Setting Up VBS

VBS is a normal event with a great deal more attached to it. You create it the same way you create anything else — the difference is the event type. Choosing VBS unlocks the roster, groups, badges, check-in and everything else in this section.

Create the week

Start a new event

From your Events page, click Create Event.

Choose the VBS type, then name it

Set Event Type to VBS (Vacation Bible School) — it is first in the list. Give it the name families will recognise on your website, leave Visibility on Public, and add the location.

The Basic Info step of the event wizard with Event Type set to VBS (Vacation Bible School) — The event type is the whole difference. Everything else in this section follows from it.

Set the dates, then the days it meets

Pick the first and last day on Date & Time. As soon as the range covers more than one day, a Meeting Days section appears: set Default times once, untick any weekday you do not meet, and give a day its own times, title or notes where it differs. Changing the default times updates every day you have not customised.

The Meeting Days section listing Monday to Friday, each with its own times, title and notes — One row per day, so a water day or a late closing programme is a note rather than a separate event

Tip

Use the per-day notes for what actually changes that morning — “Water day, send a towel”, “Closing programme, parents welcome at 11”. Parents see them, and so do your volunteers.

Turn registration on

On the Registration step, leave Take registrations on and set Spots Available if your building has a limit. A Registration Deadline is optional.

Note

Grade limits, waitlists, friend preferences, volunteer applications, custom questions and waivers are not in this wizard. The step says so: they are set after the event exists, under Sign-up Form in the VBS admin. See Registration settings.

Review and create

The Review step summarises the week. Create it, and the event opens with its VBS admin ready.

Finding your way around

A VBS event has its own management area rather than the ordinary event Overview. Open the event and choose Manage. The tools you use every day sit at the top of the left rail, one click each: Overview, Registrations, Check-ins, Messaging, Groups and Roles. Everything else is in a section you click to open:

Sign-up Form — Custom Fields, Waivers, Add-Ons, Pricing, Registration Settings
Volunteers — Organizers, Tasks
Competition — the optional donation competition
Reports — Payments, Analytics
Event — View Event Page, Edit Event Details, Promote, How VBS works

The VBS admin overview: children, families, confirmed and volunteer counts, an allergy panel, and a banner about a friend request to review — The overview counts what you have and tells you what needs a decision

Event → How VBS works is the product’s own tour of those tools and what is set up already.

Tip

Open registration several weeks ahead. Early sign-ups are what let you size groups, chase volunteers and order t-shirts before the week itself — Check your VBS is ready to open is the short list to work through first.

What to do next

Registration settings — grade limits, volunteer applications, friend preferences, parent self check-in.
Managing VBS registrations — the roster, adding a family yourself, and the waitlist.
Groups and badges — sort the children into crews and print what you need.
Event-day check-in — drop-off, pickup, and the mistakes you will need to undo.