Launch a class for online registration

Build and test a complete class offering before clients can register. A client-ready class is not created on one page: its result depends on the season, class record, dated schedules, capacity, pricing, eligibility, Online Client settings, and checkout behavior working together.

#The complete workflow

Categories and rooms
        ↓
Closed working season
        ↓
Class record and registration rules
        ↓
Dated schedules, room, instructors, and capacity
        ↓
Billing Schedule price or assigned Sales Item
        ↓
Online Client visibility and eligibility test
        ↓
Cart, checkout, confirmation, class, purchase, and finance verification
        ↓
Open enrollment

Warning: A saved class, an Open registration setting, or an Open Enrollment season does not independently make the offering safe and ready. Build it in a hidden or controlled state, then use a fictional client to verify every downstream result before launch.

#Before you begin

Prepare these decisions outside the software:

class name and internal code;
season and enrollment dates;
meeting dates, days, times, time zone, and exceptions;
location, room, instructor, and substitute plan;
class and schedule capacity;
age, category, prerequisite, invitation, or other eligibility rules;
full enrollment, drop-in, waitlist, and cancellation policy;
Billing Schedule versus Sales Item pricing;
fees, discounts, tax, payment plans, agreements, and refund policy; and
who will perform the staff and Online Client acceptance tests.

Create neutral fictional accounts for an eligible client and an intentionally ineligible client. Use processor test mode or an approved no-payment path. Do not test a production charge or trigger a real client notification merely to verify the interface.

#1. Prepare the supporting settings

Open Settings > Categories and review the class's genre, level, program, location, member category, billing schedule, payment method, and other categories used by your studio.
Open Settings > Rooms and confirm the intended room and any room-booking settings.
Review the instructor's staff record, access, and scheduling information.
Review relevant Global Settings and Online Client Settings for class display, registration, waitlist, family/student handling, cart, and payment behavior.
Confirm the payment processor only if the acceptance test can use its test environment.

Categories are not merely labels. They can become client filters, eligibility rules, prices, reporting groups, message audiences, video access rules, or time-clock and payroll inputs. Use existing categories consistently rather than creating near-duplicates.

#2. Create a closed working season

Open Settings > Seasons.
Create or edit the intended season.
Enter the correct start, end, and enrollment dates.
Use Set Course as the working status while building the offering.
Keep Visible for Client off until controlled testing is ready.
Review waitlist, registration-block, member-category enrollment-date, and registration-fee settings.
Save and confirm the season in the list.

Season status, client visibility, registration blocking, enrollment dates, and class settings are separate controls. Record the intended combination in the launch checklist.

Important: Season-level registration fees, class registration fees, and global student-registration fees can be separate line items. Do not infer the final fee from one settings page. Verify the actual cart and checkout total.

#3. Create the class record

Open Group Classes and select Add New.
Enter a clear Name and unique Code.
Select the intended genre, level, program, location, instructors, and other required categories.
Choose the default room when appropriate. A schedule can use another room later.
Under Registration Rules, configure Online Client Registration, capacity, waitlist, unpaid registration, drop-in, invitation, age, category, prerequisite, and cancellation options that apply.
Enter the intended class registration fee, if any.
Choose Billing Schedule or Sales Items under Payment.
For Billing Schedule pricing, add the required schedule-and-price rows.
Save the class.

Saving creates the class record but does not create meeting dates, enroll students, assign a Sales Item, or process tuition.

#Choose the pricing model deliberately

Model	Use it when	Required follow-up
Billing Schedule	Tuition is priced directly on the class using the studio's billing schedules.	Confirm every price row and preview the class in the tuition workflow before a live run.
Sales Items	Registration uses an item or package with its own restrictions, included uses, activation, expiration, payment plan, or contract.	Assign the intended item after saving, then verify all item rules and checkout behavior.

Do not mix the models accidentally. A Sales Items class without an assigned item is incomplete, while a Billing Schedule class without a valid price row cannot produce the intended tuition result.

#4. Add and verify schedules

Open the class's Schedules tab.
Select Add Schedules.
Select the working season.
Choose a single date or recurring date range.
Enter the start and end times for every meeting day.
Confirm the room, instructors, and schedule-level Max in Class when used.
Keep Add active class students to new schedules off for a brand-new class with no enrollments.
Save, then review the generated rows.

Compare the schedule list with the plan:

first and last occurrence;
skipped dates and closures;
day, time, and time zone;
room and location;
assigned instructors;
season;
schedule capacity; and
duplicate or missing occurrences.

The duplicate check for a schedule is not a complete conflict detector. Review instructor, room, student, and other-class conflicts separately.

#5. Finish pricing and attached requirements

#For a Sales Items class

Open the class's Sales Items tab.
Move the intended item from Available Sales Items to Assigned Sales Items.
Select Save changes.
Open the item and review its type, registration behavior, price, sale dates, activation, expiration, quantity, package contents, client/student restrictions, discounts, payment plan, auto-renewal, and contract.
Confirm that the item is active but not exposed earlier than intended.

Assigning an item to a class does not override the item's own availability or eligibility rules.

#For a Billing Schedule class

Reopen the class details and confirm every billing schedule and price.
Review tuition eligibility, frequency, discounts, fees, tax, and season.
Run a tuition preview using only the fictional fixture when it is part of the launch test.
Do not run production tuition as a class-setup check.

#Agreements and questions

Review any class waiver, sales-item contract, checkout agreement, required initials or signature, poll, or registration question. Confirm:

the intended person signs or answers;
the requirement appears at the expected step;
the page or agreement version is correct;
the client can return to the interrupted workflow; and
staff can find the resulting response or signed record.

#6. Perform the controlled Online Client test

Turn on only the visibility needed for the test, or use a controlled preview method available to the studio.

Test first as the eligible fictional client:

Find the class in the class-registration calendar/list and Browse Classes when those views are enabled.
Confirm the season, class, location, room, instructor, dates, times, eligibility text, capacity, and action.
Select Book Now, Enroll, or the appropriate action.
Choose the intended student.
Review every purchase option: Billing Schedule, Sales Item, Package, Payment Plan, or existing credit.
Confirm included dates or uses, first payment, later payments, fees, agreements, and restrictions.
Review the cart and checkout summary.
Stop before submission unless the test transaction and cleanup are approved.

Then test as the intentionally ineligible fictional client. Confirm that the class is hidden or the action is unavailable for the intended, understandable reason. Test the full-capacity and waitlist branch separately when the studio plans to use it.

Important: Staff impersonation can display an impersonation banner and can differ from a normal client session. Use a clean client login for publication screenshots and final acceptance testing.

#7. Verify one approved end-to-end result

When the studio has approved a controlled checkout or no-payment enrollment:

Submit the final action once.
Read the order status and save the Order #.
Confirm the student and exact schedule in My Classes or the client schedule.
Review the class's admin Students roster and schedule assignments.
For Sales Item pricing, review Purchases and the assigned package or item usage.
Review Finance > Ledger for charges, payments, credit, fees, and balance.
Review scheduled or recurring payments when the option created future instructions.
Confirm the required signed document, question response, and notification record when applicable.

An on-screen success message does not replace these checks. The offering is ready only when the client-visible result and the supporting admin and finance records agree.

#8. Open enrollment

After the acceptance test passes:

Correct and retest every issue found.
Remove temporary fixtures that should not remain, following the approved cleanup plan.
Review the season one final time.
Turn on Visible for Client.
Change the season to Open Enrollment at the intended time.
Confirm the class's Online Client registration setting and active state.
Confirm the Sales Item's sale window and visibility, if used.
Recheck the signed-out and signed-in eligible-client views.
Record who approved the launch and when it was checked.

#Launch checklist

Supporting categories, room, and instructor are correct.
Season dates, enrollment dates, status, visibility, waitlist, and fees are correct.
Class code, categories, registration rules, class fee, and capacity are correct.
Every schedule has the correct room, instructor, time, and capacity.
Billing Schedule price or assigned Sales Item is complete.
Eligibility and ineligibility behave as intended.
Agreements, questions, and required signatures appear correctly.
Cart and checkout show only the intended items, fees, discounts, tax, and future payments.
One approved result was verified in the class, roster, purchase, ledger, and future-payment records.
Screenshots and help links use clean synthetic data.
Launch owner and approval time are recorded.

#Troubleshooting

#The class is in Group Classes but not the Online Client

Check for future schedules, season visibility and status, enrollment dates, registration blocking, class active state, Online Client Registration, Sales Item availability, and viewer eligibility. A saved class without schedules is not a complete client offering.

#The class appears, but no registration action is available

Check schedule capacity and status, class registration mode, waitlist settings, age/category/prerequisite rules, existing enrollment, season timing, and whether a compatible pricing option exists.

#No purchase option appears

For Billing Schedule pricing, confirm the schedule/price row. For Sales Items, confirm the item is assigned, active, visible, inside its sale window, compatible with the student and schedule, and not exhausted by a purchase limit.

#The checkout total is wrong

Review the base price or Sales Item, class fee, season/student registration fee, coupon, multi-class discount, tax, processing or convenience fee, credit, gift card, and payment plan. Change one source at a time, rebuild the fictional cart, and compare again.

#The eligible test works, but the ineligible test can also register

Stop the launch. Recheck which rule is enforced at class discovery, student selection, purchase-option selection, and final submission. A label or disabled client-side action is not enough; the server must reject an ineligible submission.

#A test checkout produced an unclear result

Do not submit again. Check the order, roster, schedules, Purchases, Finance, scheduled and recurring payments, provider result, and any signed record. Reconcile the first attempt before another test.

#A copied class or season contains unexpected settings

Treat every clone as a new draft. Class clones omit schedules and Sales Item assignments but preserve several sensitive registration and pricing fields. Season clones have their own schedule-copy choices. Review every field and downstream record before exposing the copy.