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Getting started

← Back to the guide · Next: Your settings →

This page explains what KeepsYa is, what you need before you start, and how to
turn it on.

What is KeepsYa?

KeepsYa is an add-on for your website. It lets people sign up and pay for
your events, camps, and training sessions.

KeepsYa does not work by itself. It works together with a free plugin called
The Events Calendar. Here is the simple way to think about it:

  • The Events Calendar holds your events (the name, date, time, and place).
  • KeepsYa adds the sign-up form, the price, the spot limit, and the payments.

So you make an event one time, and KeepsYa adds the “sign me up” part to it.

What you need before you start

  1. A WordPress website (version 6.7 or newer).
  2. The free The Events Calendar plugin (version 6.0 or newer), installed and
    turned on.
  3. The KeepsYa plugin (these instructions).
  4. To take credit card payments, you also need the KeepsYa Payments
    add-on. You can skip this for now and still take cash, Zelle, or check.

Tip: You do not have to take card payments to use KeepsYa. Many groups start
with cash, Zelle, or check, and add cards later.

Step 1: Install The Events Calendar (if it is not already there)

  1. In your WordPress dashboard, look at the menu on the left and click
    Plugins, then Add New Plugin.
  2. In the search box, type The Events Calendar.
  3. Find the one made by “The Events Calendar” and click Install Now.
  4. When the button changes to Activate, click it.

You now have a calendar. You will not see KeepsYa’s sign-up features until the
next step.

Step 2: Turn on KeepsYa

If KeepsYa is already installed, you just need to turn it on (this is called
“activating”):

  1. In the left menu, click Plugins.
  2. Find KeepsYa in the list.
  3. Click Activate under it.

If KeepsYa is not installed yet:

  1. Click Plugins, then Add New Plugin, then Upload Plugin at the top.
  2. Click Choose File and pick the KeepsYa .zip file you were given.
  3. Click Install Now, then Activate.

How do I know it worked?

After you turn on KeepsYa, look at the left menu in your dashboard. You should see
a new item called KeepsYa with a ticket icon. That is KeepsYa.

If you click KeepsYa, you will see pages like Rosters, Settings,
Emails, Bookings & Revenue, Punch Cards, Stored Value, and
Help & Docs (where this guide lives, right inside your dashboard). We will use
these later in the guide.

What if The Events Calendar is missing or out of date?

KeepsYa is careful. If The Events Calendar is turned off or too old, KeepsYa will
not break your website. Instead, it shows you a small notice at the top of
your dashboard telling you what to fix. Your site stays up, and none of your
sign-up data is lost.

Just install or update The Events Calendar, and KeepsYa turns its features back on
by itself.

What’s next

Now that KeepsYa is on, set up your basics one time: money, payment methods, and
emails.

Next: Your settings →

The Setup Wizard

The first time you activate KeepsYa you land on KeepsYa → Setup: pick what
kind of program you run, confirm the words your families will see, tick how
you get paid, review the sample policies, and create your pages. Six steps,
all skippable, re-runnable any time from the KeepsYa menu.

Let KeepsYa build your pages

Go to KeepsYa → Pages and press Create page next to anything you want
(the account page, an events list, punch cards, packages, the affiliate
dashboard). Each page arrives published with the right shortcode already in
place, so it works immediately; just add it to your menu. Pages you already
built yourself are detected and never duplicated.

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