Child check-in - configuration guide

Introduction to the check-in system

The Check-In system is designed to help register and check children into groups quickly and securely, and then just as easily check them out again at the end of the session; recording session attendance and helping leaders manage their session and ensuring that each child is returned to the correct responsible adult. The Check-In system is one of the Connect applications designed for use at in-person events and gatherings and weekend services.

The Check-In system checks in your regular children, serving team members and visiting families. It can be used at a central registration point in staffed and unstaffed configurations and by leaders running "in the room" check-in/out on a portable device. The Check-In system auto-adds a group attendance record for each child. When used with a compatible Brother label printer, you can print child name badges, parent pick-up badges, room badges and team badges, or disable badge printing for a group or gathering e.g. a mid-week youth gathering where badges aren't required but an attendance record is still needed.

The system is incredibly versatile, allowing churches to effectively manage adult-to-child ratios and any restrictions you may have around each group's capacity (preventing further check-ins once capacity is reached). Importantly, it's easy to use - your leaders, parents/carers and visiting families will love it!

Configuring the Brother label printer - Mac

While ChurchSuite can print address labels on a wide variety of sheet label stationery, the Child Check-In system requires a specific printer that uses continuous label stationery - the Brother QL-700, QL-800, QL-810W or QL-820NWB.

Step 1 of 4 - Install the Brother printer driver

Download and install the printer driver files from Brother's website. If you are using macOS version 11 or newer no printer driver installation is required, however, the printer will need to be connected to the Mac using USB and powered on.

Step 2 of 4 - Add the browser printing custom paper size

Open Google Chrome to a new page and press Option+Cmd+P to open the print pop-up. From the drop-down Paper Size list select Manage Custom Sizes...

On the pop-up click the " +" button to Add a custom paper size to the list. Rename the item by double-clicking it and overtyping the default name. Press <Enter> to apply the item name change.

For Small labels enter Width 62mm and Height 29mm. For Large labels enter Width 62mm and Height 100mm. All other settings are left as default. Click OK to close the pop-up and Cancel to dismiss the print pop-up.

Step 3 of 4 - Add the printer and set the default printer and paper size

From the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen select System Settings.

Select Printers & Scanners (located at the bottom of the list of settings on the left) or use the setting 'search' to locate the Printers & Scanners setting. Click Add Printer.

With the printer connected and powered on, select the Brother printer from the list and click Add.

Finally, set the Default printer and Default paper size. Close the pop-up when completed.

Step 4 of 4 - Select the matching label size in ChurchSuite

In ChurchSuite, head into the Children module's settings via the cogwheels icon in the top-right corner. Click into the Check-In Options tab and Edit the Session Defaults to select the corresponding Check-In Badge Size to match the default paper size selected in Step 3. Save changes before navigating away from the module settings.

The Brother printer is now ready to be used with the Child Check-In system. See the related support article for further information on Child Check-In Operation.

Note: Since Mac devices, Google Chrome for Mac (and other browsers for Mac) do not support a browser 'kiosk' mode with silent printing, users will need to click the Print button each time when badges are previewed during the child check-in process. The print preview is displayed for around 10 seconds before auto-closing and cycling the system ready to check in the next child. Customers wishing to avoid needing to click Print each time should consider using a Windows check-in device running Google Chrome, which does support a silent printing user experience.

Configuring your Brother label printer - Windows

While ChurchSuite can print address labels on a wide variety of sheet label stationery, the Child Check-In system requires a specific printer that uses continuous label stationery - the Brother QL-700, QL-800, QL-810W or QL-820NWB.

Step 1 of 3 - Install the Brother printer driver

Download and install the printer driver files for the appropriate version of Windows OS from Brother's website. Then, with the printer connected to the Windows PC using USB and powered on, the printer should be automatically added to the list of printers on your device.

Step 2 of 3 - Configure the printing settings for the Brother printer

Click on the Windows Start menu and select Settings.

Click on the Devices section.

Click into the Printers & scanners section - you should see your printer already listed; otherwise, with the printer connected using USB and powered on, click Add a printer. Once listed click on the Brother printer, followed by Manage.

Click Set as default. Then click on Printing preferences.

On the pop-up, click on the Other tab. Set the Unit as mm. Click Apply.

Click on the Basic tab. In the Paper Size section, select the Small Address Label size (for small labels 62mm x 29mm) or the Large Address Label size (for large labels 100mm x 62mm).

Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Step 3 of 3 - Select the matching label size in ChurchSuite

In ChurchSuite, head into the Children module's settings via the cogwheels icon in the top-right corner. Click into the Check-In Options tab and Edit the Session Defaults to select the corresponding Check-In Badge Size to match the default paper size selected in Step 2. Save changes before navigating away from the module settings.

The Brother printer is now ready to be used with the Child Check-In system. See the related support article for further information on Child Check-In Operation. Continue reading this article

Configuring the Check-In settings

Head into the Children module's settings via the cogwheels icon in the top-right corner of the page - you'll need at least 'Manage module' permissions to make changes. Click on the Check-In Options tab. This tab has all the settings related to the Child Check-In system. Click to Edit the Session Defaults.

On the Session Defaults pop-up, set the default settings to be suggested when a Connect user starts a new check-in session. The user can override these defaults when they start their session. The Check-In Badge Size must match the printing preference set for the printer, as explained in the previous sections for Mac and Windows.

Continue through the settings. Next, click Edit to add an optional Welcome Message displayed on the Child Check-In home screen to greet parents/carers - this might, for example, include simple instructions for parents/carers/visitors.

Choose the preferred child Search Fields. Parents/carers can search for a child by first name, last name, or the full or last 4 digits from a telephone or mobile/cell number, or by scanning the family's barcode. For those running unstaffed Child Check-In kiosks, you may prefer to further safeguard children's identities by restricting the check-in search fields, perhaps disabling name searches. By disabling name search, parents/carers are prevented from random name searches like "John", which would otherwise display a list of all matching children with "John" in the child or linked parent/carer name field. However, for a staffed Child Check-In kiosk, or where large numbers of children are expected, having a broader range of search options will make it quicker and easier for leaders to locate and check in each child. Click Edit to make changes to search fields.

The following section relates to customising the Child Badge and Room Badge. Click Edit to make changes. A visual example of each badge is shown as you make changes so that you can see what a printed badge will look like. It is not possible to customise the Parent badge or Team badge.

The Visitors Settings determine which fields are shown when checking in a visiting child. You can also set which fields to Make required. Click Edit to make changes. For further information, see the related support article on Managing the details of child check-in visitors.

Note: Visitors are not automatically added to the Children module, but a separate log of their attendance is maintained in the Visitors section of the module. Visitors are deleted automatically if they have not checked in for a certain period. Using the Delete visitors after setting (see above) you can set the retention period for visitor details before being deleted if they have not checked in for this period.

Add an optional Success Message to be shown after a parent/carer successfully checks in their child while the badges are printed. For example, you could display instructions on how parents/carers/visitors should collect their children at the end of the session. Click Edit to make changes.

The final Check-In Options relate to the Check-in Admin Area. This is typically accessed by leaders or the person responsible for the check-in session. The Admin Area is where leaders can overview an active Check-In session, to see which children are registered and/or checked in. It's also the place where they can view parent/carer emergency contact details, important medical notes, additional needs, custom fields, photo/video consents for children, and much more - all without needing access to the Children module. The Admin Area is also the place your leaders will go to check out children at the end of the Session. See the related support article for further information about the Admin Area.

By setting an Admin PIN you can restrict access to the Admin Area to just those who know the PIN, making it known to those leaders who need to know. Once set, the PIN will be required to access the Admin Area and unlock child search restrictions (see earlier).

Configuring browser 'kiosk' mode

Kiosk mode enables the Child Check-In system to operate in a more secure, full-screen mode, to prevent unauthorised access to other areas of the check-in device. Silent printing is the term used to describe the skipping of printer pop-ups and dialogue boxes when the 'print' button is pressed. To print badges without parent/carer/user interruption or intervention we recommend setting your Check-In device to operate in 'kiosk' mode with 'silent printing' enabled. This is most easily achieved using Google Chrome on a Windows device, which readily supports both features. 'Workarounds' and third-party browser extensions may be possible for other browsers and Mac devices.

Using Windows Explorer locate the Chrome application on your device. Right-click on Google Chrome and select Copy.

Clicking onto your desktop, right-click and select Paste shortcut. This will become the shortcut link that you will use for launching Child Check-In in the future. Right-click on the newly created shortcut and select Properties.

Click on the Shortcut tab.

In the Target field, position your cursor at the end of the field's content and replace the part that says \chrome.exe" with the following: \chrome.exe" --kiosk --kiosk-printing https://account.churchsuite.com/connect" where account refers to the first part of the URL of your ChurchSuite account. For example, if you access ChurchSuite using the URL kingshope.churchsuite.com, your account would be kingshope.

Note all the spaces in the above Target link - they're important! Click OK to save the properties for your shortcut. Next, ensure Google Chrome is not already running on your computer (use Task Manager to close all running instances of Chrome.exe, especially in Windows 10 where Chrome services continue to run even after closing the browser). You can now open a new instance of Google Chrome in Kiosk mode using the new shortcut link on your desktop.