Skip to main content

PCO Registrations SOP

Updated

Accessing Registrations:

Access to Registrations is granted on a per event level. If you would like to add an event, a PCO Champion, IT, or Creative can assist.

You will find Registrations in the upper left corner drop-down when you login on a computer, if you have access. You can also get to it by going to https://registrations.planningcenteronline.com/.

The Church Center app has an events page that gives access to all registrations that are active.  Guests who use the web site for information will continue to see events at events.mybayside.church but will interact with PCO Registrations during the sign up process. 

Use Cases:

  • Campus-based, small to medium-sized events
  • Events that are primarily for Bayside attendees
  • Events where there is a need to know who/how many are attending, or you want a record of attendance and may not be using Check-in.
  • There is a charge for the event or childcare associated with it.

Do Not Use PCO Registrations For:

  • Large events where you want to scan tickets. (PCO doesn’t currently have that functionality.)
  • Small meetings where a calendar request through Google, iOS, or Office 365 would be appropriate.
  • Events not sponsored by Bayside
  • Events where the majority are not Bayside attendees and probably won’t become so as a result.
  • Bayside Groups events (Use the Groups app)

 

General Considerations:

  • There are 2 types of events
    • Public – Appear on the Church Center app/web site events page
    • Hidden – Only accessible if the person has the link to the event
  • Only Creative and IT can create Global events (Global – one event with all campuses invited or all campuses having the same event so they all look/function alike)
  • Any time you create something guests will view (even if it’s via link only) you are representing Bayside professionalism.  Do not put something out for public view without having it proofed by someone with strong writing skills.  (If they believe every word that ends with “s” should have an apostrophe (event’s) they aren’t the right ones to proof your event.)
  • We’re people of integrity. That means that once we publish an event, we don’t change our mind. We don’t change the date, we don’t cancel (unless for extraordinary circumstances), and we don’t change major details. The vision of the house is that once we commit, we follow through.

 

How to Create an Event:

In order to initiate the Registration for you, the PCO Champion will need information from you, such as:

  • The Name of your event (short but descriptive)
  • Is this an ongoing program or opportunity OR an event on a specific date?
  • Dates and times of event? Is this an all-day event?
  • Please provide a brief description of the event (so your champion can best initiate your signup)
  • Who will attend your event?  Adults, Students (what ages/grades), childcare?
  • Is there a cost for the attendee?  How much?  IF there is a cost you must let finance know about the cost so they can code it correctly when funds come in.
  • Do you need Check-in set up for the event?

1.  REQUIRED:  To make it easy for you to get a Registration set up, please complete the Registration Request form which includes all the questions/answers needed. 

All of the information you provide on the Registration Request form will be used by the  PCO Champion or IT/Creative to initiate the registration you need.  Then you will be set as a manager of the event.  You should submit your request at least a week before the date you want the registration to be published or ready to go.

IMPORTANT - TITLE OF THE EVENT: Please use the following naming structure when titling the event: [event name] | [campus name] (ex. Wednesday Morning Prayer | Bee Ridge Campus); if the event is a global event, the campus name does not need to be listed.

Once the PCO Champion has processed your request and initiated your registration you will be able to access it to complete the setup.

 

CONFIGURATION TAB – About
 2.  Add/edit description

  • Remember the rules of writing: Who, What, When, Why, and How. What would you want to know before you sign up? There may be a description already entered from the form you submitted, but you can add to or edit it.
  • Keep it short but make sure it contains the information a person needs to know. Eliminate the fear of the unknown.

 3. Add an image

  • A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Show them what to expect. Always use a photo and not a graphic, unless the graphic has been produced by Creative Resourcing. Do not use any text or elements on top of the photo you choose.
  • There are free photos that you can search in the Image area or you can upload your own photo. We always prefer a photo that shows the actual event experience.

   4. Add location

  • The campus should be already set; be sure it is correct. You can add the room, if appropriate.
  • If it’s a different location, choose “other” and complete the information. Provide the exact address so the map appears.
  • Be sure to SAVE.

  5.  Categories

  • Be sure the campus is set for your event.
  • Set the category that applies to your event.
  • Please do not click the edit button and add new categories.

 6. Contributors

You may add additional people as Contributors (event managers) IF they are volunteers who have already signed the Confidential Access form (look on the individual’s FORMS tab) so they are approved for PCO access.

 

MANAGE TAB – Settings

 7.  Church Center Availability

  • The first piece is the link for the signup (Use it to view as the guest will see it/copy to paste in invite)
  • Church Center is the place where attenders can view the event. This has been set temporarily by the Registrations Administrator who initiated your signup. (Note, we do not use Now or on a specific date unless anyone at Bayside can attend.)
  • You should complete all the remaining steps of the signup before making any changes to this section.
  • When all of the setup is complete for your event and it has been proofed by a second set of eyes you are ready to update the option for “how to include on your church’s signups page”:
    • You can set the Availability to “Now” so it will be published on Church Center if it is to be published on the web site.  This is immediate.
    • You can set the event to appear “on a specific date/time.”  You control when it will be seen.
    • Choose to keep the selection “Do not include (direct link only)” if this is not open for everyone to sign up.  (Ex: only your serve team is invited or only coaches for Groups, etc)  In this case you will use the link provided at the top of this section to email an invitation to a select group of people.
    • You may also choose to hide the event at a certain date and time, usually as soon as the event ends.
    • Featured pushes the event to the top of the Signups page and should only be used by Creative/IT.

 8.  Registration Status

  • If set to open, the signup is available for testing and people will be able to register.
  • You can schedule the time, if not now.
  •  If set to closed, no registrations will be accepted.
  • You can also automatically close on a certain date and time. (The time you no longer want additional signups.)
  • “Congregants can cancel their own registrations.” We don’t recommend using this option because it works on some platforms but not on others.

 

CONFIGURATION TAB – Selection Types

13.  Look at the selections that have been set up for you to make sure they cover all the types of attendees you need to track.  Think of them as ticket types.  If you are having childcare, there should be a childcare attendee type.  If you need to keep students 6th – 12th accounted for separate from children 1st – 5th, you should have separate selection types for them. 

 

Do not remove required “Profile Information to Collect” options.  Each one who registers should provide required information, so any profiles created are not blank.  You can add more required fields or more optional fields if needed.

 

           If you have questions about how they are set up, talk with your Champion about it.

 

CONFIGURATION TAB – Questions

 14.   Registration Questions - If you have any additional information to collect on this registration, this is where you can add it.  Examples might include:

  • Food choices
  • T-shirt size
  • Additional skills they may have that would help make the event a success.

You will find one question already added for the Bayside Disclaimer.  This is required.

CONFIGURATION TAB – Confirmation Message

15.  Custom Confirmation E-mail Message

  • The built-in email confirmation will thank the attendee for registering and provide the event name, date, time, location; what they signed up for automatically. 
  • To provide additional information like instructions about next steps, arrival time, what to bring, etc, you can create a custom email message here.  The general information will still be given with your message.

 CONFIGURATION TAB – Check-ins
16.   Check-Ins

This section should have been completed by the PCO Champion, IT or Creative who initiated your Registration.  Do not make any changes to this section.  IF your decision about using Check-ins has changed since you submitted your request, reach out to the person who initiated for you to get this set up.

 

CONFIGURATION TAB – Add-Ons, Forms, Discounts, Scholarships

These tabs are less used. Each has a support article on the page that you can reference if you would like to learn more.

 

Add-On Options

You most likely will not use add-ons. An example for use would be if you were selling an optional t-shirt for those who attended the event.  To learn more about them, click the add-ons tab on the left side of your screen and read the support article

 

 Forms

You may attach forms that are required for registration, if needed. Examples: medical form, release of liability, additional information, etc. Click the forms tab to learn more.

  • NOTE: If you include a form, it becomes required for the person to complete their signup for the event. PCO will send e-mails asking them to complete the form. If the form is optional, don’t include it here.  You may include a link to an optional form on the confirmation email.

 

Discounts/Scholarships

The discount tab allows you to create discount codes. An example might be a person who is leading the event or serving and doesn’t have to pay.  It could be 20% off for early registration, too.  The Scholarship tab would allow you to collect donations toward someone else’s registration cost.  There are some complicated rules for this, so don’t use it unless you work with finance first.

 

Your registration would be complete at this point and published (or scheduled to publish) on Church Center or ready for the email link to be sent.  Be sure to open your signup on Church Center to see what your guests will see as a final review.  A test registration is a good idea.  You can delete it later.

 

For managing the details of the event after individuals start registering . . .

 

Now you are ready to manage the actual event.  We’ve been working only on the CONFIGURATIONS tab up to this point.  There are four other tabs.

 

REGISTRATIONS TAB

The Registrations tab allows you to see who has registered for your event.

1.) You can filter based on the options you chose. In this example, you could see only adults who have signed up or only students.

2.) The Actions dropdown menu allows you to e-mail everybody or export the guest list for use in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

3.) NOTE: We do not take attendance through registrations.  Please arrange for a Check-in if you need attendance for your event.

 

The PAYMENTS TAB holds a record of payments if your event has a charge.

Usually, you will not use the ASSIGNMENTS TAB. This is used for events where you might assign tables or cabins for retreats, for example, or for Summer Camp where kids are assigned to a specific room.

 

Recently added is the AUTOMATIONS TAB.  This tab would allow you to automatically add anyone who registered to a Group, to a team in Services, or update a field in People.  Automations are very powerful, so please do not add an automation without speaking with IT first. (It takes a lot of work to undo an automation that goes wrong.)

 

Related to