Before families can register, your application needs a few key settings in place: who gets notified when an application comes in, which families can access the form, and when registration goes live.
Most importabtly, you set access to who can fill out your application at any given time.
Complete your Season Settings and confirm your sessions are active before starting — sessions need to exist before they can appear on the application.
What you'll learn:
Control which families can access your application and when
Configure notifications, contact information, and display preferences
Set up gender identity and pronoun options
Video Walkthrough
Registration Controls
Control who can access your application, and when. These are your most important launch settings.
📋 Note: Campers with an Enrolled (EN), Applied (AP), or Waitlisted (WL) status can always access the application.
Enable Your Application
Navigate to CampInTouch > Forms > Camper Application Settings. Select the season from the dropdown.
Click the blue Edit link on the first line under General Settings.
Configure the access checkboxes:
💡 Tip: If a season isn't appearing for families, verify that both Season Settings visibility and Include Season in Application are enabled.
Include Season [Year] in Application: Check this to make the season visible in the application's season dropdown. Without it, families can't register even if the application is otherwise live
Allow Returning Families: Gives access to families with prior enrollments that count toward at least one camper year.
📋 Note: Families from sessions that don't count toward a camper year don't qualify as returning. They need Allow Leads and Prospective Families checked to access the application.
Allow Leads and Prospective Families: This checkbox covers families with Lead and Inquiry status, and families from sessions that do not count toward a camper year..
Allow New Accounts: Allows brand-new families to create an account. Enabling this automatically enables Allow Leads & Prospective Families.
Show application icon on the 'My Account' page: Displays the application icon on the family's CampInTouch account page.
💡 Tip: Hide the icon during early-access windows — families you send a direct link to can still get in.
Application Launch Date: Controls when the application becomes visible on the My Account page. Use a future date to schedule registration, or a past date for immediate availability.
📋Note: Launch dates use GMT time.
4. Click Save in the Seasonal Application Settings window, then click Save
Changes on the page.
Disable Your Application
Navigate to CampInTouch > Forms > Camper Application Settings. Select the season you want to close from the dropdown.
Click Edit.
Uncheck Include Season, Allow Returning Families, Allow Leads and Prospective Families, Allow New Accounts, and Show application icon.
Click Save, then Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
💡 Tip: If you have multiple seasons open, check each season individually. A season that's still enabled will remain accessible to families even after you've closed another.
🎯 Try it now: Go to CampInTouch > Forms > Camper Application Settings, open Seasonal Application Settings for your current season, and confirm each checkbox reflects your intended launch state. Come back when you've confirmed.
General Settings: Configure Notifications, Contact Information, and Analytics
These rest of the General Settings options control who receives application notifications, how families can contact your camp, and a few optional application preferences.
Click Edit next to Notifications to update the email addresses that receive application alerts.
📋 Note: If other staff members need to receive application notifications, add their email addresses to the Recipients field.
Click Edit next to Contact Information to add a phone number and email address for families to reach you.
📋 Note: Enter your camp's contact info — not Campminder Support's.
Click Edit next to Marketing Tools if your camp uses analytics tracking.
💡 Tip: If you're unsure whether your camp uses analytics tracking, check with your website administrator or IT team.
📖 Related: Analytics Tracking Overview
Review the Include information boxes on printable PDF option. This controls whether the header/instruction text includes application instructions and header text when families print or save a PDF copy of the application.
Disable Save For Later removes the ability for families to save a partially completed application and return later.
💡 Tip: Most camps leave Save For Later enabled. Consider disabling it only if you need to ensure all submissions are complete at the time of entry.
Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page when you're done.
💡 Tip: Review notification recipients and contact information at the start of each season — they're easy to overlook and can become outdated.
🎯 Try it now: Go to CampInTouch > Forms > Camper Application Settings, open General Settings, and confirm your notification email addresses are current. Update your camp contact information if needed. Come back when you've saved.
Application Instructions
The Instructions section lets you add a custom message that appears to families as a pop-up before they start filling out the application.
Navigate to CampInTouch > Forms > Camper Application Settings.
In the Camper Instructions section, click into the text editor and add your message.
Optionally, add a Camper Page Header Message in the field above it.
Click Save at the bottom of the page.
💡 Tip: Keep instructions brief — families are eager to start and may skim or dismiss a long block of text.
🎯 Try it now: Add at least one custom instruction line for your camp. Check the display box and save. Come back when you're done.
Gender Identity and Pronouns
These settings are in Admin — not CampInTouch — because they apply across multiple areas of the system.
📋 Note: Gender identity and pronoun settings are non-seasonal. You configure them once and they carry forward automatically.
Define Your Options
Navigate to Admin > Unified Person Record > Gender and Person Settings.
Click the grey Gender Identities button, then Define New.
Enter the gender identity name and set it to Active or Inactive.
Click Pronouns, then Define New to add pronoun options (e.g., she/her, he/him, they/them).
Under Partition, select whether each option appears on the Camper Application, Staff Application, or both.
Click Save.
Enable on the Application
On the same Gender and Person Settings page, check Enable Gender Identity and/or Enable Pronouns to turn these fields on.
Set your Display Name preference:
First Name — displays the camper's legal first name
Preferred Name (where applicable) — displays a preferred name if entered; falls back to first name
In the Camper Application section, configure how the fields appear:
Gender Label — customize the label for the binary gender question
Show Gender Identity / Show Pronouns — check to display the fields
Is Required — check if the field must be completed before submission
Include write-in option — allows applicants to enter a response not on the predefined list
Gender Identity Details / Pronoun Details — add a modal with additional context or links
Scroll to Camper Information Page to control whether gender data appears on the Camper Information Card visible in CampInTouch.
📋 Note:To remove the binary gender question from the application entirely, contact Campminder Support — this requires a system-level change.
🎯 Try it now: Go to Admin > Unified Person Record > Gender and Person Settings and review your current setup. Confirm whether Gender Identity and Pronouns are enabled and that your options reflect your camp's values. Come back when you've reviewed.
Before you move on, check yourself:
Can you explain the difference between Allow Returning Families, Allow Leads and Prospective Families, and Allow New Accounts?
Do you know where to update who receives application notifications?
Have you confirmed your gender identity and pronoun settings match your camp's current setup?
Ready for the next step?
Configure What Families Fill Out — set up the fields and sections parents complete during registration
Sessions, Billing & Confirmation — configure session selection, billing, and what families see at submission
Add Custom Questions to Your Application — build custom questions using the question editor