How to set up Plays

To set up Plays (or edit existing ones) log into your system as an Administrator and click Clubs & Events on the coloured Navigation Bar at the left hand side of the screen.

and then under Other Events click Add Plays to set up a new one, or click on any already existing example to edit it.

This will load the Basic Details stage of Configure Event.

1. Basic Details

Enter information in the Name and Description fields. This will be shown to parents when they log in.

If the event will contain a number of plays then this is where you would indicate the nature of those plays (e.g. 'Christmas Plays', etc). If you have just one play running under this event then the Name and Description would just be specific to that play.

Click Next to go to the Plays stage

2. Plays

In this stage you can add individual plays to the event (or edit any that have already been added) as well as add performances to those plays, setting up payment if needed, etc.

Note: There are four main steps in this stage. When adding a play you click Next to move between them.

If you are editing an existing play, you can access the steps within it by clicking them at the top of the page:

If you have set up plays in the past, you will be asked at this stage if you want to copy any of those plays - you can then edit the details to update them as required.

A. Play Information

You are required to enter the Play Name and Information in order to save the play - whatever you enter will be shown to parents when they go to make a booking.

Location is an optional field

Capacity is a required field where you should enter the number of tickets available for each performance of this particular play.

Bookings Open to Parents is where you set the date from which parents will be able to book. If this is left blank they can book as soon as the event has been created.

Student Filters allow you to choose who can book tickets for the play. By default all students are selected, however by clicking Change Filters you can limit this. For more information see Using the student filters

Click Next to go to the Performances step.

B. Performances

Here you can set the date and time that bookings close to parents, as well as the dates and times of performances of the play. To add a performance click Add Date & Time. Once you have added at least two performances you can delete any you do not need by clicking the bin icon at the end of that row.

If you tick Close bookings on a different date for each performance then you will get the option to set different dates for each performance.

If you don't set a date (or clear an existing date) bookings for a performance will close at the end of that performance.

Once all the performances have been added click Next to go to the Booking Limits step.

C. Booking Limits

Booking Limits can be set by Student, Parent or Family.

Click to select the category you want, then use How many tickets are allowed per [chosen category] for this event to choose the number of tickets they are allowed in total, across all performances.

Student or Parent limits the number of tickets able to be booked per student or parent whereas Family applies across all linked students and parents in your system.

For example, if two parents on the system have three children linked to them:

With a Student limit set to 2: the maximum allocated number of tickets that could be booked is 6. If one parent logs in and books 5, the other parent can still log in and book the remaining 1. Each parent can see the total number of tickets still available from the allocation, at the point they log in.
With a Parent limit set to 2: the maximum allocated number of tickets that could be booked would be 4. If one parent logs in and books 1, the other parent can log in but only book 2. Each parent can only see the 2 tickets tickets allocated to them. They will not be able to see if the other parent has logged in or made a booking.
With a Family limit set to 2: the maximum allocated number of tickets that could be booked would be 2. If one parent logs in and books 2, the other parent can still log in but will not be able to book any. Each parent can see the total number of tickets still available from the allocation, at the point they log in.

Performance Limits allow you to restrict the number of performances the ticket allocation can be spread across, and also (if required) restrict the number of tickets that can be booked for any one performance.

In the example below a limit has been set that allocates 5 tickets which it has been decided can be spread across two performances - but with a maximum of 3 tickets on each. If a parent books the maximum 3 tickets on one performance they then will only be able to book two for the second performance

Once all limits are set click Next to go to the Payment Details step.

D. Payment Details

If there is no cost for play tickets leave the There is a cost for this play box unticked and click Save at the bottom of the screen to return to the main Plays stage, where you will see a summary for each play already added. To add more click the blue Add Another Play button at the top right.

If there is a cost for the play tick There is a cost for this play and enter a Ticket Price.
Next you configure how payment will be collected.
If you select The School you can either:

Tick the box to Require immediate Payment - in which case payment will be taken as soon as a parent books, using any payment method set up for your system (see Setting up Payment Providers for further information).

Or leave it unticked, in which case the price will show on screen to the parents but no payment will be taken. You can then enter Payment instructions for parents - for example to bring cash on the day, call in to the School Office, etc.

If External provider/other is selected the price will show on screen to the parents but no payment will be taken. You can then enter Payment instructions for parents - for example to bring cash on the day, call in to the School Office, etc.

Click Save to go back to the main Plays stage.

On the main Plays stage you will see a summary for each play already added. To add more click the blue Add Another Play button at the top right.
At the foot of the page is the option to set a Play Limit on the number of plays a student can be booked into via the How many plays can be booked per student drop down.

Click Next to go to the Booking Questions stage.

3. Booking Questions

This stage allows you to add questions, these can be optional, or mandatory, added to all the plays in an Event, or only to specific plays.

To set a question on all plays within the event click Add Question under All Plays. Alternatively (or in addition) where a question is play specific use Add Question beneath the relevant play.

Whichever option you choose, you are then presented with a form to set the question. At the top is a reminder of what the question applies to:

The available options under Type of Answer are:

Text Field: allows the parents to type an answer to the question in their own words.
Yes/No: allows the parents only a binary 'yes' or 'no' reply.
Date Field: allows the parents to enter a date.
Drop Down: this allows you to select a range of pre-set responses for parents to choose from You add options by typing in text, then pressing enter to load another entry box. You can reorder the options by clicking and dragging them, or delete them by clicking the bin icon.

Tick This question is mandatory if you want parents to be obliged to answer it before they can make a booking.

Click Save which will take you back to the main Booking Questions stage, where you will see a summary of questions already added and edit these, or add more if wished.

Once all your questions have been added click Submit to create your plays event and go to the Event Dashboard.

To view the answers given to questions go to Manage Bookings and Export All Bookings - the answers for each parent are given in the resulting spreadsheet.

You can also customise the Manage Bookings page to display the questions and their answers, using the Customise Columns option:

All the above can be revisited and edited at any time via Clubs & Events > clicking on an event > Configure Event.