Priority access and early enrollment
Priority access lets you open a season early to a chosen group of families before enrollment opens to everyone. During that window, the enrollment flow asks for an access code, and only families with a valid code can get through. It's how you give returning families first pick of sessions, or reward a specific group without opening the doors to the public.
How the priority window works
The window is set on the season, under Season > Settings. Two dates control it:
Priority opens - when the gated window starts. From this moment, families need a code to enroll
General opens - when enrollment opens to everyone. The code requirement lifts on this date
If you set a priority date and leave the general date empty, the window stays open indefinitely and every family will need a code. That's useful for an invitation-only season, though most camps set both dates.
Outside the window, nothing changes for families. Before the priority date, enrollment hasn't opened. After the general date, the gate is gone and any code you created stops being asked for.
Creating an access code
Head to Season > Settings and find the priority access section. Each code has:
Code - what families type in. Uppercase letters and numbers only
Description - an internal name so you can tell codes apart, like "Board members" or "Returning families"
Usage limit - the maximum number of times the code can be used. Leave it blank for unlimited
You can create as many codes as you need for one season. Running a separate code per audience is the easiest way to see where your early enrollments came from.
Restricting a code to returning families
A code can be open to anyone who has it, or limited to families who have been to camp before. Turn on Restrict to returning enrolled families and pick who it applies to:
Returning from last season - the family must have a completed enrollment in the season immediately before this one
Returning from any season - the family must have a completed enrollment in any earlier season
A restricted code checks the family, not the individual camper, so a family bringing a new sibling still qualifies. If you'd rather they enrolled only the campers you already have on file, turn on Restrict to existing campers only, which stops parents adding new campers during checkout.
When a family who doesn't qualify enters a restricted code, they're told the code isn't available to them rather than that it's wrong, so they aren't left guessing at typos.
Sharing a code
Each code has a QR code you can download from its row. It points at a short link that opens enrollment with the code already applied, which saves families typing it. Use it on printed material, in an email, or on a slide at the end of a season.
Broadcasts know about your codes too. When you add a button to an email or message, every available code appears in the link list as Priority access followed by its description. Picking one gives families a button that carries the code for them, so nobody has to copy it across by hand.
Those buttons are safe to write ahead of time. The link is offered whenever priority enrollment is turned on, and once the window closes it sends families to ordinary enrollment instead of a dead end.
For a plain link or a printed code, the code itself is all a family needs. They'll be asked for it on the first step of enrollment.
Tracking usage
Every code counts how many times it's been used, shown against its limit on the list. Once a code reaches its limit it stops working, and families who try it are told it's no longer available. Raise the limit at any time to reopen it.
A code is tied to the season it was created in. Codes don't carry over when you roll a season forward, so create fresh ones for each year.
Invitations skip the gate
Families you've invited directly don't need a code. An invitation carries its own access, so an invited family can complete enrollment during the priority window without one. That means you can run a priority window and a targeted invitation campaign side by side without giving your code to families you've already invited.