Registration Settings

Everything about who may register and how lives on one page: Sign-up Form → Registration Settings in the VBS admin sidebar. The creation wizard only asked whether to take registrations, how many spots, and the deadline — the rest is here, already carrying sensible defaults.

Note

Prices, add-ons, custom questions and waivers have their own pages in Sign-up Form. This page is rules, not money and not questions.

The Registration page: an RSVPs panel with guest limit and deadline, eligibility set to By Grade with a kindergarten to 5th grade range — Grace's VBS: twenty spots, no deadline, kindergarten through 5th grade

How many, and until when

The RSVPs panel at the top holds four things:

Allow guests to register for this event — the master switch. Off, and the event page shows no registration form at all.
Guest limit — how many spots. Leave it empty for no limit.
RSVP deadline — sign-ups close at this date. Empty means No deadline.
Public attendee list — shows who is coming on the event page. Most churches leave this off for children’s events.
Late registration — lets families sign up after the deadline has passed. Useful during the week itself.

Tip

The limit counts children, not families. One registration for three siblings takes three of your spots, which is why the number on the event page and the number on your roster agree.

What happens when it fills up

Nothing breaks. The event page changes to This event is full and offers Join the waitlist instead of Register, and waitlisted families appear on a Waitlist tab on your roster with their position in the queue. Promoting someone from there is a decision you make; see Managing VBS registrations.

Warning

Lowering the limit below the number already registered removes nobody. It closes sign-ups until the count drops back under the limit.

Which children are eligible

Choose By Age or By Grade

Eligibility restriction works one way or the other, not both. Grade is the usual choice for VBS, because that is how families think about it.

Set the range

In grade mode, pick a Minimum Completed Grade and a Maximum Completed Grade. Either can be left at No minimum / No maximum.

Word the question, if the default confuses people

Grade Question Wording is the line shown above the grade picker on the registration form. Use {date} to drop in the event’s start date — “What grade will your child be entering in {date}?”. Leave it blank for the default.

Note

A child outside the range still appears to their parent, marked Too young for this event (or too old) and impossible to select. Parents see why, rather than wondering where their child went.

Volunteers, friends, and self check-in

Volunteer Applications — who may apply: Public (anyone, including non-members), Private, or Disabled.
Enable Childcare Requests — lets a volunteer ask for childcare for their own younger children while they serve.
Friend Preferences — adds a step to registration where a parent can name who their child hopes to be with. See Friend preferences.
Parent Self Check-In — lets parents check their own children in from the kiosk or their phone, rather than queueing at a table.

Saving

Save Changes sits at the top of the page and applies everything at once. Nothing on this page saves as you type.

Permissions

Changing these settings needs permission to manage events. A helper with check-in permission only can run the week without being able to reopen registration.