Set up children's classes, check families in at a welcome desk or a self-service kiosk, print name tags and release children safely with pickup codes.
Check-in records who came to an event and keeps children safe: each child is placed in the right class, gets a name tag, and is only released to someone with the matching pickup code. You can run it from a volunteer station, from a self-service kiosk, or both at once.
Any event with Check people in turned on can be checked in to. That's the default for new events (see Events and the calendar). Go to Check-in to see today's events, with Start check-in and Kiosk mode buttons, and what's coming up this week.
Set up classes and rooms
Classes tell Phyle where each child goes. Check-in works without them, but with classes Phyle places children by age and prints their room on the name tag. Staff and admins set them up.
- Go to Check-in › Classes & rooms and click Add a class.
- Enter a Class name, such as Nursery or Elementary, and a Room if you'd like it printed on name tags.
- Under Who belongs in this class?, set the Youngest age and Oldest age in years and months. Leave one blank for no limit, or both for all ages. A nursery for babies up to their second birthday is 0 years to 2 years.
- Add a Capacity if you'd like the roster to warn you when the class is over.
- Save.
Order matters: each child is offered the first class on the list that fits their age. Use the arrows beside each class to move it up or down. To stop offering a class without losing past rosters, click Deactivate.
Children are placed by age, so birthdates matter. A person counts as a child if they're under 18 or listed as a child in their household. Adults check in with no class.
Check-in options
The Check-in options card on the same page has three settings:
- Print name tags at check-in opens the labels as soon as a volunteer checks a child in.
- Print at the kiosk too prints at a kiosk that has its own label printer.
- Kiosk PIN is a 4 to 8 digit code needed to leave a kiosk. Leave it blank for no PIN, though setting one is wise.
Check in at the station
The station is the welcome-desk screen for volunteers. Anyone on your team who can sign in to Phyle can run it.
- Go to Check-in and click Start check-in beside the event.
- Type a last name or the last four digits of a phone number. The whole household comes up together.
- Tap the family, then tap everyone who is checking in. Phyle picks each child's class by age. You can change it in the Class menu.
- Click Check in. The confirmation shows the family's Pickup code.
- Click Print labels if they didn't print on their own, then Next family.
New family? Click Add a guest family. Enter a parent's name and Mobile phone (so they can check in by phone next time), then each child's name, Birthdate and any Allergies. If the phone number is already on file, Phyle offers the existing family instead so you don't create a duplicate. The office can fill in the rest later.
Made a mistake? Use Undo beside a name, or the undo button under Just checked in.
Set up a self-service kiosk
A kiosk is a tablet or computer where families check themselves in. It doesn't use anyone's login. Instead, the device is set up once as a kiosk and remembers it. It can only show the check-in screens, so nobody can reach your people records from it.
To set one up:
- On the device families will use, sign in to Phyle as anyone on your team.
- Go to Check-in and click Kiosk mode beside the event. (It's also on the station screen on larger screens.)
- Confirm Open the kiosk. You're signed out on that device straight away, and the kiosk opens for that event.
That's it. The device stays a kiosk until you turn it off, even if it restarts or sits unused for weeks. You don't need a separate kiosk account or password.
What families see
Families tap Tap to check in, enter the last four digits of their phone number (or tap Search by name instead), choose their family, tap who's here, and check in. Phyle picks each child's class by age. The kiosk only ever shows first names and class names. It never shows allergies, medical notes or pickup restrictions.
Families who aren't found are asked to see a volunteer at the welcome desk. New families are added at the station.
Switching events and turning a kiosk off
Tap the lock in the bottom corner of the kiosk and enter the kiosk PIN, if you've set one. The kiosk menu lists events with check-in turned on for this week, so you can switch to the next service. The menu closes again after five minutes.
To use the device for anything else, open the kiosk menu and click Turn off this kiosk. Anyone on the team can then sign in on it as usual.
Staff and admins can also turn kiosks off from afar. Check-in › Classes & rooms lists every kiosk under Kiosks, with when it was last used. Click Turn off if a device is lost or retired.
Name tags and pickup codes
When a family checks in, everyone checked in together gets the same short pickup code, such as K7QF. It's printed on:
- each child's name tag, with their name, class, room and any allergy;
- one pickup receipt for the parent, listing each child and their class.
Labels are sized for 4 in × 2.4 in label stock and print in black only, which suits thermal label printers. On plain paper, each label prints at the top of its own sheet. A First visit flag appears on tags for people checking in for the first time.
At the kiosk, the pickup code shows on screen when it's new. If the kiosk has no printer, families are asked to take a photo of it. A code a family was given earlier is never shown again on the kiosk.
Pickup codes are kept off the roster on purpose, so nobody can read one off a screen. The parent's receipt is the proof.
The roster and checkout
Click View roster on Check-in, or Roster on the station, to see everyone checked in, grouped by class. You'll see totals for Checked in, Here now and First visits, each class's count against its capacity, and a Headcount box for everyone in the room. Switch between Everyone and Still here, or click Print for a paper copy.
To release a child, click Check out beside their name and type the code from the parent's receipt. If brothers and sisters share the code, you can check them all out at once. Adults, and anyone checked in without a code, check out with one click. Use Undo if you check someone out by mistake.
Pickup restrictions, allergies and medical notes
These notes are entered in the Children and care section when you edit a person, or on their household:
- Pickup restrictions are for custody orders or anyone who must not pick a child up. A child's own note and their household's both apply. Volunteers see them as a red warning at check-in, on the roster and when checking out. They never appear on the kiosk or on name tags.
- Allergies show at the station, on the roster and on the child's name tag.
- Medical or care notes show on the roster (on screen and printed), but not on name tags. The check-in station marks anyone who has one with Medical note on file, without the details, and links to the roster.
Allergies and medical notes are stored encrypted. Volunteers see them only during check-in. Elsewhere in Phyle, only staff and admins can view or change them. Volunteers see a note asking them to contact the church office instead. See Roles and permissions for more on who can see what.
Next guide Serving: teams, scheduling and services