The Settings tab is where you make the key decisions that shape your entire enrollment experience. You configure these settings per session group, which means a residential camp and a day camp running in the same system can have completely different rules. Complete this step after defining your session groups, sessions, and programs — and before activating sessions for the season.
What you'll learn:
Whether campers should be marked as Applied or auto-enrolled when an application is submitted
How to choose and configure the right capacity type for your camp
How to set waitlist behavior and session hold timers for high-demand registration
Video Walkthrough
Set Your Enrollment Method
Navigate to Admin > Camper Setup > Season Settings.
Select the season from the menu at the top of the screen.
Select a Session Group from the dropdown, then click the Settings tab.
Under General, use the radio buttons to choose how applicants are categorized when they submit:
Applied — the camper is marked as applied. You review the application and manually complete enrollment. Use this if you want a review step before accepting a camper.
Enrolled — the camper is automatically enrolled and counts against capacity. Electronic deposits are processed immediately. Use this only if you'll accept any camper who applies.
💡 Tip: Residential camps typically choose Applied — you want the opportunity to ensure the camper is a good fit before collecting a deposit. Day camps more often choose Enrolled for a faster, frictionless registration experience.
If you selected Enrolled, check If non-electronic deposit to mark campers as Applied if they choose to pay by check. This prevents enrolling a camper before their payment clears.
📋 Note: If you select auto-enroll and a camper's electronic payment fails, their record is marked as Applied — not Enrolled. This protects you from enrolling a camper without collecting their deposit.
🎯 Try it now: Go to Admin > Camper Setup > Season Settings, select your first session group, open the Settings tab, and set your enrollment method. Save and come back.
Choose Your Capacity Type
Under Session-Based Capacity, choose one of two options:
Default Capacity — no cap is applied. Choose this if you'll take all the campers you can get, or if you plan to use Itemized Capacity (which is configured per session, not here).
Basic Capacity — limits enrollment by a total number per session or program. Gender and grade are not considered. You'll set the number per session in the Sessions tab.
📋 Note: There is a third option — Itemized Capacity — which lets you set custom capacities by grade or age range, with optional gender splits. It's not configured here in the Settings tab. Instead, it's set up individually on each session or program inside the Sessions tab. If you think you need it, see Set Up Itemized Capacity and contact Campminder Support before configuring it for the first time.
Optionally, check Master Capacity to set a total enrollment cap across all sessions in the group. This is useful if your facility has a hard limit on the total number of campers on-site at any given time — for example, if you run overlapping sessions and have a fixed number of beds.
📋 Note: Master Capacity requires assistance from Campminder Support to configure.
Set Waitlist Behavior
Under Capacity Settings, choose what happens when a session reaches capacity:
Hide on application — the session disappears from the application entirely. Parents won't know it was available.
Add applicant to waitlist — the session shows as full and parents can opt in to a waitlist. Manage waitlisted campers under Camper > Wait List Management.
Mark applicant as applied — the system continues accepting applications but marks them as Applied instead of Enrolled. Best used when the session group is set to auto-enroll.
Check Waitlist Override if you want to manually waitlist a specific camper without triggering the system to auto-waitlist all future applicants for that session.
💡 Tip: Waitlist Override is useful for edge cases — for example, you want to hold a spot for a staff child without signaling to the system that the session is full for everyone else.
Configure Session Hold Timers (Optional)
If your camp fills quickly, session hold timers prevent families from reserving spots they don't complete.
Think of it like a Ticketmaster countdown — applicants have a set window to finish their application before their session selection is released back to the pool.
Click the yellow Edit Assignment Hold Settings button.
Check Show time remaining on application to display a countdown clock to parents.
Set the hold time — anywhere from 10 minutes to 5 hours.
💡 Tip: Most applications take under 10 minutes to complete. Set a shorter hold time for high-demand registration periods, and give a little extra buffer for parents who are less comfortable with technology.
Set alert intervals to warn parents at 5 and/or 10 minutes remaining. Add an optional alert message — but don't reference a specific time in the message, since the same message appears at both intervals.
Add a Time Expired Alert Message for when the clock runs out. If space is still available when time expires, the clock resets and the parent can continue without losing any previously entered information.
Add a Session Is Full Message to display if the session has reached capacity when time expires.
Click Save.
Set Days of Operation
At the bottom of the Settings tab, select the days your camp operates. These become the defaults for sessions in this group.
💡 Tip: Residential camps typically select all 7 days. Day camps typically select Monday through Friday. Each session group gets its own days of operation setting — so if you run both, configure them separately.
Repeat for Every Session Group
All of these settings are configured per session group. Work through the Settings tab for every group you created before moving on.
🎯 Try it now: Complete the Settings tab for all of your session groups — enrollment method, capacity type, waitlist behavior, and days of operation. Come back when every group is configured.
Before you move on, check yourself:
Do you know whether your camp should use Applied or Enrolled — and why that choice matters?
Have you chosen the right capacity type for each session group?
If your camp fills quickly, have you decided whether session hold timers make sense for your registration?
Ready for the next step?
Season Settings: Activate and Set Up Sessions for the Season — connect your definitions to this season and set dates, grades, and capacity per session
Set Up Itemized Capacity — configure grade and gender-based capacity limits if you need them