Skip to main content

School Sessions

School sessions are used to segment data from different school years.

School Session Overview

The following is contained in a school session:

  • Students and Parents
  • Orders
  • Campaigns
  • Registration Flow
  • Volunteer Positions
  • Volunteers
  • Directory Invitations
  • Memberships
  • Translations
  • Attachments
  • Languages
  • Grades

The following is shared between all sessions:

  • Administrative Users
  • Funds

Accessing School Sessions

Each site can have multiple school sessions. Most will use one school session per school year. Each school session will have their own:

  • Registration
  • Store
  • Directory
  • Member Services

Admin View

Only one school session can be viewed at one time in the Admin. To change the school session being viewed, select the desired school session from the school session selector in the upper right corner of the FutureFund Admin.

Session Selector

The school_session_id parameter is required when accessing school sessions other than the default school session for the Registration, Store, and Directory sites as his parameter uniquely identifies the school session.

Site Links

FutureFund provides links to the Registration, Store, and Directory sites with the school session appended to the URL. To view these links:

  • In the Admin, navigate to Settings > School Sessions
  • Click the View button next to the school session
  • Scroll to the Site Links section

Default School Session

One school session is designated as the default session (only one can be specified at a time). This school session does not require special the school_session_id parameter to access. The default school session is the school session parents will use when you are live. When a school session is made the default school session, the following occurs:

  • Test mode is turned off
  • The previous default school session is no longer the default school session
  • The current school session is set to the default school session

To set the default session:

  • In the Admin, navigate to Settings > School Sessions
  • Click the View button next to the school session
  • Click the Make Default button

Starting a New School Year

For existing accounts, the best way to start a new school session is to duplicate the existing school session. This shows how to accomplish this task.

  1. In the Admin, navigate to Settings > School Sessions.
  2. Click on the Duplicate button next to the current school session.

This will create a copy of the school session with the following items:

  • Registration Pages and Sections
  • Campaigns
  • Volunteer Positions
  • Funds
  • Grades
  • Custom Forms
  • Directory, Store, and Registration settings
  • Translations
  • Admin users and access control

Note: Campaigns are copied when at least one person added the campaign to a cart in either live or test mode or the campaigns was created within 30 days. Volunteer positions are copied when at least one person has signed up in either live or test mode.

The following information is not copied to the new school session:

  • Students and Parents
  • Orders
  • Members
  • Volunteers
  • Directory Entries

The new school session will not be the default school session however parents will not have access to it until the sites are enabled.

Toggling Live/Test Mode

Test mode will allow orders to be placed with special credit card numbers to test the registration and checkout flow.

School Session Options

To toggle live/test mode:

  • In the Admin, navigate to Settings > School Sessions
  • Click the View button next to the school session
  • Click the Edit button
  • Select either Live Mode or Test Mode
  • Press the Update School Session button to save the changes

Testing Credit Card Processing

When the school session is in test mode, use the following test credit cards to test your checkout process. Use a valid expiration date in the future, and any random CVC number, to create a successful payment.

Card Number Type
4242424242424242 Visa
4000056655665556 Visa (debit)
5555555555554444 Mastercard
2223003122003222 Mastercard (2-series)
5200828282828210 Mastercard (debit)
5105105105105100 Mastercard (prepaid)
378282246310005 American Express
371449635398431 American Express
6011111111111117 Discover
6011000990139424 Discover
30569309025904 Diners Club
38520000023237 Diners Club
3566002020360505 JCB
6200000000000005 UnionPay

Going Live

When your school session is ready, there are a few steps you need to take before parents can use the site:

  • Confirm you've tested the site in test mode and everything is working properly
    • Verify registration pages and campaign descriptions
    • Verify campaign pricing
    • Review volunteer positions
  • Verify Registration is Enabled
  • Decide if the store should be enabled. Some schools leave the store disabled to prevent parents from skipping registration. See Enabling Store for more information
  • If the school session is not the default school session:
    • In the Admin, navigate to Settings > School Sessions
    • Click the View button next to the school session
    • Click the Make Default button
  • If the school session is the default school session:
    • Ensure live mode is enabled
  • Visit your registration link and verify the school year is correct and the Test Mode banner is not displayed
  • Optionally, have a few parents register before opening registration to all parents

Once these steps are done, you are ready for registration!

Closing the School Session

When the school year comes to a close, admins can effectively disable access to the school session by:

  • In the Admin, navigate to Settings > School Sessions
  • Click the View button next to the school session
  • Click the Close All Sites button

When this is selected, access to registration, store, and directory will be disabled.

Was this article helpful?