Parent Portal Settings

Parent Portal Settings are divided into several sections. They allow you to customize the information your families can access and the functions you will allow them to perform. 

Go to the Gear icon > Settings > Parent Portal and follow the instructions in this article to help you set up your Parent Portal. Note: Changes made on the Parent Portal Settings page are saved automatically.

Be confident that your Parent Portal is set up exactly the way you want using Preview Parent Portal.


Display Settings

Click Go to the Parent Portal quick link to access the portal login page. Be sure Activate Portal checkbox is checked, this activates the Parent Portal access and will automatically add a link Already a customer? Click here to login to the top of your Online Registration form too!

These settings control what your families will be able to see when they are logged into their Portals.

Transactions

Controls what is displayed on the Billing & Payments page. When selected, recent account activity is displayed and the parent has an option to generate a transaction history which they can sort or filter.

Students

Controls whether the Students section is available under Account. When selected, the parent is able to see a 'card' for each student with summary information and a photo of the student if it has been added to your database. They will be able to click the card(s) to view more detailed information about the student(s). In addition, students can be added to the Students section.

Classes

Controls My Schedule on the Dashboard and Enrollment on the Student page. When selected, My Schedule will display on the Dashboard and an Enrollment option will be available on the Student page. Both will display information about the class(es) the student(s) are currently enrolled in and any waitlist classes.

Enroll

When enabled, the Enroll menu option will allow the parent to search for classes by going to Classes & Events > Find Classes button. If you opt to not allow student enrollment in the Portal the parent will be able to view the class information and will see a message that prompts them to contact you directly to enroll in classes.

Event Registration

Controls the ability to enroll in an Event. When selected, the Classes menu option becomes Classes & Events, and Find Events option is available. Parents are able to view and enroll either their students or the family, in an Event.

Communication Settings

These settings control your email communications and Login Message and allow the Parent Portal video to display on the login page.

"Reply to" and "Send Alert" to Email Address(es)

Provide the email address where you want to receive notifications, enrollments, payments, etc. This will also show as the "from" address when customers receive their email notifications.

If you prefer the portal emails be sent to the Location email instead, use the Gear (icon) > Settings > Online Registration > Settings > Email Confirmation Settings and set Use location email address if available to Yes.

Send email alert to your organization for

Select which Parent Portal activities you would like to receive an email alert for - Updates to Policies, Updates to Payment Method, and/or Student Enrollments.

Send email alert to parent for

Select the checkbox to send an email to the parent's email address on file when a student is enrolled in a class. 

Optionally:

  • Show Class Dates in Email Confirmation
    When set to Yes, the Class Start and End dates will be included in the email. Set this to No if you use perpetual classes.

  • Show Category 1 in Email Confirmation
    This setting defaults to No. If you would like to include the Category 1 value of the class in the email confirmation, set this to Yes. 
Login Page Message

Text entered here (500 characters max) is displayed in a window that is seen by all Portal users. It appears on the Parent Portal login page before the parent is able to log in.  This is a great place to add a welcome message or to add information that you want to broadcast to everyone. This text box supports HTML.

Show link to Portal video on Login Page

When selected,  a Watch Video link will be available for your parents to watch a quick (3:03) instructional video on the Parent Portal.

Refer to Introduce Your Parent Portal/Instructional Video for more information.

Portal Video Message

This text field is only available when the Show link to Portal video on Login Page is selected. Text (up to 500 characters) entered here will appear before the Watch Video link and can be used to bring attention to what the video offers.

Family Information Settings

This section determines what you will allow your parents to DO inside their Parent Portal.  

Update Contact and Student Information

Controls the ability to update phone numbers, email, addresses, etc.

Update ePayment Schedule

Allows the parent to update the family's ePayment Schedule (located on the Billing Info tab of the family record).

Update Membership Type

Allows the parent to update the family's Membership Type (located on the Billing Info tab of the family record).

Hide School/Grade fields

Option to hide these fields in the student information.
Gender

Controls the options for student Gender selection. Select Hidden and the Gender option will not be displayed in the Parent Portal.

Note: The gender option setting will not be shown if the Organization Default > Student Settings for Hide Gender is set to Yes.

Add Students

Allows the parent to add new student information in the portal.

Show Student Skills

If you track skills in Jackrabbit, allow your parents to see the skills and instructor notes on each Student's page.

Show Student Absences/Attendance

Controls whether or not the Absence or Attendance tab is available in the student record in the portal.

Show Attendance Issues

Attendance Issues are when a student has been marked Present and additional details have been added (Late, Left Early, Observing). You can choose to show this information to parents in the Parent Portal or hide it.

Family and Student User Defined Fields

Define which of your custom User Defined Fields are able to be seen and edited in the portal. User Defined Fields are customized from Gear (icon) > Settings > General > User Defined Fields and can be used on the Online Registration Form as well as shown inside the Portal. The responses entered in the Parent Portal are shown on the Misc tab of the Family and Student records.

To run a report of all recent changes to these fields that were made in the Parent Portal, go to Reports (menu) > Find Reports > Families/Students (left menu)  > Recommended (tab) Parent/Customer Portal Log. Enter a date range and filter for User Defined Field Changes

Fees & Payments Settings

These options control which transaction details are displayed for a transaction in the transaction history in the Billing & Payments section of the Parent Portal.

My Classes Settings

These settings control what information is displayed in the class 'cards' seen in My Schedule (Dashboard) and when you view the student under Enrollment. If a student is on a waitlist for a class, the class will be shown below the enrolled Classes.

Show Instructors
(Displays Public Nicknames)

To have instructors displayed in the class 'cards' in the Parent Portal, set this to Yes. If a staff person has a nickname defined in their Staff record, it will display. When set to No, no information about the instructor will display.

Show Substitutes
(Displays Public Nicknames)

To have substitutes displayed in the class 'cards' in the Parent Portal, set this to Yes. If a staff person has a nickname defined in their Staff record, it will display. Select the Upcoming Substitutes link to view details. When set to No, no information about the substitute will display.

Show Student Start Date

Typically this is the student's enroll date. However, if the class hasn't started, the class start date will be shown instead of the student's enroll date.

Show Student Drop Date

If a Future Drop has been scheduled for a student you can choose to display it.

Show Class Start and End Dates

The date that a class starts and finishes, as defined on the Summary tab of the Class record, will display if this is selected.

Show Category 1 ValueWhen set to Yes, the Category 1 value on the class will be displayed in the Parent Portal on all schedule pages.

Class Enrollment Settings

Enroll Students

Select to allow parents to enroll students in classes and events in the Portal.

Hide Instructor Filter 

Allows you to hide the option to filter classes by an instructor in the Find Classes class listings filter drop-down.

Allow enrollment at any location

Select if you have multiple Loc (location) codes and will allow families from one location to enroll in classes and events in a different location.

Prevent Inactive Families from enrolling 

Select to prevent inactive families (no actively enrolled students) from enrolling in classes.

Prevent Problem Families from enrolling in Classes and Events

When selected, this setting will prevent families flagged as a Problem Account from enrolling in classes and events.

Require policy agreement for each enrollment

Select this checkbox if you want families to reagree to your policies EACH TIME they enroll a student.

Class Enrollment Openings
(includes makeups)

Show the number of openings in the class or hide the count from the class listings. Any makeups scheduled in the class are factored into the openings.

Openings for classes that are nearly full (5 open spots or less) are highlighted in orange. If you will be using online Waitlisting, we recommend that you do not hide the Openings column.

Enrollment Comment Label

Use this text field to ask a custom question during enrollment. The answer will appear in the email notification you receive. It will also be archived in the Portal enrollment. Define whether this is required or not.

Inactive Family Enrollment Message

ONLY use this when you have also selected the 'Prevent Inactive Families from enrolling' above. Text (500 characters max) entered here will display to an inactive family if they attempt to enroll.  This message should indicate why are you currently blocking Inactive families from enrolling.

On the right are settings that control the listing of classes in the Parent Portal.

Control the parents' ability to filter the listing of classes and narrow down their search by hiding or showing the Category filters and the Day filter.  The actual columns will still be shown, this only takes away the filtering ability. Select a checkbox to hide a filter and parents will not be able to narrow down the class listings using that filter. 

Choose whether or not to show the Class Start Date, Instructor Nickname, and/or Category 1 Value in the listing of classes.

Tips regarding filters

  • You can change the Category labels to words that are more descriptive to your parents.  For example, you can rename Category 1 to "Program" or "Type". Go to the Gear (icon) > Settings > Online Registration and scroll down to the Class Search Settings > Class Search/Filter Settings section.  (This affects both the Portal and Registration Form display).

  • You can eliminate certain Categories from the drop-down selection list.  For example, you may have a Category 1 called "Costume Fees" that you use for revenue reporting only and don't want your parents to see this in the Portal. To prevent non-applicable Categories from being listed as a choice in the drop-down filter list, go to the Gear (icon) > Settings > General > Drop-down Lists (left menu) > Category 1 (or 2 or 3), and check the Hide from customers checkbox by any Category that you do not want to appear as a filter selection (this affects both the Portal and Registration Form display).

  • The gender filter will not be shown if the Organization Default > Student Settings for Hide Gender is set to Yes.

Accepting Donations

Jackrabbit offers the ability to collect charitable donations from your families in the parent portal and allows you to set the donation amounts. 

See our Help Center article Accept Charitable Donations in Jackrabbit for setup instructions and more details.

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