and wait for Service prepared.

Keep the plan simple. Every extra item is one more thing to manage alone.

On Sunday

Everything is on one screen in Show: the plan on the left, the slides in the middle, what's on screen and what's next on the right. Click Start service, and from then on one key does nearly all the work: → steps through the slides, and after the last slide of a song the next plan item comes up.

Before you start:

• plug in the charger,
• turn off sleep and the screen saver, because WorshipPro doesn't stop the computer from sleeping,
• turn on Do Not Disturb and close anything that shows notifications.

If you also play or lead

This is the usual reason for one-person setups. You have a few options:

• Fewer slides. Keep the slide split on Sections, so one verse or chorus is one slide. If you've changed it, set it back with Make default. Fewer changes means fewer moments you have to remember.
• A presentation clicker. Most send PageDown / PageUp or the arrow keys, so they work right away.
• A foot pedal. Add it in Settings → Shortcuts: click + next to Next slide (Scripture, last verse: the next verse) and press the pedal. Do the same for Previous slide.
• The phone remote. Someone in the front row can change slides from a phone. It needs internet on both the computer and the phone: Phones in the room.
• A helper with one job. Hand someone the laptop and turn on Follow the plan (the list icon next to the projector buttons). They get three big buttons and nothing to break.

If there's no projector at all

A big TV works exactly like a projector. And if there's no screen in the room, Text on phones can do the job: people scan a code and read the words on their own phones. It runs from what's loaded in Show, even with the projector off, but the computer and the phones need internet. See Text on phones in practice.

If you test at home with one screen

With no screen assigned, Go live in the right column fills the screen you're working on. Press Esc or click Back to the panel to get back. The Go live button in the bottom bar opens the output in a normal window instead, which is handier for practice.

What to ignore

For this setup you can skip the stage display, the operator monitor, timers, the stream settings, sermon listening and custom themes. Nothing breaks if you never open them.

The one habit worth keeping is a test run: the day before, with Wi-Fi off, go through the plan once. When you're alone, nobody else will notice a gap before the room does.

What's next

• Sunday morning: a checklist for the person at the projector
• The full setup: projector, stage display and stream from one computer