Teams: New Season Transition Checklist

With a little bit of housekeeping, your SwimTopia website will be ready for your new season to start! We have put together a checklist to make this as quick and easy as possible. Included at the end is a list of possible decisions to share with your board each season.

➞ ▶️ Webinar Video Guide - Topic-Focused Training - watch any of our pre-recorded videos

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Covered in this Article:

» Note: This is our suggested order, but you can proceed however works best for your team and skip areas not utilized. 

• Confirm Site Settings & Online Payment Configuration 
• Edit Content on Your SwimTopia Site
• Confirm Old Registration Forms are Closed
• Update the “Season” on Your SwimTopia Site
• Update Site Administrators and Coach Accounts
• Update Role Assignments
• Create New Merchandise Items
• Update Online Store And/Or SwimOutlet Team Store Offerings
• Create New Registration Forms
• Update Your Schedule and Meet/Job Templates
• Update Records & Time Standards
• Update Sponsorships
• Communication: Previous & New Season Members
• USA Swimming Teams - Check Member Status
• Pre-Season Configuration Decisions

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Confirm Site Settings & Online Payment Configuration

➧ Billing Contact: Most configurations within your site-wide Settings will remain the same from season to season, but your Billing Contact will eventually change. SwimTopia sends renewal reminders and specials to the email listed for your Billing Contact, so it's imperative that this remain up-to-date to avoid any disruption in service. This is found under Settings > Billing Contact.

➧ Online Payment Configuration: Immediately check to ensure your online payment account is in good standing each season. Although rare, there are times when they need to request information due to KYC (Know Your Customer) banking regulations. This is also found under Settings.

» Tip: Don't save this until right before opening registration to avoid any last minute panic. We may not be able to help you get any issues resolved outside of business hours or as fast as you need, so we stress this for your benefit.

➞ See more about what you can configure in your SwimTopia Site-wide Settings.

 

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Edit Content on Your SwimTopia Site

First, since your members may start looking at your site early, scan through your website content to see if there are any references to policies, dates, deadlines, etc. that are relevant to the last season but may have changed for the new season.  You can edit those pages directly by going to Website > Pages.

» Tip: Limiting specific dates throughout your site will expedite this process each season. If you need to list specific dates, keep track of the pages that will need to be updated.

➞ See more about Managing Your Website.

➞ Example Customer SwimTopia sites - check out how other SwimTopia teams have set up their sites. 

➧ Do you want to require a CAPTCHA to prevent spam?

If you use the Contact Us Form snippet (we highly suggest doing so), we came out with a new CAPTCHA configuration option in 2021 that you might want to consider if your team has received any spam through your Contact Us page. You can turn this setting off at any time and revisit the need for this extra security level each season.

➞ See more about the Contact Us Form Snippet.

 

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Confirm Old Registration Forms are Closed

Before updating your Current Season, you'll want to confirm that your prior season's registration forms are closed (if that season is complete). Go to Registration. If any forms are still open that should not be, slide the Open slider bar to the left until it says Closed.

It is possible to have multiple registration forms open if seasons overlap. ➞ See more about Multiple Seasons in a Year.

 

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Update the “Season” on Your SwimTopia Site

You will be reminded to create a new season when the current date falls outside the time that defines your current season. Before creating your new registration form(s), you need to update your season to prevent registrations from being tied to the wrong season.

When you go to Schedule > Seasons, you'll see a warning that your season is out of date, and when you click on Fix the Current Season your new season will be created for you. Or you can select +Add Season to create one manually. Be sure to update the age-up date as well.

➞ See more about Creating & Managing Your Seasons

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Where did everything go?

Once you change your Season, you might notice that some things seem to “disappear" depending on how you utilize your site. The following items are associated with the current season:

• Registrations
• People*
• Role Assignments
• Division Assignments*
• Meets & Events*
• Sponsors*
• Reports*

When you change seasons, that information is retained but will not show up on your site since they are associated with a prior season. Past registrations can be found by running the Registration Details / Data Export report from the Reports tab.

* Any time you'd like to view these items from a past season, you can select that season from a drop-down box or select the season from the left margin (meets & events).

» Note: Updating your season is imperative before opening your registration form since registrations are tied to the season they are opened in. Don’t worry if you forget and open your registration form in the wrong season. Just contact your Customer Happiness Team, and we’ll be happy to help.

 

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Update Site Administrators and Coach Accounts

When your new and returning members complete the new season’s Registration form (if you use online registration), they’ll be affiliated with the new Season and will display on the People page as part of your Roster (you can easily change to a different season with a drop-down box on the page). 

» Tip: Remind returning parents to log in first. They will have much less info to enter during registration since SwimTopia will automatically fill their data in for them (this is based on the last known registration form they filled out on any site using SwimTopia).

Administrator accounts, those with the red "Admin" badge, will automatically carry over from season to season in People, but their "Parent Affiliation" to the current season will not be automatically renewed. This occurs when they register for the season.

If they are not a parent of an athlete, you can manually add a Season Affiliation to these members by clicking their name on the People page.  On the right you will see “Add affiliation for.” Select the current season from the drop-down box, then click “Save.”  

Some key members may not have children and thus would not register each year for your team, including some of your coaches and board members. You would follow the above instructions to update their season affiliation. (If they aren’t visible, you can search for them in a previous season using the Search function at the top of the People list.) 

➞ See more about People/Roster

➞ See How do I add a coach to my team? if you have more to add.

 

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Update Role Assignments

Role assignments are also associated with seasons.  Some roles are set up so the assignments are seasonal, others can be set up so the assignments are ongoing from year to year when assignees do not change often.

Seasonal roles

If “This role is reassigned every season” is checked, the role assignments will be reset at the change of a season, and all members who were assigned to those roles last season will no longer be assigned to those roles. If you know that any of your members are repeating their role from last season, you have the ability to manually reassign them, but keep in mind, you won't be able to assign somebody to a role if they aren’t a member of the current season. ➞ See step Update Site Administrators and Coach Accounts if you need to manually affiliate someone to the season.

Ongoing roles 

If “This role is reassigned every season” is unchecked, role assignments will carry over from season to season.  Once you've updated your Current Season, you'll see people in your Roster with this Role badge next to their name. They won't have the Parent badge until they have completed the registration form. If a member is not returning to one of these roles in the new season, you’ll need to manually remove them from their role assignment.

Go to Roles and then click on Role Assignments in the upper right corner.

• To remove a name, click on the “X” next to the member’s name
• To add a name, click on “Add/Remove” next to the role
• Begin typing in the name of the member, and select the name when it appears
• Click “Save.”

» Note: Once a Role has been set up as being reassigned each season (or not), it's best to leave that setting as-is.  If you need to change that setting, it's better to delete the Role and create a new one. Changing the setting from one season to the next may produce unexpected results for previous vs new assignees.

➞ See more about Roles

 

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Create New Merchandise Items

"Merchandise" items are not tied to seasons, so if you need to make changes after sales have occurred or when transitioning to a new season, it’s best to archive old items and create a new item. If you were to simply edit the old item, it would effectively change the description or pricing of the item for all past orders, and would affect tracking and reporting.

Also, if you have any merchandise items with order limits, SwimTopia will see last season’s orders as accumulating towards the overall quantity ordered. 

If the changes to an item are minor, it may be easier to make a copy of last season’s item and then make your edits (rather than create a whole new item). Go to Merchandise, then click on the item, and click on “Copy.” (you can archive old items from this screen as well)

➞ See more about Merchandise

 

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Update Online Store And/Or SwimOutlet Team Store Offerings

If your team is using SwimTopia's Online Store and/or SwimOutlet features to sell your merchandise, sponsorships, donations etc., outside of registration, you will want to make sure these pages are displaying your updated merchandise offerings each season.

➞ See more about Merchandise Offer Snippet

➞ See more about SwimOutlet Team Store Snippet

 

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Create New Registration Forms

All registrations are tied to a registration form, so at the beginning of a new swim season, you’ll want to create new forms to help you keep track of your members from season to season. 

» Tip: There are many reasons we stress the importance of not reopening old forms. If there are fee changes from one season to another, past members would show up with a balance due if the same form was just reopened. Required League forms could be different each season. So it’s best to set up new registration forms each season so you can always reference old forms, and it’s easy to copy last year’s forms and make necessary modifications.

Go to Registration and click the Copy button next to the registration form(s) you’d like to copy.

• Edit the new form to include changes for the upcoming year (Don't forget to Add appropriate league shared forms if any are found at the bottom of the first page)
• It’s a good idea to include the year in your Registration form title, to keep them organized
• Set your new form to “Open” when your team’s registration window begins. (Private forms must also be in an Open state for members to reach them)

➞ See more about setting up your Registration 

 

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Update Your Schedule & Meet/Job Templates

➧ Meets & Events

Meets and Events are managed from the All Meets & Events tab in the Manage Team console.

Depending on your team's process, there are multiple options for how you can create meets:

• Creating Meets thru a League Meet Schedule Import
• Creating Meets by importing a Meet Event File
• Creating Meets by Applying Meet Templates Saved from Previous Season Meets
• Creating a New (Empty) Swim Meet (Optionally Apply Meet Templates)

➞ See more about Creating Meets (Options) to determine which option works best for your team

➧ Meet Templates

If you are creating meets through one of the last two options above and utilizing this time-saving feature of building a repository of Meet Templates to apply to your meets, you should review these templates each season to ensure they're set up properly.

Double-check that your Entry Rules and Seeding/Scoring Rules (if using SwimTopia's Meet Maestro to run your meets) still apply for the new season.

Once you've confirmed the setup of your Meet Templates, you can apply them to your meets as you fill out your schedule. 

➞ See more about Meet Templates

➧ Job Templates

Your jobs/shifts may or may not change each season, but it's always best to review your Job Templates to be sure. Once you've confirmed the setup of your Job Templates, you can apply them to your meets as you fill out your schedule. 

➞ See more about Job Templates

➧ Non-meet events 

If you have recurring non-meet events (i.e. kick-off party, end-of-season banquet, etc.), copy the event from last season and make appropriate changes. Go to Schedule >All Meets & Events > Select the previous season from the left margin > Click into the event > Click on Copy.

➞ See more about Non-Meet Calendar Events

➧ Calendar display 

Decide if you'd like the calendar on your team's website to show all events for the current season, or to show only upcoming events (with a link to toggle to past events). If you do not want your parents scrolling through a list of past events to reach the next event, then we suggest the latter.

➞ See more about Calendar Display Mode

 

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Update Records & Time Standards

Don't forget to create or update your record books if you didn't do this at the end of your last season. And if your league does not share Time Standards with the teams in your league through our automatic league sharing feature, you can create your own to apply to your Meet Templates and applicable meets.

➞ See more about Creating a Record Book or Managing a Record Book

➞ See more about Time Standards & Qualifying Times Overview

 

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Update Sponsorships

Sponsorships are tracked per season, so once you update your Season, old sponsors will no longer show up in the section of your website that is created by the Sponsor snippet. You'll need to set up new Sponsorships for the new season. We offer a handy tool for copying Sponsorships that renew from one Season to another:

Go to Website > Sponsors > Sponsorships

• Select the last season
• Select all the Sponsorships that will be renewing for the new Season - you can either select all by checking the box to the left of "Sponsor" at the top of the list, or you can select individual Sponsorships from within the list
• Once you've selected one or more Sponsorships, you'll see a drop-down box that says "Copy to Season"
• Select your new season

Once the Sponsorships are copied to the new season, you can edit their categories.  And you can add new Sponsors to your new season's Sponsorships.

➞ See more about Sponsorships.

 

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Communication: Previous & New Season Members

➧ Reaching your previous seasons members

When you are ready to start sending out your new season registration and/or general season information, use "Members - Previous Season" in your communications to reach your registered families from the season previous to what you have set as your current season. (only official seasons are considered)

➧ Reaching your new season members

Once you open registration and members register for your upcoming season, (or you manually assign members to your current season in their profile -- hint: registration will save you so much effort), you'll use the "Members" group to reach out to your current season's roster.

➧ Reaching members prior to the previous season

You can always reach parents or any groups in any season from the Reports tab using reports like the Registration Details/Data Export, Parents Information or Athlete Roster reports.

If you need to send to more than the last season, you can eliminate duplicate emails by sending to both at the same time from Reports > Registration Details / Data Export. Filter by that season you wish to also reach, generate the report, and you'll see a button to Compose and send email. After clicking on the Compose email button, add "Members - Previous Season" to the “To” field of the same email.

Another option is to go back to your Seasons menu and change the current season to whichever you want and then "Members" and "Members-Previous Season" will reach the current and past season based on what you changed it to. I would just make sure your Season is set to the current one when you are ready to open Registration. That's when it really matters most.

➞ See more about Communications options.

 

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USA Swimming Teams - Check Member Status

USA Swimming Teams should check the USA Swimming Account Management page to contact members if they need to resolve any unmatched people on the team.

» Tip: You must have SwimTopia selected as your team management vendor on the USA Swimming Club Portal. This selection should be done now, if not already completed. ➞ Connecting USA Swimming and SwimTopia

 

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Pre-Season Configuration Decisions

To ensure the most efficient setup process and eliminate tracking decisions in back and forth emails, we suggest sharing a google doc (or something similar) containing annual decisions with your teams' board members. Everyone can update as decisions are made, and refer to this document at any time before, during, or after the season to recall configuration decisions.

Below is an example of some decisions you may want to include:

① Meet & Event Schedule

Request access to the meet schedule early so you can begin creating these in your SwimTopia site. It is important to confirm specific warm-up/start times for each meet since these can vary at away meets.

» Note: This is only applicable if your league is not importing your schedule into your SwimTopia site.

② Date Confirmations 

• Open registration to Community Members first?
• Early Registration: dates?
• Late Registration: dates?
• Pre-Season Clinics: Will the coach want to do these? If so, when?
• Semi-private or Private Lessons: Will the coach want to do these? If so, when?
• Registration / Kick-off Party: Will we have one? If so, when?
• New Swimmer Tryouts: Does the coach want to have tryouts for particular age groups?
• Practice dates/times: First day of practice, and what is the breakdown by age group?
• Stroke Judge Certification: dates?

③ Pricing

• Any changes to current pricing?
• Do we need to price any athlete groups differently to entice signup?
• Do we want to offer committee coordinator and/or board member discounts?
• Will we offer early bird vs late registration pricing?
• Will we offer a sibling discount?

④ Registration Limits

• Do we want to set a registration limit to ensure the safety of the athletes?
• If so, do we want to set an overall registration limit or limit by athlete age group?

➞ See more about Registration: Main Registration Section

⑤ Committee Contacts

• Do any committee contacts change this season?
• If so, provide names, roles, and contact information
• Make sure Billing Contact for SwimTopia is up-to-date on your Settings > Billing Contact page

⑥ Treasurer Updates

If the Treasurer is changing this season, the past season Treasurer needs to transfer the online payment account to the new Treasurer. ➞ See Stripe Account Access & Management

Other updates that occur when Treasurer changes:

1. Registration Reply-To box: An email is required. If a parent replies to their registration confirmation email with questions it goes here.
2. Registration Confirmation: Does the Treasurer want a copy each time someone registers? 
3. Check Payments: If accepting checks during registration, an physical address is needed for the registration payment page. PREMIUM
4. Online Store: Does the Treasurer want a copy each time someone buys? PREMIUM

 ⑦ Volunteering Decisions

• Job signup during registration or parent selects X number of volunteer preferences? This decision depends on how your Volunteer Coordinator (VC) wants to manage the volunteer setup. Allowing parents to select their volunteer jobs during registration can save the VC time, but requires that you have your meets set up when registration opens. This does not guarantee a parent cannot come back into their account later and remove themselves from the job if something comes up in their schedule, so the VC has to keep an eye on signups. The volunteer preferences setup does not require that your meets are set up but is more work on the VC to work with parents to determine their roles (not everyone can be a timer...). You would want to set up Roles for each job, so your VC can assign people to these roles for communication. 
• Conditional Fee Option: If volunteering was an issue last season, you can take advantage of our conditional fee feature. It would be an acknowledgment on the registration form that parents must accept. If they do not fulfill their volunteer requirements you can charge them a fee at the end of the season. The Treasurer can capture this charge from the View Registrations page at the end of the season if the family did not fulfill their volunteer requirements.

➞ See more about Registration: Volunteering Section and Conditional Fees: Approve, Capture & Release.

⑧ Merchandise

• Will we offer the same merchandise or new items?
• For any new items - pricing, sizes, and a gif/jpg of the item is needed for setup
• Do we want to sell Sponsorships during registration? (sponsor levels will need to be set up as merchandise offerings) PREMIUM

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Voilà! Your SwimTopia Site is Ready!

» Tip: Don’t forget to mine your volunteer base for help! With all the parents on your team, it’s likely some have website management skills. Set yourself up for an easier transition when you know you will need to pass the torch, by finding an apprentice to learn alongside you.

 

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