Attendra – Client Attendance Manager

FAQ

What kind of businesses can use Attendra?

Any business that sells services by session or package. The most common use cases are personal trainers, yoga studios, tutoring centers, therapists, coaches and sports clubs — but the labels and workflow are fully customizable to fit any service-based business.

Is this a booking plugin?

Yes. Attendra supports public-facing appointment requests via the [attendra_public_calendar] shortcode, private admin-created appointments with a full status lifecycle, and recurring appointment series.

Does Attendra work without WooCommerce?

Yes. Attendra is completely independent of WooCommerce. It has its own pricing, billing mode and payment status system.

Do I need a monthly subscription?

No. Attendra is a self-hosted WordPress plugin. You pay once (or use the free version) and there are no recurring fees. All data stays on your own server.

How does session tracking work?

Each client has a configurable number of entries per service. When you log a session or mark an appointment as attended, entries are deducted automatically. You always see how many sessions remain per client per service.

How do appointments work?

Appointments are created from Attendra > Appointments or from a client edit screen. Each appointment is linked to a client, service and optionally a staff member. You track the date, duration, status, billing mode (package credit, pay per session, or free) and payment status.

Can I create recurring appointments?

Yes. When creating an appointment you can set it to repeat on a schedule and generate a full series. You can manage the whole series or individual sessions within it.

How do automated emails work?

Attendra sends emails on key events: appointment confirmed, cancelled, rescheduled, reminder 24 hours before, package running low, package exhausted, and more. All templates are editable in Attendra > Settings > Email Templates.

Can someone else pay for a client — like a parent or a company?

Yes. On the client profile, select “Someone else pays for this client” under Payer Type, then create a portal user. The account will be created with the Payer role instead of the Client role. Both roles have identical portal access — the distinction is purely organisational, so you can see at a glance in your WP Users list who is a self-paying client and who is an external payer.

Can clients see their own appointments and sessions?

Yes. The [attendra_portal] shortcode gives each client a personal portal page where they can see their upcoming appointments, remaining sessions and full attendance history.

Can staff mark attendance without admin access?

Yes. The [attendra_staff_portal] shortcode creates a frontend page where staff can log attendance quickly. Access is limited to services and clients assigned to that staff member.

Can sessions be deleted?

Yes. Sessions can be soft-deleted with a required reason. Deleted sessions are kept in history and do not consume entries.

How does the public calendar work?

The [attendra_public_calendar] shortcode displays your service schedule. Visitors can see available sessions and request a booking. Services must have a valid schedule and be set to show in the calendar.

Can I import clients from a spreadsheet?

Yes. Use Attendra > Import to upload a CSV file. Download the template from the same page, fill it in with your client data, and import. You can optionally auto-create WordPress user accounts for each client.

What happens when I uninstall?

Roles, capabilities and plugin settings are removed automatically. Client and service data is only deleted if Delete data on uninstall is enabled in plugin settings.

Can I reschedule appointments?

Yes. Open any appointment from the admin editor or the Staff Portal and change the date, time, or service. You can also set a maximum number of allowed reschedules per booking in Settings → Booking.

What happens when a client does not show up?

Set the appointment to No Show. The session is still recorded and deducted from the client’s package balance. An automatic no-show email is sent to the client.

Can I set cancellation rules?

Yes. In Settings → Booking you can configure a late cancellation window (in hours). You can also limit how many times a booking can be rescheduled.

Can clients confirm attendance in advance?

Yes. The client portal shows upcoming group sessions with an “I’m coming” button. When the client clicks it, a confirmed booking is created and the slot is removed from the available list.

Can I set a package expiration date?

Yes. Each package has an optional expiration date. When the date passes, new sessions are blocked automatically and the client receives an email when the package is started with the expiry date included.

Can I manage group classes with a capacity limit?

Yes. Group services (Weekly and One-time) support a configurable maximum capacity per session. When the limit is reached, the slot is closed to new bookings automatically.

Can I add notes to appointments?

Yes. Every appointment has two note fields: Client Notes (visible to the client, included in confirmation and reminder emails) and Internal Notes (admin-only, never sent to the client). Staff can also edit client notes from the Staff Portal.

Does Attendra work with my existing email setup?

Yes. Attendra sends all emails through the standard WordPress wp_mail() function. If you use an SMTP plugin (WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, Postmark, etc.) Attendra automatically uses it — no extra configuration needed.

Can staff receive a daily schedule by email?

Yes. Enable the daily schedule summary for staff in Settings → Staff Notifications. Each staff member gets an email every morning with their appointments for the following day.

Can I customize the words “Client”, “Service”, and “Sessions”?

Yes. Go to Settings → Labels and rename any of the core labels. The new names appear throughout the admin, portals, and emails. Useful if your business uses “Student”, “Class”, or “Treatment” instead.

Can I split a package payment into instalments?

Yes. When creating a package for a client, choose Installments and set the number of payments. The package total is split evenly across each instalment. Confirm payments one by one from the client profile — each confirmation updates the amount paid and sends an automatic “Payment received” email to the client.

What financial data does the Reporting page show?

The Reporting page includes a Financial Summary section with total collected, total pending, packages sold, and sessions paid — for any date range you choose. All figures are based on actual package payments confirmed in your system.

Does Attendra replace Excel or a spreadsheet?

Attendra replaces the common pattern of managing clients, session counts, packages, and attendance in a spreadsheet or shared Google Sheet. Everything is stored in your WordPress database — searchable, filterable, and linked across clients, services, and appointments.

Does Attendra integrate with Google Calendar, Stripe, or WooCommerce?

Not currently. Attendra does not sync with Google Calendar, does not process payments through Stripe or PayPal, and does not extend WooCommerce. It is a self-contained system for managing sessions and attendance. Payment tracking is manual — you record whether a session was paid, not paid, or handled via package credit.

What is Attendra NOT suitable for?

Attendra is not a good fit for businesses that need: online payments at booking time, Google Calendar sync, SMS or WhatsApp notifications, multi-location management (separate rooms or branches), or booking for services that do not follow a session/package model (e.g. hourly rental, hotel rooms, restaurant tables).

Is this plugin translation-ready?

Yes. All strings use the attendra text domain and a .pot file is included.