Setting Up Certificates

As a 'bolt-on' to the Development Programme feature, you can manage the payment and printing of certificates directly from the system. Below, we describe how it works and give a step-by-step guide on how to set things up.

How it works
As a person is marked off as having achieved a level (via the app or website), the system will copy them in to a group. At that point, the system can send an email to the person (or their parent) to say they have passed the level and they can login to their account and make payment.

As they pay, the administrator can generate and print the certificate, ready for collection. You can print the whole certificate or just fields like Name, Assessor, Date passed on to pre-printed certificates.

If you don't accept payment for certificates, that's fine, you just skip the steps relating to payment below (Step 2 and 3). 

Step 1 - Create groups 

As you record 'Level passed', the system will copy those that have passed in to a group for example, 'Badge 8 - Passed'.

You will need to setup these groups beforehand. To do this, go to Contacts > View All - Create a Group. Give the group a name and select No to all the options. Save and Finish.

To create groups for your other levels, copy this original group and rename.

Step 2 - Creating Optional Extras for certificate payment

In order for people to pay for the certificates, we need to create an option for them to do that. For this, we use our Optional Extra feature. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Payment Options > Optional Extras.
2. Click on 'Add new'.
3. Input a name, for example 'Badge 8 payment' and then set the options as per screenshot below:
   
   
   
   For 'This optional extra is associated to', select the associated group, for example, 'Badge 8 - Passed'.
   
4. Once you're done, 'Save and build form'. We recommend removing all fields from the form, with the exception of First name, Last name and email address.
5. Go to Payment Options > Optional Extras - Use the 'Copy' function to create the payment option for all your other levels. Note, the 'Copy' function will also copy the form.

Step 3 - Create email template

As people are automatically copied in to groups when you record them as passing their levels, the system can send them an automated email to notify them they have passed and instruct them to login to their online account, or app, and pay. You need to setup this email template. To do this:

1. Go to Email > Email templates.
2. Click on 'Create email template'.
3. Give your template a name and subject header and write your email. Suggested wording as follows:
   
   ***
   
   Hi Parent of [First name]
   
   [First name] has passed the level (or badge) she has been working on. You can pay for the certificate via your online account, accessible via the LoveGymnastics app (change to LoveSport or LoveAdmin app where appropriate). Once logged in, tap on the 'Optional Extras' tab and you'll see the option to pay for the certificate there.
   
   Once payment has been received, you can collect the certificate from the club.
   
   ***
   
   Note, if you have configured 'Optional Extras' to display a different description under Settings > Accounts, change the wording above appropriately.

Step 4 - Creating the automation and adding the certificate

Assumption - you have either created your own or loaded one of our pre-canned Development Programmes. If not, visit this article for further information.

Now you've done the groundwork, it's time to pull things together. To do this, go to Settings > Development Programme - click on 'View' levels. From the table that loads, click on Edit under 'Manage Certificate'. Now follow these steps:

1. 'When people achieve this level, copy them to:' - select the group you setup for the level in Step 1 above (for example, Badge 8 - Passed).
2. Send email? Select Yes if you want to send an email to notify people that the level has been passed and they can pay online. The email used is the one you created in Step 3. If you are not charging for certificates, you would typically select No.
3. Set the certificate size.
4. Upload an image of the certificate (Add attachment) - once you've done this, the certificate appears in the right-hand-side pane. Stretch the image out so it fills the white space of the page. This white space will be in the same proportion as the certificate size.
5. Insert field - click the dropdown to see the options. As you select an option, it will appear on the right hand pane. Move to the place on the certificate you want it to be printed. You can adjust the size, font, justification and more.
6. Click preview to see an example of how you're certificate is going to look. Once you're done, click Save.

Next Steps

The next step is to generate the certificates when people achieve a level. There are typically two scenarios here - click on the relevant link below:

Charging for certificates

No charge for certificates

 Ends.