📝 Overview

A Semester timeframe is a weekly schedule that has a determined starting week and repeats for a specified number of weeks. This is the most common scheduling type used within Sawyer. You will create your schedule first based on a timeframe and add your activities and specific activity details to the timeframe. In Semesters, the activity occurs once a week over multiple weeks. Do not get discouraged by the word “Semesters” - it simply means a longer block time in which you hold multiple activities.

📚 Create a Semester

Creating a semester establishes the timeframe in which your activities will run. A semester is designed for activities that occur once (or more) per week over multiple weeks.

Click here to learn how to create a semester

Open your Sawyer portal and click on the Schedules tab
Under the Semesters section, click the New Semester button at the top of the screen
Create new semester
1. Give your semester a name. Please note that customers will see this name.
2. Choose a timeframe for your semester.
3. Add and holidays or closing that occur within the semester as needed.
4. Click Save Semester

🔔 Your new semester will appear in the Semesters section but will not be visible on your widget until you add activities and publish it.

🗓️ Add an Activity to a Schedule

Once your semester is created, you can add activities to it. Before you begin, make sure you've already created both an Activity and your Semester timeframe.

Click here to learn how to add an activity to a schedule

In the left hand navigation go to Schedules then Semesters
Find the semester you'd like to add an activity to and expand the Schedule Container
Click + Add Activity
Review the Details, Pricing and Add-Ons section below and then click Save Activity

Details

Select your previously created activity from the dropdown
Select a location from the location dropdown
Set the time of day, the number of available spots, and the days of the week
- You also have the option to attach an instructor, enable a waitlist, and more

Pricing

Set the payment options for the activity. You can offer one pricing option or multiple — letting customers choose what works best for them.

Click here to view pricing options

💡 Tip: Monthly pricing and Full Semester pricing are independent of each other. You can offer both and set one at a more affordable rate to guide customers toward your preferred payment method.

Full Semester Price Customers who register will be enrolled in and pay for the entire semester at checkout. Payment plans can be set up for this pricing option. Learn more here.

Monthly Pricing Customers will be enrolled in the full semester but pay in monthly installments. You can set the billing date to either the 1st or the 15th of the month.
- The customer will be charged for the first month at checkout, regardless of the billing date
- Monthly billing happens automatically once the customer is enrolled
- The price for each month is the same regardless of how many classes fall within that month
- Sibling discounts do not apply to monthly pricing.
- Proration: If proration is enabled and a customer signs up mid-month, their first payment will be prorated for the remaining classes in that month. Subsequent payments will be the full monthly amount. Proration only applies to the first month — not the last. Customers will not be charged for months they have missed entirely.

Drop-In Pricing Customers register and pay for one day at a time. This is a great a la carte option, though it is typically priced higher than the per-class rate calculated from a full semester price.

Free Activity Customers can book for the entire semester or a single day at no charge. If this option is selected, all other pricing options for this activity will be unavailable.

🎒 Add-Ons

In the Add-Ons section, you can customize your scheduled activity with optional extras. Available add-on options will vary depending on your selected pricing options.

Click here to view more details about Add-Ons

Early Drop-Off, Extended Day, and After School Pick Up

Enabling these gives customers the option to select any or all of them at checkout.

Enter the number of minutes before class starts that early drop-off is available
Select your pricing options and enter the cost for each
For per-day pricing, you can choose whether semester clients can purchase add-ons by day, and whether drop-in customers must purchase add-ons for all selected days at checkout

Optional Add-Ons

These are offered to customers at checkout but are not required. Use them to sell an optional t-shirt, collect a donation, or offer a snack registration. Charged once per child per order.

Enter the add-on name (e.g., T-Shirt, Snack, Donation)
Enter the price and click Add
Select which pricing options it applies to (e.g., Full Semester only, Drop-ins, etc.)
To remove an optional add-on, click the X icon

Required Fees

These fees are automatically charged to the customer at checkout.

Enter the name of the required fee (e.g., Registration Fee, Materials Fee)
Enter the price and click Add
Select which pricing options it applies to
To remove a required fee, click the X icon

🛠️ Set Up a Multiday Activity (If Applicable)

🔔 Plan Availability: The multiday feature is included in the Grow and Scale plans. It is not available on the Launch plan. If you went live prior to March 1, 2022, you will continue to have access to your current features as a legacy provider.

With the multiday feature, you can schedule an activity that meets more than once per week. Use this option when customers are required to register for multiple days each week.

Click here to learn how to set up a multiday activity

⚠️The multiday feature must be activated before you can use it. Go to My Account then Settings and toggle Multiday Settings on.

in the left hand navigation, go to Schedules then select Semesters
Below your semester timeframe, click + Add Activity
Scroll to the Days of the Week section and set the scheduling type to Multiday. Then, select the days of the week for the activity
In the Booking Rules dropdown, select one of the following options:
- Clients must book all days of the week — Requires customers to register for every scheduled day. For example, if your activity runs Tuesday and Thursday, customers must sign up for both.
- Clients must book a specific number of days per week — Gives customers flexibility to choose which days they attend. You can set a minimum and maximum number of days per week.
  - For example, if your activity runs Monday through Friday and you set a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3, customers must register for at least 2 days and no more than 3. Set the minimum and maximum to the same number to require an exact count.
Continue with the general setup steps and click Save Activity

✍️ Notes:

Payment plans are compatible with multiday activities. Learn how to set up a payment plan here.
The minimum/maximum days-per-week requirement does not apply to drop-in pricing.
Once a customer checks out, both you and the customer will receive an order confirmation listing the selected dates.

⚙️ Advanced Settings

🔔 Plan Availability: Advanced Settings are included in the Grow and Scale plans. They are not available on the Launch plan. If you went live prior to March 1, 2022, you will continue to have access to your current features as a legacy provider.

When adding an activity to a semester, you have the option to enable Advanced Settings. These include Members-Only Classes, Open Registration, Widget Tags, and Roster Format.

Click here to learn more about members-only classes

Limit class registration to your membership holders only. By selecting this option, only valid members will be able to register for this class. Clients who do not have a valid membership will be prompted to purchase one before registering.

Click here to learn more about open registration

Keep the class open for registration after the start time of a class. By default, Sawyer closes registration one minute before the class start time. With this feature, you can accept registrations while the class is in session.

🧠 For example, if you have a class on January 21 that runs from 5:00pm - 7:00pm, a client can register for the class on January 21 at 6:00pm. This is a great option for those who run longer classes, open plays or hosting events.

Click here to learn more about widget tags

Widget tags let you create a filtered widget that only displays scheduled activities that have a certain tag. Once you add the same widget tag to different scheduled activities, you can add or update the widget on your site to display a widget with activities with those tags only.

🧠 For example, if you want all of your cooking classes to show up in a separate widget on one page of your website, just create a ‘cooking’ widget tag

To learn more about self embedding widgets, go to this link here.

Click here to learn more about roster format

Choose how attendance is tracked in the roster view.

Attendance — Track whether a student was present
Check In / Check Out — Track arrival time, departure time, who dropped off and picked up the student, and any additional notes

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Find answers to common questions or additional details that may not be covered in the main instructions.