First-Time Setup

When you first access Kinderpedia Admissions, a setup banner appears on the dashboard inviting you to run the Setup Wizard. This guided walkthrough helps you configure the essential building blocks of your admissions system in minutes.

Accessing the Setup Wizard

1. Log in to Kinderpedia and navigate to the Admissions module.
2. On the Dashboard, look for the green onboarding banner at the top.
3. Click Launch Setup Wizard to begin.

You can also access the wizard directly by navigating to the Setup Wizard page from the sidebar or by visiting the /setup-wizard URL.

TIP

The Setup Wizard is only available to users with configuration access (Admissions Admin or Manager role). If you do not see the banner, ask your school administrator to run the wizard or grant you the appropriate permissions.

Wizard Steps

The Setup Wizard walks you through a guided sequence of steps -- a Welcome screen, twelve configuration steps, and a final Review. Each configuration step comes with predefined suggestions that you can accept, modify, or remove.

Step: Campuses

Define the physical locations of your school. Schools with a single building can leave the default; multi-campus schools (e.g., separate Primary and Secondary buildings) configure each one here with name, address, and a default capacity per program input.

The default capacity carries through every program-to-campus mapping the wizard creates, so you don't have to set capacity per program one-by-one for each campus.

Step: Academic Years

Define the academic years your school will use for admissions. Each year has a name and a start date.

Predefined suggestions:

• 2026/2027 (starting September 1, 2026)
• 2027/2028 (starting September 1, 2027)
• 2028/2029 and 2029/2030

Academic years are used to organize year groups, capacity planning, and reporting.

Step: Programs

Set up the educational programs your school offers. Each program has a name and a short code.

Predefined suggestions:

• Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
• Primary School (PS)
• Secondary School (SS)
• High School (HS)

Programs are used in application forms, capacity tracking, and lead categorization. Combined with the Default Capacity per Program value from the Campuses step, programs get sensible capacity defaults out of the box.

Step: Applicant Statuses

Configure the statuses that track admissions decisions. Each status can have sub-levels for more granular tracking.

Predefined statuses:

• Pending (with levels: Enquiry, Welcome Email)
• Applied (with levels: Interview Scheduled, Assessment, Trial Day, etc.)
• Offered (with levels: Offer Made, Offer Accepted, Documents Requested, etc.)
• Waiting List
• Declined
• Enrolled (with levels: Enrollment Confirmed, Contract Signed, Invoice Paid, etc.)
• Withdrawn
• Graduated

Step: Pipeline & Activity Types

Create your first admissions pipeline with stages, and define the activity types your team will use.

Default pipeline stages:

• New, Contacted, Qualified, Interview Scheduled, Interview Completed
• Assessment Scheduled, Assessment Completed, Documents Pending, Documents Received
• Application Review, Decision Pending, Follow-up

Default activity types:

• Call / Zoom, Live Meeting, Task, Deadline, Email, Interview, Tour

Step: Checklists

Define the checklist items that track what needs to be completed for each applicant.

Examples include:

• Submit Application (mandatory, linked to Pending status)
• Submit birth certificate (mandatory, linked to Applied status)
• Submit parent ID/Passport documents
• Schedule meeting with Admissions Team
• Trial day invitations
• Payment

Step: Fees

Set up the default fees the wizard should seed (enrollment fee, registration fee, etc.) with name, amount, and currency.

Step: Email Templates

Create reusable email templates for common admissions communications.

Predefined templates include:

• Online Application Confirmation
• Trial Day Invitations (Primary and Secondary)
• Entry Assessment Invitations
• Test Results & Follow-Up Meeting
• Waiting List Notifications
• Application Unsuccessful letters
• Feedback Request

Each template includes merge fields like {{parent1_first_name}}, {{student_first_name}}, {{date}}, and {{location}} that are automatically filled when sending.

Step: Contracts

Optional step that prepares the Contracts module so you can start generating enrollment contracts immediately after setup. Configure:

• Company -- the legal entity (school name, address, tax id, bank info) that issues contracts.
• Default signatory -- the staff member who signs on behalf of the company. Enter their full name and title (e.g., "Maria Popescu", "Head of Admissions"). The wizard creates a signatory record marked as the company's default so it auto-fills when you create contracts later.
• Default contract series -- the numbering pattern for contract numbers (prefix + counter + optional yearly reset). This series is wired up to the default template so the first contract you create after setup needs no further configuration.

If you enable the Contracts step, the wizard requires the company name, signatory name, and signatory title before it lets you proceed.

Step: Forms

Create your first application form from a template. The wizard generates forms with Require email verification turned off by default so you can iterate before adding the email-gate flow.

Step: Workflows

Optional step that seeds a starter automation workflow (e.g., auto-send a welcome email when a new lead arrives). You can skip and build workflows later in the Workflow Builder.

Step: Review

Review everything the wizard will create, then click Apply to commit all changes in a single transaction.

Completing the Wizard

After reviewing and customizing each step:

1. Click Apply to save all configuration at once.
2. The wizard creates all entities in a single transaction -- if anything fails, nothing is partially saved.
3. You are redirected to the Dashboard, where your widgets will now show data based on your configuration.

WARNING

If your school already has some configuration in place (e.g., programs or pipelines from a previous setup), the wizard offers merge, replace, or skip strategies for each section. Choose carefully:

• Merge adds new items alongside existing ones.
• Replace removes existing items and creates the wizard's set.
• Skip leaves the existing configuration untouched.

Draft Persistence

The wizard automatically saves your progress to your browser's local storage. If you close the page or navigate away, your changes are preserved. When you return to the wizard, you can pick up where you left off.

Re-Running the Wizard on an Existing School

The Setup Wizard is primarily meant for first-time configuration, but you can rerun it later from System Settings → General.

Guard at 50+ Leads

If your school already has more than 50 leads in the system, clicking Rerun Setup Wizard opens a confirmation dialog warning that proceeding will reset configuration. You must explicitly confirm to continue. If you do confirm and try to apply changes, the backend may still reject the apply with a 409 response and a friendly explanation so that you do not accidentally wipe a live workspace.

Setup Card Hidden at 1,000+ Leads

Once a school has more than 1,000 leads, the "Run the Setup Wizard" card on the General Settings page disappears entirely. Established schools rarely need the wizard, and hiding the card prevents accidental clicks. Admins can still navigate to /setup-wizard directly if they really need to run it (and the 50-lead guard still applies).

After Setup

Once the wizard is complete, you should:

1. Create your first form -- go to Forms and build an application form linked to your pipeline.
2. Invite your team -- go to Users & Roles to assign permissions to other admissions staff.
3. Configure notification preferences -- visit Notification Preferences to choose which events trigger in-app and email alerts.
4. Review your dashboard -- customize the dashboard widgets to show the metrics most relevant to your role.

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