Kids check-in

Kids check-in keeps every child safe on a Sunday. Families check in at an iPad kiosk in the lobby (or at the staffed welcome desk), labels print, children go to their class, and at the end only the grown-up holding the matching receipt can collect them.

The Kids check-in page lets you rehearse the whole morning: kiosk, desk, room rosters, checkout, the paper kit and the printers, each on its own tab.

When to use this

• Training a new welcome-team volunteer or room leader.
• Rehearsing a practice Sunday before the church moves onto the new kiosk.
• Checking what happens when something goes wrong: a jammed printer, a full room, a lost receipt.

How a Sunday works

1. A guardian types the last four digits of their mobile at the kiosk and picks their family.
2. They choose which children are here today. Nobody picks a room: each child's room is chosen for them, from a room staff chose for that child, else their grade, else their age (see Check-in rooms in the Help center).
3. The labels print: one tag for each child, and one guardian receipt. Every tag and the receipt carry the same short code.
4. The child wears the tag to class. The guardian keeps the receipt.
5. At pickup, the guardian shows the receipt. Staff check the code matches the child's tag, then release the child.

The receipt never shows a child's name or room, so a lost receipt tells a stranger nothing.

Check in at the kiosk

1. On the Self-service kiosk tab, type the last four digits of a phone number on the keypad. In the sandbox, the buttons under the keypad fill in example numbers for you.
2. If more than one family shares those digits, pick the right family.
3. Tick each child who is checking in, then select Print labels.
4. The labels appear on screen, exactly as they'd print.

A family with restricted information is asked to see the staff on duty. The kiosk never says why.

Check in at the welcome desk

The Staffed desk tab is for families who need a hand, first-time guests and anything the kiosk can't do.

1. Search by family name, a child's first name or the last four digits of a phone.
2. Choose the children who are here. Staff can change a child's room, with a short reason (for example, to keep siblings together).
3. Select Check in and print (or Print PRACTICE labels in practice mode). The desk prints to its own printer first.

For a first-time family, select Add visitor on the Visitor family card: a last name, a guardian's mobile, and each child's first name, room and any approved allergy codes, then Add family and continue. It takes under three minutes. Their tags get a first-visit star so room leaders can give them an extra welcome, and staff review the new family afterwards.

Room rosters

The Room rosters tab shows each class: who is in, who has been picked up, first-time guests, and how close the room is to its limit. A room turns amber at its soft cap and red at its hard cap; the kiosk stops adding children to a red room, and the desk decides what to do.

Check a child out

1. On the Checkout tab, scan the guardian's receipt, or type the receipt code printed on it.
2. If you type the code, tick I'm holding the guardian's receipt. A typed code only counts with the paper receipt in your hand. If you forget, the app asks Are you holding the adult's printed receipt? right there. The tick clears after every check, so it never carries over to the next adult.
3. Check that each child's tag shows the same code, choose who is going home, and release them.

If the code doesn't match, don't release the child. Ask the guardian to wait and fetch the staff on duty. If a child has the restricted flag, only the staff on duty can release them, after checking photo ID against the authorized pickup list.

Practice mode and PRACTICE labels

Switch on Practice mode (top right of the check-in page) to rehearse without touching the real morning. In practice mode:

• every label is printed with PRACTICE · NOT VALID, and the receipt code starts with P-;
• practice check-ins never count toward a room's capacity;
• a live checkout station never accepts a practice code, and a practice station accepts only practice codes.

Any change to how check-in works runs through a full practice Sunday on PRACTICE labels before it's used for real.

The check-in app on an iPad or phone

The Legacy Check-in app runs the kiosk on the church's iPads. The test version is called Legacy Check-in PRACTICE: its icon has a green PRACTICE band, a striped green banner runs across the top of every screen, and every label it prints says PRACTICE.

iPad or phone

• iPad: the app stays in landscape, the way it sits on a kiosk stand. Families see the keypad on the right and the welcome on the left.
• iPhone: the app works in portrait (and turns sideways if you like), with everything in one column. It's handy for staff trying the app or checking a printer, but families check in on the iPads.
• On a families' kiosk, the app opens straight on the family screen: a big welcome, the keypad and an Español button. The top of the screen shows only the church logo and the screen's name, so families never see staff details. Staff get in with the small Staff button next to Español (it asks for the staff PIN), which opens Staff tools: the staff desk, checkout, printers, station setup and the paper kit. Back to the family screen locks the staff screens again.
• On a staff desk station, the app opens on Kids check-in with the staff tools.
• Searching by name (the family screen's Search by name instead, and the staff desk) doesn't mind accents, apostrophes or hyphens: munoz finds Muñoz, zoe finds Zoë, and obrien finds O'Brien.
• On staff screens you'll see the church logo, the screen's name and this station's name. On the right, a Wi-Fi symbol says whether the station is online or offline (a crossed-out symbol means offline: check-ins are kept on the device and sent later). While staff are signed in, a lock button appears: tap it to lock the staff screens straight away.
• The app works with VoiceOver: it reads out each new step and result, and every badge (like Already checked in). On iPhones and iPads that can, a gentle tap confirms a successful print or a matching receipt, and a different tap means stop and look.

Setting up a new station and choosing the staff PIN

The first time the app opens, it asks you to set the station up:

1. Name this station, like Lobby iPad, and choose who uses it (Families for a self-service kiosk, Staff for the welcome desk). The app picks the security code letter for you (every code this station prints starts with it). Only change it, under Advanced: security code letter, if the tech lead gives you another letter, for example when two stations ended up with the same one.
2. Choose a staff PIN of 6 to 12 digits on the keypad, then select Next. The app turns down PINs anyone could guess, like 111111 or 123456.
3. Type the PIN again and select Save. If the two don't match, nothing is saved: choose it again. That way a slip of the finger can't lock everyone out.
4. Load the roster and select Set up printers (see below). You stay signed in while you keep working.

If a station that's already set up has lost its PIN (for example after the iPad was restored), setup doesn't start again by itself: it asks you to reset the station (see Forgot the staff PIN?), so nobody can quietly choose a new PIN and open today's check-ins.

Tell the other staff the PIN in person. Never give it to families, write it on the iPad or send it in a group chat. The app keeps only a scrambled copy that can't be turned back into the PIN, so nobody, including the tech lead, can look it up later. To change it, sign in and open Station setup → Change the staff PIN.

Signing in as staff

The staff desk, checkout, printers and station setup ask for the staff PIN. Type it on the keypad and select Unlock. You stay signed in while you're using the screen. The app signs you out by itself:

• after 90 seconds without a touch on a families' kiosk (3 minutes on a staff desk station);
• when the iPad goes back to the family screen, on a families' kiosk;
• when the app is closed or the iPad sleeps;
• or straight away when you tap the lock button.

That way the next person never finds the desk, codes or reprints open. If you're signed out halfway through a new family, sign in again: what you typed is still there, as long as you stay on the staff desk.

After five wrong PINs the keypad locks for a minute, then for 5 minutes, then 15, so nobody can guess their way in. The screen counts down. Closing the app doesn't clear the lock.

Forgot the staff PIN?

First ask the kids' director or the tech lead: they may know it. The app can't show the PIN or let anyone skip it. If nobody knows it, select Forgot PIN? on the PIN screen. There are two ways back in:

• Reset this station. This deletes the station's check-ins, roster, saved printers and settings from that device, then starts the first-time setup so you can choose a new PIN. Type RESET in the box to confirm, so a curious child can't do it with a tap. The reset is switched off while any child checked in today hasn't been picked up, because it would delete their check-ins and every pickup would need an ID check; it's also off while check-ins are still waiting to be sent (you'll see how many). Then use the managed-iPad route below, or wait until everyone has gone home. Afterwards, setup shows when the PIN was reset, so staff know it happened.
• Managed iPads. If the church's device-management tool looks after the iPad, the tech lead can wipe it or reinstall the app from there. That also clears the station, and you choose a new PIN in setup.

Other stations, printers and the paper kit aren't affected by a reset. Do it well before a service: you'll need to load the roster and find the printers again.

"Did every label print?"

After every check-in, the app takes a moment to ask the printer how it went, then asks the family (in English or Spanish) Did every name tag and your receipt print?

• Yes, everything printed finishes, ready for the next family.
• Reprint name tags prints the children's tags again with the same code. The receipt isn't printed again, so there's never a second receipt.
• My receipt didn't print sends the family to the welcome desk with their tags.
• If the printer reports a problem (out of labels, cover open, the wrong roll), the family is told their children are checked in and the printer needs a volunteer. The details for the volunteer are underneath, under For volunteers. The family can reprint their name tags, or select I'll go to the welcome desk.
• If nothing printed at all, Try printing again sends the whole job again with the same code, as long as no printer received it. If a printer did receive it (even partly), only the name tags print again and the family gets their receipt at the welcome desk. A family screen can try again for 10 minutes after checking in, twice at most.

A second receipt is never printed with the same code. Once any printer has received a family's receipt, the only way to get another is Replace receipt at the staff desk, which needs a photo ID check and gives the family a new code. The old receipt then stops working, so a receipt someone else picks up can never be used.

The screen starts over by itself after 15 seconds without a touch, so the next person in line can't tap a reprint. At the staff desk you see the same question after each print. The receipt didn't print there either prints the whole job again (when no printer received it) or opens Replace the receipt (new code).

If a printer failed partway and the job moved to another printer, the family's labels print there with a new code, and whatever comes out of the first printer later (a reloaded roll can finish the old job) carries a code that no longer works. Today's check-ins shows Collect and shred labels at that printer until a volunteer has shredded them and selected Done: I shredded them.

Registering a new family on the iPad

First-time families check in at the staffed desk, never at the self-service iPad. On the desk iPad, sign in as staff, open Staff desk and select Register a new family (it also appears when a search finds nobody). The form asks only what today needs:

1. The parent or guardian's first and last name and mobile number, and the language they'd like messages in.
2. If a second parent or guardian is with them, select Add a second parent or guardian and type their first and last name and their own mobile number. It's optional, and the same checks apply as for the first. A second parent or guardian is an adult in the household, not a pickup authorization: if the family mentions custody or someone who must not collect a child, tell the kids' director instead of typing it.
3. For each child: first and last name (leave the last name blank to use the family's), and the birthdate or, if the parent isn't sure, the grade (Pre-K, K, 1st and so on).
   • You don't pick a room. Once a birthdate or grade is in, the form shows the room, for example Room: Nursery (by age), or Room: assigned at the desk when no room fits. To put the child somewhere else, select Change room and pick one; Back to automatic undoes it.
   • Birthdate: just type the digits, month first: 03042021 becomes 03/04/2021 on its own, and a single-digit month like 5 becomes 05/. Backspace takes out the slash, then the digit. A date pasted as 1/5/2020, 01-05-2020 or 2020-01-05 is tidied up too.
   • Underneath, the iPad says the date back in words with the child's age, for example Born March 4, 2021 · Age 5 (babies under 2 show their age in months, for the nursery). Read it to the parent: it's the quickest way to catch a typo, or a day and month typed the wrong way round. If the family chose Español for messages, the same line also shows in Spanish.
   • The iPad won't take a date that isn't real, is in the future, or would make the child 18 or older, and it says why and asks you to check the year. Over 12, it saves but suggests checking the year or the room with the kids' director.
4. Allergies, picked from the list (these are the codes that print on the tag). If the parent says there are none, tick None known. Anything else, like a condition or a medicine, goes to the kids' director, not the iPad.
5. Select Save family. The family opens straight away with every child ticked: select Check in 2 children and print (the number matches the children ticked). Their tags carry the first-visit star.

It works with the internet down. The family shows at the desk as their last name with (new) and a New today badge until the office confirms them, and it can be found by either parent's last name or the last four digits of either mobile. Only the names, rooms, allergy codes and those last four digits stay searchable on the iPad; the full numbers, birthdates and grades go to the office's review queue (Check-in → New families) when the station syncs, and then leave the iPad. If the family turns out to be in the system already, the office merges the two records afterwards, so never make a family wait while you check.

Changing a child's room at the desk

Rooms are automatic, but staff can always place a child somewhere else, for example to keep siblings together or for a child the kids' director has moved up early. At the staff desk (signed in with the staff PIN), select Change room under the child's name and pick the room. The choice:

• sticks: it stays the same every Sunday, through birthdays and the new school year, until someone selects Back to automatic;
• is sent to the back office at the next sync, which notes which iPad set it and when, so a later roster never quietly undoes it;
• can also be made or undone in the back office, under Check-in → Rooms.

Families never see these buttons on the self-service screen.

Reprinting and lost receipts

At the staff desk, Today's check-ins lists every family checked in at this station for this service, newest first, with their code. Every reprint is logged, and each row shows how many times it was reprinted. A row marked Print unknown: ask the family means the app was closed or restarted while that family's labels were printing: ask whether everything came out.

• Reprint name tags prints the tags again with the same code. Use it for a torn, smudged or lost name tag.
• Replace lost receipt is for a parent who has lost their pickup receipt before pickup. First check the adult's photo ID against the pickup list. If they're not on it, stop and fetch the kids' director. Then tick I checked the adult's photo ID against the pickup list, write why (for example, Lost in the parking lot), and select Print the new receipt and tags. The family gets a new code: new tags print with it, so swap the tag on every child and tell the room leader. The old receipt stops working: if anyone presents it at checkout, the screen says Receipt replaced: see staff. The row then shows New code issued.

Which service check-ins go to

The station checks children into today's services only. The church has one service, Sunday 10:00 AM, and check-in for it opens at 9:15 AM, 45 minutes before it starts. If another service is added on the same day (say a Christmas Eve evening), each service takes over 45 minutes before it starts. If there's no service on the roster for today, check-in stays closed and says so, so no tag ever prints the wrong date. Load today's roster in Station setup. On an iPad paired with the back office, Check-in → Services sets the times and how early each service opens. On a day with more than one service, the staff desk shows Check-ins go to, with each service listed once by name and time: pick a service to override the time for the rest of the day on that station, or choose By the time to go back.

Events with childcare (a fellowship dinner, a class night) are added in Check-in → Services and work the same way at the iPads: the event becomes current when its check-in opens, children are placed in the event's own rooms by age or grade, and tags, receipts and pickup are exactly as on Sunday. A child outside the event's ages is asked to see the welcome desk, where staff can still place them with Change room. See Check-in services.

Checkout matches today's check-ins only: a receipt from an earlier Sunday never releases anyone. A roster can't be loaded while children from today are still checked in, because checkout might then lose track of them.

When the iPad is paired with the back office

A paired iPad gets the church's families from the back office and sends its check-ins there. To pair one, see the Check-in stations help article. Once it's paired:

• Families update by themselves every few minutes. If children are still checked in, a newer list waits until they've all been picked up, so nobody goes missing at checkout. Station setup says when one is waiting.
• Service times come from the back office, including how early each service opens for check-in.
• Checked in on another iPad? The child shows as checked in here too, and can be checked out at any paired iPad with the same receipt: the code with the receipt in your hand, or the receipt's square code. A receipt replaced at another iPad stops working everywhere.
• Rooms come from the back office: each child's room is worked out there (a room staff chose, else grade, else age) and sent with the families. A room chosen at the desk with Change room is sent back and kept.
• Needs a room: a child no room fits (for example, no birthdate or grade on file), or whose room is closed for today's service, shows Needs a room at the staff desk. Pick the room under the child's name, then check in. On the family screen that child shows Please see the welcome desk.
• No internet? Nothing changes for families: check-in, printing and checkout keep working on the iPad, and everything is sent when the connection is back. The staff home shows Offline, saving here and how many records are waiting.
• Needs pairing again means the station was removed in the back office, or its sign-in was lost. The iPad's check-ins are safe. Ask an admin for a new pairing code.

End of day

In Station setup, Wipe local data clears this device's check-ins and roster. Type WIPE to confirm. If any children are still checked in, the screen warns you first: wiping deletes their check-ins, and each of those pickups would then need an ID check.

Scanning a receipt with the camera

At Checkout, select Scan the receipt with the camera and hold the receipt's square code inside the frame. A scanned code counts as the receipt in your hand. The first time, the iPad asks whether Check-in may use the camera: tap Allow. If someone tapped Don't Allow, the screen offers Open Settings to turn it back on; until then, use a barcode scanner or type the code with the receipt in your hand. The camera only reads the code: nothing is recorded or saved.

Printers

The Printers tab shows the two Brother label printers: the Lobby printer for the kiosks and the Welcome desk printer, each with the tape left on its roll.

• The kiosks print to the lobby printer first and the welcome desk printer second; the desk does the opposite.
• If a printer jams partway through a family's labels, the whole job (every tag and the receipt, with the same code) is sent to the other printer. Shred the partial label.
• Use Jam, Take offline and Load new roll to see what volunteers would see.

Printing happens on the church's own network, with no internet needed.

Finding, adding and naming printers

You never need a printer's IP address. The print hub finds the label printers on the church network by itself and knows each one by its serial number (on the sticker on the printer), so a printer that is moved, or gets a new address from the router, is found again before the next print.

On a check-in iPad, sign in as staff and open Printers:

• Find printers lists every Brother label printer on the network, with its model, serial number, roll and where it is now.
• Use as makes a found printer take the place of one in the list (for example, a replacement for a broken printer). It keeps the old printer's name, so stations carry on as before.
• Add as adds a found printer as a new one. Type a name for it first.
• Remove asks you to confirm first, because the station stops printing there straight away.
• Rename changes what volunteers see. Pick names that say where the printer is, like Lobby printer or Kids wing printer; unnamed printers are Printer 1, Printer 2 and so on. The screens say "Labels printing at Lobby printer", so a good name sends families to the right place.
• Test print, on each printer's card, prints one PRACTICE guardian receipt on that printer. It names no child and can't release anyone: shred it.
• Each card shows the printer's status in words with an icon (Ready, Not reachable, Load a 62 mm continuous roll), its serial number and the address it has now.
• Add by address is for a printer that Find printers can't see, for example on a guest network that blocks the search. You'll find the address on the printer's network settings label. If the printer can't confirm it is a label printer, it is still added, with a warning that it won't be found again if its address changes; ask the tech lead to turn on SNMP in the printer's settings.

The printers must stay on the check-in network, and their SNMP setting must stay on (it is unless someone turned it off): that's how the hub finds them and knows which roll they have.

Setting up the printers on a kiosk iPad

You don't need to know any printer addresses. On the kiosk, sign in as staff and open Printers:

1. Select Find printers. The iPad looks for Brother label printers on the church Wi-Fi and lists each one with its serial number and the roll inside it. Other printers on the network, like the office printer, are left out.
2. Select Add next to each label printer you want this station to use. It's saved as Printer 1, Printer 2 and so on.
3. Select Rename and give it the name on its sticker, like Lobby or Nursery. Families see this name: "Labels printing at Nursery."
4. Select Make preferred on the printer nearest the station, and select Test print on each one. Test prints always come out on PRACTICE labels.

The first time, the iPad asks whether Legacy Check-in may find devices on your local network. Tap Allow, or nothing will be found. If you missed the question, select Allow local network on the Printers screen: the question appears again (or the screen tells you which switch to turn on in Settings).

The kiosk remembers each printer by its serial number, not its address. If the router gives a printer a new address, the kiosk finds it again by itself before the next family's labels print.

If Find printers can't see a printer (it might be on a different network), use Add by address and type the address from the printer's settings page (hold the printer's Cut button to print it). If the printer answers, it's saved by serial number like the others. If it only half-answers, it's saved by address with a warning: ask the tech lead to reserve that address in the router.

Swapped a printer for a spare? Select Find printers, choose the old printer under "Use" replaces this printer, then Use for next to the spare. It keeps the old printer's name and place in line.

Which labels to load

Any Brother 62 mm continuous roll works. Buy DK-2205 (plain white paper): the labels are designed on it. The black-and-red DK-2251 sample roll that comes in the printer's box works too, and prints in black, so it's fine for practice; on a Sunday, keep DK-2205 in every printer so any spare roll fits any station. Die-cut rolls (pre-cut stickers) and narrower rolls don't: the station shows Load a 62 mm continuous roll and the labels print at the next printer.

You don't need to tell the system which roll is loaded: the print hub reads it from the printer before every print, so changing a roll needs no setting. Each printer's Roll on Staff → Printers is Automatic (recommended). Only change it if the tech lead asks, for a printer that can't report its roll.

Printing to a real printer from the demo

The demo can print real labels on a Brother label printer on your own network, through the print hub: a small program that runs on a computer at church and talks to the printers. Every label it prints for the demo is a PRACTICE · NOT VALID label, and it uses the hub's own invented practice families, never real ones.

1. Download the print hub from the Download the print hub link on the Printers tab, and start it on the computer you're using now. The demo hub's staff PIN is 246810.
2. On the Printers tab, check the Hub address. If the hub is on this computer, leave it as http://127.0.0.1:8443.
3. Type the hub's Staff PIN and select Connect. If your browser asks whether this site may reach devices on your local network, choose Allow.
4. The card shows the hub's printers, with each one's roll and status. Select Test print to print one PRACTICE guardian receipt. It names no child, and it can't release anyone: shred it.
5. Go to Self-service kiosk or Staffed desk. The page says Using the print hub's practice families. Type 0102 on the kiosk, or search for Quill at the desk, and print. The child's tag and the guardian receipt come out of the real printer, with the same code; the receipt never shows the child's name or room.

While the hub is connected, the kiosk and desk use the hub's families and printers. Room rosters, Checkout and the paper kit still show the sandbox simulation. Select Disconnect to go back to the simulated printers. Reset sandbox forgets the hub too.

Good to know:

• The hub on this computer works from the public demo, because browsers trust 127.0.0.1 and localhost.
• A hub on another computer needs a secure https:// address with a trusted certificate. A secure page isn't allowed to call a plain http:// address on the network, so the demo says Blocked by the browser instead of trying. Your tech lead can set that up (the hub's certificate guide covers it).
• Your staff sign-in on the hub lasts 10 minutes. After that, type the PIN again to use Test print, Find printers or Add printer by address. The PIN is never saved in the browser.
• A child checks in once per service. To print the same family again, choose another Service on the hub.

Add a printer by address

Find printers searches the network for label printers. If it doesn't find yours (some networks block the search), add it by its address:

1. Sign in as staff on the hub, on the Printers tab.
2. Open Add printer by address and type the printer's Printer address, like 192.168.1.50. You'll find it in the printer's network (WLAN) settings, or in your router's list of devices.
3. Leave Port blank unless your tech lead says otherwise. Give it a Printer ID (like K2) and a friendly Name if you like.
4. Select Add printer. The hub checks the printer is there and shows its model, serial number and roll. Then use Test print to be sure.

On a kiosk iPad that prints without the hub

Each printer has a Roll setting on the kiosk's Printers screen. Leave it on Automatic: before every family's labels, the kiosk asks the printer which roll it has and prints to suit it, so changing rolls needs no change on the screen. DK-2205 (black) and DK-2251 (black/red) are there only for a printer that can't answer that question (one saved by address with a warning); then pick the roll that's in it.

The paper kit

The paper kit is the backup for when the kiosks or both printers are down. It's printed on Saturday night and refreshed an hour before each service, and holds:

• a sheet for each class, listing the children with their alert icons and blank columns for a code and the in and out times;
• a sheet of matched code pairs: one sticker for the child, its twin for the guardian.

If you switch to paper, checkout is by matched code pair only. Select Print paper kit to print it.

Good to know

• The kiosk keeps working without the internet: it holds a copy of the roster and sends its check-ins when the connection returns.
• Kiosks see only what they need: names, classes, approved allergy codes, a restricted flag and the last four digits of a phone. Medical, custody and pickup details are never on a kiosk or a label.
• Families added in People, with a guardian's mobile and a child of Sunday-class age, appear at the kiosk and the desk too.
• Reset demo starts the sandbox Sunday over.
• The print hub, the small computer the kiosks send labels through, is one download for Windows, Mac, Ubuntu or a Raspberry Pi, on the project's GitHub Releases page (the back office will link to it). Unzip it and double-click Start Print Hub to try it with made-up families and PRACTICE labels; nothing else needs installing. A new version stays a draft until a person checks it and publishes it. On a Mac, the first time you open each file, right-click it and choose Open (or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and select Open Anyway), because the download isn't signed by Apple yet. The tech lead's full guide is the print hub's setup guide.

Top tips

• Print the paper kit every Saturday night, even when everything is working; the week you skip it is the week you'll need it.
• At pickup, read the code on the receipt and on the tag out loud: it slows you down just enough to catch a mismatch.
• Put the lobby printer's spare roll beside the kiosk, not in a cupboard: a roll change takes a minute when it's to hand.
• Train new volunteers in practice mode first; PRACTICE labels can't release a real child.

Troubleshooting

"We couldn't find that number." The family isn't in the system under that phone, or the number belongs to someone not in their household. Send them to the welcome desk to check in by name, or add them as visitors.

"Please see the staff on duty." The family has restricted information, or a room is full. Staff finish the check-in at the desk; the kiosk never says which.

"Check-in isn't open right now: no service is scheduled for today." The station's roster has no service dated today, so check-in stays closed rather than print a wrong date. A staff member loads today's roster in Station setup. If the roster won't load because children are still checked in, check them out first.

The printer says "Wrong roll type / check the print data". The system couldn't read which roll is loaded, or someone set the printer's Roll by hand. Sign in as staff, open Printers, and set that printer's Roll back to Automatic (recommended). Then switch the printer off and on, shred anything that came out, and reprint the family's labels from the desk. If it happens again, load a DK-2205 roll and tell the tech lead (the printer's SNMP setting may be off).

Find printers shows nothing. Check the printer is switched on and has finished starting up, and that it's on the church's check-in network, not the guest Wi-Fi. Then try again. Still nothing? Use Add by address with the address from the printer's network settings label, and tell the tech lead.

"Local Network access is off." The iPad isn't letting the app talk to printers. Open the iPad's Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network, turn on Legacy Check-in, then select Find printers again.

"Check that the labels came out at Nursery." The labels were sent, then that printer stopped answering (it may have lost power). Walk over and look: if the labels are there, all is well. If not, fix the printer and reprint the family's labels from the staff desk. The app doesn't print them somewhere else by itself, so a second receipt never turns up by surprise.

"This printer isn't saying which roll it has." Labels still print. The station works out the roll on the first family's job, which may take one extra try. If that printer always has the black and red roll, set its Roll to DK-2251.

Find printers or the roll still isn't working. On the Printers screen, open Advanced (tech lead), type the printer's address and tap Run network check. It shows, in plain lines, whether the app can search the Wi-Fi, what the search heard, whether the printer answered, and which roll is loaded. Take a screenshot of the result and send it to the tech lead: it shows exactly which part is failing.

"Can't reach the print hub." The hub isn't running, the address or port is wrong, or the browser wasn't allowed to reach devices on your network. Start the hub, check the address, and allow local network access when the browser asks (or in the site's settings).

"Wrong PIN." Check the hub's staff PIN. After five wrong tries the hub waits a minute before you can try again.

"Too many wrong PINs. Try again in 1 minute." (the iPad app) Five wrong PINs lock the app's keypad for a minute, then longer each time. Wait for the countdown and try again. If nobody knows the PIN, see Forgot the staff PIN? above.

"Check-ins haven't synced yet" when you try to reset a station. The station still holds check-ins it hasn't sent. Keep it online until the number goes to zero, then reset. Don't delete the app to get round this: those check-ins would be lost.

"No printer found." The printer is off, on a different network, or still waking up. Switch it on, wait a minute, and select Find printers again, or add it by its address.

"Printer 1 isn't on the network." Check the printer is switched on and its Wi-Fi light is on, then select Find printers on the kiosk. Meanwhile, families' labels print at the next printer in line, and the screen says where.

Both printers are down. Switch to the paper kit: write each child on their class sheet and give out matched code pairs.

The receipt is lost. Don't release on a description or a name. Fetch the staff on duty, who check photo ID against the household's authorized pickups, then use Replace lost receipt at the staff desk if the adult is on the list.

"Receipt replaced: see staff." That receipt was reported lost and a new one was printed. Don't release the child. Fetch the kids' director to check photo ID against the pickup list, and tell the room leader.

The labels came out blank, cut short or not at all. Fix the printer first (load a roll, close the cover), shred anything half-printed, then use Print everything again on the family's screen, or Reprint name tags from Today's check-ins at the desk.