Event Check-In and Attendance

TimelyChurch tracks who was at your events in three ways. The Check-In tab powers real-time arrival tracking with sessions, security codes, and a kiosk, and it's also the engine behind your class Students roster. The meeting Attendees tab is an invitation list: you invite people, they answer Yes, No, or Maybe, and you mark who came. Each event opens as the Event Hub, and these tools appear as tabs across the top of that page (Check-In, Students, or Attendees, depending on the event type).

Check-In

Check-In is designed for real-time tracking of people arriving at an event. It works through check-in sessions that you start and end as needed. An event can have several sessions running at the same time, one per room or class.

Enabling Check-In

Check-In is enabled by default for Worship Service, Class/Study, and Event types. For Meeting events, or to enable it manually on any event:

1. Open the event (the Event Hub).
2. Click the Add (or Add capability) button on the tab bar.
3. Toggle Check-In on under the People group.
4. The Check-In tab appears in the Event Hub's tab bar.

Starting a Check-In Session

1. Open the event and click the Check-In tab. The Check-in sessions card lists every session for this event ("No check-in sessions for this event yet. Start one session per room or class — they all run at the same time.").
2. Click Start a session. The Start Check-In Session window opens.
3. Enter the room or class name (it suggests "Room 1", "Room 2", and so on) and click Start Session.
4. The session appears in the list marked Live, with a count of how many people have checked in.

Repeat for each room or class that checks people in separately. If other sessions are already running, the window tells you how many, and the new one runs alongside them.

Managing Sessions

Each session in the Check-in sessions list has its own buttons:

• Rename: change the session name.
• Open kiosk: open the self-service kiosk for this session (live sessions only).
• Roster: see the session's full check-in list.
• End: close a live session. Ended sessions are marked Ended.
• Resume: reopen an ended session to keep checking people in.
• Export CSV: download the session's check-in list as a CSV file.
• Delete session: remove the session.

Checking People In

Once a session is live, you can check people in using the Quick check-in search:

1. If more than one session is live, pick the right one in Checking into.
2. Type a person's name or phone number in the search box (minimum 2 characters).
3. Matching people from your church's database appear in the results.
4. Click the Check in button next to a person's name.
5. A confirmation message appears with the person's name and a security code.

Tip: The security code is useful for children's ministry check-in, where parents receive a code that must match at pickup time.

Security Codes and the Pickup Workflow

Every check-in record generates a unique security code that ties the child to the adult who dropped them off. The standard children's ministry pattern is:

1. Parent or guardian checks the child in. The system assigns a security code (visible in the kiosk confirmation, on the parent label, and on the child label).
2. A label with the security code is printed for the child's nametag and a matching label is given to the parent.
3. At the end of the session, the parent presents their copy. A volunteer compares it to the child's label and only releases the child when the codes match.

This prevents a child from being released to the wrong adult and creates an audit trail tied to the check-in record.

Printable Check-In Labels

TimelyChurch supports designing custom printable label layouts through label templates. A label template defines the physical label dimensions (width, height, unit, orientation) and the data elements that print on it.

Built-in template types:

• Child: for children's nametags during ministry events.
• Parent: for the matching pickup receipt the parent keeps.
• Volunteer: for staff and volunteer badges.
• Custom: for any other label use case (visitor, name tag, etc.).

Available label fields include person details (first name, last name, full name, nickname, age, birthdate, grade), check-in details (security code, check-in time, class/group name, room name, session name), medical alerts (allergies, special notes, medical notes), church branding (church name, church logo), and static elements (custom text, custom image, horizontal line, QR code, security shield icon).

Templates can be marked as default (auto-selected for their type), active, or system (built-in, not deletable). Templates can be designed once and reused across all events that have check-in enabled.

Viewing Checked-In People

Below the search area, a Checked in section shows everyone checked in to the selected session, including:

• Their name and initials.
• When they checked in (e.g., "5 minutes ago").
• Their security code (if applicable).

Kiosk Mode

For self-service check-in, you can open a dedicated kiosk view:

1. While a session is live, click Open kiosk on that session.
2. A new browser tab opens with a full-screen kiosk interface.
3. Place this on a tablet or monitor at your welcome station.

The kiosk allows attendees or greeters to search and check in people without accessing the full admin interface.

Ending a Session

When the event is over or check-in is complete:

1. Click End on the session in the Check-in sessions list.
2. The session is marked Ended. You can Resume it later if people are still arriving.
3. All check-in records are preserved for reporting, and you can download them with Export CSV.

Check-In for Event Series

When check-in is enabled on a recurring event series, each occurrence can have its own check-in session. The session is linked to that specific event occurrence, so check-in counts are tracked per occurrence.

Class and Meeting Attendance

Two type-specific tabs in the Event Hub track attendance for smaller gatherings: the Students tab for class/study events (part of the Check-In system) and the Attendees tab for meetings (an invitation and RSVP list).

The Students Tab (Classes)

For Class/Study events, the Students tab appears in the Event Hub. It shows the class roster and lets you check students in during a session.

1. Open the event and click the Students tab.
2. You will see the list of students enrolled in the class (typically members of the hosting group).
3. The header shows how many are enrolled, and how many are present once a session is active.

When a check-in session is active, each student has a Check in button, and the header offers a Check in all button to mark the whole roster present at once. Students who are checked in show an In badge with the time and any security code, and can be checked out with the Check out button.

Note: The Students tab requires the event to be linked to a class (hosting group). If no group is linked, edit the event and select a hosting group to enable student tracking.

Adding a Student

To add someone to the class roster:

1. Click Add student from the Students tab.
2. Search for an existing person by name.
3. Click Add next to the person in the results. They are enrolled in the class roster.

People already enrolled show an Enrolled badge so you don't add them twice.

The Attendees Tab (Meetings)

For Meeting events (and any non-class event with attendance tracking on), the Attendees tab appears instead of Students. It works as an invitation list rather than a check-in session: you invite people, they answer, and afterwards you mark who actually came.

1. Open the event and click the Attendees tab.
2. The header shows how many are confirmed out of everyone invited, with counts for invited, confirmed, declined, and attended. People are grouped by team.

Each person shows one of these statuses:

A person who answers Maybe shows as Tentative.

Next to each person you'll see Can RSVP on Telegram (they have linked Telegram) or Not linked to Telegram.

Inviting People

• Invite a Team: choose a team or group in Choose a team or group and click Send invites. Its active members are all invited at once.
• Add attendee: search by name (at least 2 characters) and click Invite to add one person.

Everyone you invite is told automatically:

• Members who have linked Telegram get a Telegram message with Yes, No, and Maybe buttons, and one tap answers.
• Everyone else with an email address gets an email invitation with the same Yes, Maybe, and No buttons. They don't need to sign in, and they can change their answer later from the confirmation page.

Their answer updates the Attendees tab right away. Invited people are also included in the event's day-before reminder (see Event Reminders and Notifications).

Managing the List

• When people haven't answered yet, a bar shows how many are awaiting a response, with Confirm all to mark every invited person as confirmed.
• Mark attendance: turn this on to get a checkbox next to each person, tick who was there, and click Mark attended to set them all to Attended at once. Click Done when finished.
• Click Remove (the × next to a person) to take them off the invitation list.

Understanding the Difference

Check-In and Students run on the same check-in system; the Attendees tab is a separate invitation and RSVP list.

Tip: For large worship services, use the Check-In tab with the kiosk. For Sunday School classes, use the Students tab to build the roster and check students in. For meetings, use the Attendees tab to invite a team and track replies. You can enable Check-In on the same event that has a Students or Attendees tab.