Check-In Settings

The Check-In Settings page lets you configure your label templates, printer setup, and printing options. Open it from the Check-In Station: click the gear (Settings) icon in the page header.

Settings Tabs

The settings page is organized into three tabs:

1. Label Designer -- Manage your label templates (covered in the Label Templates article).
2. Printer Setup -- Choose your label size and configure what gets printed.
3. Options -- General check-in behavior settings. This tab holds the Check-in Notifications section, where you turn on parent check-in / check-out notices and choose when they are sent (see Check-In Notifications (Options Tab) below). Other general options, such as session auto-close times, are planned for this tab.

Printer Setup

Selecting a Label Size

Choose the label stock that matches your printer:

To select a preset:

1. Open the Printer Setup tab.
2. Click the label size that matches your label stock.
3. If using custom dimensions, enter the width, height, and select the unit (millimeters or inches).

Print Options

These four toggles control what gets printed on each check-in. All are on by default.

To save your changes, click Save Printer Settings at the bottom of the Printer Setup tab.

Check-In Notifications (Options Tab)

The Options tab includes a Check-in Notifications section that lets you send a child's parents a short message when the child is checked in, and again when they are checked out.

To turn notices on:

1. Open the Options tab (the third tab).
2. In the Check-in Notifications section, switch on "Notify parents on check-in and check-out."
3. In the "When to send a notice" dropdown that appears, choose when notices go out.
4. Click Save Notification Settings.

Notices go only to a child's legal guardians, delivered by Telegram if the guardian has linked it, otherwise by email. Each guardian can also opt out -- either an admin toggles it per guardian on the People > Family tab, or the guardian switches off Child check-in notices in their own portal profile.

Note: The admin screen states it plainly: "Off by default; each guardian can also opt out individually." The "When to send a notice" dropdown only appears while the master toggle is on. For the full workflow, recipients, delivery, and both opt-outs, see Parent Check-In / Check-Out Notifications.

Event-Specific Sessions

Check-in sessions can be linked to events from the Events module. When linked:

• The session name defaults to the event title.
• The session is shown with a calendar-style icon in the Active Sessions banner.
• Attendance data from check-in feeds into the event's reports.
• If you open Check-In with an event ID (for example, from an event detail page), a session for that event is automatically created or resumed.

Running Multiple Rooms for One Event (the event Check-In tab)

For a single event that has several check-in points at the same time -- for example a Nursery, Grade 1, and Grade 2 all meeting during one service -- use the event's own Check-In tab. This is the primary surface for multi-room check-in.

Open the event, then open its Check-In tab:

1. In the Check-in sessions box, type a room or class name in the name field. It is pre-filled with an incrementing default (Room 1, Room 2, Room 3, ...) so two rooms are never identical, but you should edit it to the real room name (Nursery, Grade 1, ...).
2. Click Start a session. Repeat once per room -- they all run at the same time under the same event; starting a new room does not end the others.

Each session appears on its own card showing its name, a Live or Ended badge, and its running totals (total, checked in, and head-count if used). Each card has its own controls:

• Rename -- edit the room/class name inline at any time.
• Open kiosk -- opens a self-serve kiosk for that specific room (shown only while the session is Live). An ended session never presents a live kiosk.
• End -- closes that room to new check-ins (people already checked in stay checked in).
• Resume -- re-activates an Ended session so you can keep checking people into that room.
• Delete -- permanently removes the session. This is a hard action: if the session has check-ins, deleting it also permanently deletes those check-ins and their attendance records, and cannot be undone. You are asked to confirm first.

Quick check-in and the room picker. The Check-In tab also has a Quick check-in search to check people in from the event page itself. When two or more rooms are Live at once, a "Checking into" room picker appears next to the search -- choose the room first so each person is checked into the correct room. When only one session is live, that session is used automatically.

Note: Sessions on this tab are scoped to today (in your church's time zone), so the tab always shows the rooms running right now. Start your rooms on the day of the event.

Running Concurrent Sessions

TimelyChurch supports multiple active sessions at the same time. This is useful when:

• A worship service and children's church happen simultaneously.
• An early service and a late service overlap.
• A midweek program has separate age-group sessions.
• A single event needs a separate check-in point per room or age group (Nursery, Grade 1, Grade 2), started from that event's Check-In tab (see above).

Each session maintains its own roster and stats. On the kiosk, if multiple sessions are active, families are asked to select which session they are checking into. To run several rooms under one event, use the event's Check-In tab described in Running Multiple Rooms for One Event above.

Tip: Link each session to its corresponding event for the cleanest attendance reporting.

Starting and Ending Sessions

Starting a Session

1. Click Start Session on the Check-In Station.
2. In the Link to Event/Class dropdown, choose an event (the dropdown lists upcoming events from the next 7 days). The field is marked with an asterisk, but it is functionally optional -- choose "No event - standalone session" to start a session without linking an event.
3. Optionally type a custom Session Name. Leave it blank to use the event title or a default name.
4. Click Start Session.

A session can also be started automatically when Check-In is opened from an event page.

Ending a Session

1. Find the session in the Active Sessions banner on the Check-In Station.
2. Click End next to the session.
3. The session is marked as inactive and given an end time.

Ending a session does not check out people who are still checked in. It simply closes the session to prevent new check-ins.

Headcount Mode

For services or areas where individual check-in is impractical (such as a large auditorium), use headcount:

1. On the kiosk, tap the Headcount button (in the stats bar).
2. Enter the number of people counted.
3. The headcount is saved and displayed alongside individual check-in counts in the live stats.

The total attendance for a session equals individual check-ins plus headcount.

Room Capacity and Live Occupancy

Each class/group can be linked to a Room, and each Room can have a capacity value. When both are set, TimelyChurch can report live occupancy per room.

Setting Room Capacity

1. In the sidebar, open Facilities > Rooms (Rooms requires the Rooms feature on your plan).
2. Open a room and enter a number in Capacity.
3. Make sure the room is marked Active.
4. Confirm that each class or group that uses the room has the room assigned in the group's Room Assignment setting.

Live Occupancy Data

• Live occupancy is calculated from each class's room capacity and the number of people currently checked in (with a separate volunteer count).
• Rooms are sorted by occupancy percentage so the fullest rooms show first.

See the Room Occupancy article for more on capacity handling, plus the "No Room" handling for children whose group has no room assigned.

Permissions and Plan Features

Two layers control who can use the Check-In module: your subscription plan and your church permissions.

Plan-Level Feature Gate

Check-In is a gated feature on TimelyChurch plans. If your plan does not include the Check-In feature, the entire module (including the kiosk, label designer, and reports) is hidden from the menu and shows a "feature not available" message if you try to reach it.

• Every part of Check-In (the station, kiosk, settings, and label designer) requires the Check-In feature on your plan.
• If you upgrade to a plan that includes Check-In, the module appears immediately -- no extra setup required.

To see what your current plan includes, go to Settings > Subscription or contact your TimelyChurch account manager.

Church-Level Permissions

For churches whose plan includes Check-In, access is further controlled by your in-app roles. Each role grants a set of actions on the Check-In module:

• View -- See the Check-In Station, sessions, and rosters.
• Use -- Operate check-in: start/end sessions, check people in and out, and update headcounts.
• Manage -- Full control over the Check-In module, including settings and label templates.
• Lockdown -- Activating or deactivating lockdown mode is restricted to users with administrator privileges, regardless of their Check-In role (see article 9).

Configure who has which role under Administration > Roles & Permissions (assign people to roles, and edit what each role can do).