This is your home base. Every time you log in, the homepage gives you a snapshot of what's happening at camp and a launchpad for everything else.
Before you start configuring your system, it's worth spending a few minutes understanding what you're looking at. Nothing here requires setup — it's already working for you.
What you'll learn:
Identify the key areas of the Campminder homepage and what each one does
Use the search bar to find any record quickly
Understand your homepage widgets and navigation icons
Explore Your Homepage
When you log in, you'll see three main areas: the Sidebar Navigation Menu on the left, the Bulletin Board in the center, and the Widgets on the right. A row of Navigation Icons runs across the top right.
💡 Tip: Use Google Chrome for the best Campminder experience. Some features don't perform as well in other browsers.
Use the Sidebar to Get Anywhere
The Sidebar Navigation Menu on the left is your map to everything in Campminder. Every module, every setting, every report lives somewhere in this menu. When in doubt, start here.
Post and Manage Bulletins
The Bulletin Board is your team's shared communication space. Think of it as a sticky-note board that stays visible until you remove it — not a calendar, not email, just a persistent place to leave reminders and notes for yourself or your team.
Video Walkthrough
Click Add a Post above the bulletin board.
Select who receives the post — yourself, everyone, or specific people.
Enter your message in the Message box.
Optionally, type the first three letters of a camper or staff name under Regarding to link the bulletin to a record.
Check the eyeglasses icon to request a read confirmation, or the checkmark icon to request task completion confirmation.
Set a priority level — Normal or High. High priority posts appear in bold.
Add a post-date if you want the bulletin to appear on a future date.
Click the green Post button.
📋 Note: To undo a sent bulletin, click Sent to the left of Add a Post, then use the trash icon to remove it. You can restore trashed bulletins by clicking the Trash link.
💡 Tip: Tag a teammate in a comment by typing @ followed by their username. Use Rescind if you want to pull a bulletin back completely before anyone acts on it.
Video Walkthrough
🎯 Try it now: Post a bulletin to yourself with a real reminder you'd use this season. Set it to High priority and save it. Come back when you've done it.
Understand Your Widgets
On the right side of your homepage are widgets — at-a-glance snapshots pulled from your reports and live system data. They surface the things most likely to need your attention right now.
Video Walkthrough
Here's what each widget shows:
Reminders | Seasonal tips and announcements from the Campminder team. |
Camper Leads and Applicants | Recent inquiries and applications from the last 14 days, including name, age, grade, hometown, and applied session. Requires Camper Management permissions. |
Current Tickets | Your open support tickets and any Campminder announcements. This is the only widget that can't be collapsed. You can create a new ticket directly from here. |
Daily Logs and Treatments | A chronological snapshot of today's Health Center activity. An alert icon appears next to anyone who has visited three or more times in the last 72 hours. Requires Medical system permissions. |
Pending Medications | Medications marked as pending that haven't been accepted yet. |
Daily Exceptions | For day camps: today's list of campers leaving early or taking alternate routes home. Requires Travel system permissions. |
Photo and Email Stats | Photo upload counts and outstanding parent emails waiting to print. Click the number to go directly to the email printer. |
Birthdays | Upcoming camper and staff birthdays. |
📋 Note: Not every camp sees every widget, and widgets shift based on what's most relevant in your current season. Collapse or expand any widget using the arrow icon in its upper right corner.
Use the Charts Widgets
Charts give you a visual pulse on enrollment and revenue without running a full report. They pull from your existing data and display trends across seasons.
The most commonly used charts are:
Camper Week Comparison (Full Season) | Compares your current season's total camper weeks against completed prior seasons. Your current number will almost always be lower early in the year — that's expected. Think of it like a fundraising thermometer: last year's total is your benchmark, and you're tracking progress toward it. |
Camper Week Comparison YTD | Compares where you are today against where you were on this exact date in prior seasons. This is your apples-to-apples pacing check. |
Current YTD vs. Previous YTD | Session-level breakdown showing how each session is performing right now compared to the same date in past seasons. Useful for spotting which sessions are filling fast or slow early enough to act. |
Payment by Season YTD | Revenue collected so far this season vs. the same point in prior years. A real-time financial pacing check. |
Payment by Season | Total revenue per completed season. Big-picture trend view for goal setting. |
📋 Note: In these charts, "weeks" means full 7-day periods, not partial weeks or specific days.
🎯 Try it now: Look at your Camper Week Comparison YTD chart. How does this year's enrollment pace compare to last year at this date? Come back when you've had a look.
Find Any Record with the Search Bar
The search bar at the top right of Campminder is the fastest way to pull up any camper or staff record — as long as you know who you're looking for.
Click into the search bar. It works best in Last Name, First Name format with a comma separating the two. You only need three characters to start searching.
If you're unsure of the spelling, use a partial name. Typing Ar, Ann will return everyone whose last name starts with "Ar" and first name starts with "Ann."
Results appear automatically as you type. Click Advanced Search to see a full page of results.
💡 Tip: You can skip the last name entirely — just type a comma first, then the first name. Typing , Annabelle returns everyone named Annabelle. You can also search by the last four digits of a phone number or email address.
🎯 Try it now: Search for your own record or a test camper using the Last Name, First Name format. Then try a partial name search. Come back when you've done both.
Know Your Navigation Icons
At the top right of the screen, just under the search bar, is a row of icons for quick access to key tools.
Notification Icon  | Alerts for new bulletins, faxback forms, staff and camper applications, form submissions, and online payments. |
Calendar Icon  | Your appointments, set from lead or staff records using tour/appointment notes. |
Account Icon  | Edit your name, email, password, security questions, and photo. |
Ticketing icon  | Submit a support ticket to Campminder or view existing tickets and announcements. |
Help Icon  | Search the Campminder Help Center. |
Logout Icon  | Log out and return to the login screen. |
Before you move on, check yourself:
Can you name the three main areas of the Campminder homepage and what each one does?
Do you know how to find a record using a partial name in the search bar?
Can you identify where to go for support tickets, help videos, and your own account settings?
Ready for the next step?
Set Up User Groups and Add Your Team — control who can see and do what in your system
Get Support: Help Tickets and Tech Support — know how to reach Campminder when you need help