A checkout form, which customers may call a booking form or registration form, is the set of questions people answer when they book one of your courses. This guide for course providers shows how to create one, choose its questions, add it to courses and find the answers.
Create the questions under Forms, then choose which forms each course uses. The booker is the person making the booking. An order shows this person as the Order Contact, and some settings call them the primary contact. Guests are the other people attending, called guest participants in some settings.
Course Owners and System Admins can manage forms. For other form types, see Choose Between a Checkout, General or Feedback Form.
What a Checkout Form (Booking Form) Is
You create and edit a Checkout form under Forms, then select it on the course. Every date of the course uses the same form.
The forms selected on the course also decide which questions participants see when they edit their own details after booking. See Let Learners Update Their Details After Booking.
You can ask for text, a longer answer, a date, a number, a choice from a list or a file. Use a Statement to show instructions that do not need an answer. The sections below explain Contact, Registration and Organisation fields and where their answers are saved.
The same form can be used on several courses.
Saving changes to the form changes it for the courses using it.
Checkout forms have Form Editor, Settings and Usage tabs, without the publishing, sharing or response tabs of General forms.
Create or Edit a Checkout Form
Open Forms. Select an existing Checkout form, or click New Form > Checkout.
For a new form, enter a Name and click Create Form. The type cannot be changed later. A new Checkout form starts with First Name, Last Name and Email.
Open Form Editor. In Contact & Registration Fields, use Add Field to choose a Contact or Registration question. Use the separate Organisation Section for business questions.
Move a question using Drag to Reorder. Use Insert Field Here to add a question above it.
Use Field Options to adjust that question. Two neighbouring fields with Width set to Half share a row.
Click Save in the options window, then Save at the top of the form.
Check Form saved, then reopen the form and confirm the questions and options. Checkout forms need no publishing.
Use Remove Field to take a question off this form; locked fields cannot be removed. To rename the form for your team, use Settings > Internal Name.
Add the Checkout Form to a Course
Open Courses > choose the course > Edit Course > Settings > Forms & Participants. Select your forms under Primary registration form (the booker’s form) and Form for guest participants, then save the course.
Beside a selected form, use Edit to open it, Duplicate to copy it, or Create New Form to make a new one. To change the Cademy Default Form, duplicate it first, edit the copy and save the course with that copy selected.
Check Where a Field Saves Its Answer (Contact, Registration or Organisation)
In Forms > your form > Form Editor, shared fields have a Contact, Registration or Organisation label. This tells you where the answer is saved: on the person, on this registration, or on the organisation.
Edit a Shared Statement on a Checkout Form
A Statement shows instructions without asking for an answer. Contact and Registration Statement fields are shared: changing their text changes it on every form that uses that field. In Form Editor, open the Statement’s Field Options, edit the text under Statement and select Save. Cademy shows Statement updated.
What Customers See on the Booking Form at Checkout
Depending on your course settings, customers can be asked whether they are attending or booking for others, and whether they are registering as a person or a business.
In this example, the Your Details step asks whether the booker is attending and whether they are registering as a Person or a Business. The booker and guests can complete the same form or different forms. To set up these choices, see Collect Details for Every Attendee or Only the Booker and Let Customers Book as a Business or an Individual. For the steps your customers follow, see Book a Course for Yourself or Other People.
Why a Customer Can’t Book Without an Email Address
Every booking needs the booker’s email address. On a Checkout form, First Name, Last Name and Email are always required: their Field Options say “This field is always required.” Cademy sends the booking confirmation to that address. If a course’s Primary registration form has no Email field, its Forms & Participants page warns “The selected form does not have an email field.”
A customer without an email address cannot book themselves. Someone else, such as a manager or relative, can book with their own email address and, with Capture Details of All Participants, add the attendee as a guest. Email is always required wherever it is on a form, and Cademy Default Form includes it, so this works only when the course’s Form for guest participants has no Email field. That is not possible for on-demand or blended courses, or when Create each guest as a contact is on.
Course Settings That Control Checkout (Forms & Participants)
Open Courses > choose the course > Edit Course > Settings > Forms & Participants.
This page controls:
whether you collect guests’ details during checkout;
which forms the booker and guests use;
whether guests are also created as contacts;
which course emails go to the booker and guests.
Click Save in the course editor after changing these settings. Whose details are collected is explained in Collect Details for Every Attendee or Only the Booker. The two email switches are explained in Set Up Automatic Confirmation and Reminder Emails.
Multiple Courses in One Checkout With Different Registration Forms
If Allow multiple courses per checkout is enabled under Settings > Payments > Checkout Settings, courses need to use the same Primary registration form to share one basket. It checks the selected form, not whether two forms ask similar questions; Form for guest participants can differ. Select the same primary form on each course and save it.
If the courses have different primary forms, invoice profiles or incompatible payment restrictions, Cademy offers Book This Course Separately or Back To My Basket. The original basket stays saved. The message does not say which setting differs. See Set Up Invoices for Your Courses for invoice-profile guidance.
Combined courses must also belong to the same provider and use the same currency, payment account and invoice profile, with a payment method in common.
Add Contact Fields: Answers Saved on the Person
Contact fields collect personal details you want to keep for future bookings, such as a telephone number. Their answers belong to the person’s contact record.
In Form Editor > Contact & Registration Fields > Add Field > Contact Fields, select a field you already use. Or choose New Contact Field…, choose the answer type, enter the details and click Create Field. This creates the shared definition immediately; save the form separately to keep its placement. For field types and settings, see Create Custom Contact Fields for Your Forms.
Change a Shared Contact Field Used on Several Forms
Open Settings > Fields > Contacts, select the field, make your changes and click Save Field. Changing a field’s name or choices affects every form using it, including copies of a form. Create a separate field if just one form needs a different question. Some system fields offer Custom Label in Field Options to change their wording on one form only.
Add Registration Fields: Answers for One Course Place
Not every answer should be kept as a person’s general contact details. Registration Fields keep course-specific answers, such as a declaration, one-off consent or “What would you like to learn on this course?”, on the registration instead of the contact record.
In Form Editor > Contact & Registration Fields > Add Field, select an existing Registration Field or choose New Registration Field…. Choose the answer type, enter the details and click Create Field, then save the form. Manage reusable registration fields under Settings > Fields > Registrations. For the full setup, see Ask Course-Specific Booking Questions (Registration Fields).
Add Business Questions to a Checkout Form (Organisation Fields)
Organisation fields collect business details, such as a company name or billing email, and save them on the organisation’s record. To add them and let companies book, see Let Customers Book as a Business or an Individual and Create Company Fields for Organisation Records.
Ask Dietary Requirements Only for Course Dates (Sessions) That Offer Catering
Every date of a course asks the same questions, and conditions cannot check which date was booked. Put the catered dates on a separate course with its own form, or ask “Does your date include lunch?” first and show the dietary question only when the answer is Yes. See Ask Course-Specific Booking Questions (Registration Fields).
Show or Hide Checkout Questions with Conditions
A condition shows a question only when an earlier answer or a booking detail matches a rule. The full guide is Show or Hide Form Questions Based on Answers.
Show Questions Based on Booking Details, Such as Number of People
Creating or changing conditions requires Teams or Custom (or Conditional Fields included in your account) and conditional fields enabled for your account.
Open Forms > your Checkout form > Form Editor, then open the question’s Field Options. Under Visibility, select Only When…, choose an earlier question or a booking detail and its value, then save the options and the form. Booking details:
Number of People: places across the whole basket.
Order Value: the price of the chosen places before promo codes, discounts and fees, in the booking’s currency. A discount at payment does not change questions already asked.
Primary Contact Attending: whether the booker is attending.
Booking as an Organisation: whether the booking is being made as a business.
Hidden questions are not required and their typed answers are not saved. After booking, conditions use the saved order’s places and values; custom invoice items such as room hire do not count. Use Preview Logic to try the rules without creating a response.
Hide a Question From a Booker Who Is Not Attending
Use Primary Contact Attending is Yes on attendee questions, such as dietary needs. The steps and the multi-course exceptions are in Collect Details for Every Attendee or Only the Booker.
Hide If Primary Contact Is Not Attending (Accounts Without Conditions)
If your account does not have the conditional editor, eligible questions offer the older Hide If Primary Contact Is Not Attending switch instead. See Collect Details for Every Attendee or Only the Booker.
Make a Checkout Question Required
A required question must be answered before checkout can continue, while that question is shown.
Open the Checkout form under Forms.
In Form Editor, open the question’s Field Options.
Turn on Required.
Click Save in the options, then Save at the top.
First Name, Last Name and Email are always required. A hidden question does not need an answer while hidden. Required is set per form, so a field can be required on one form and optional on another.
Fill In Saved Answers Automatically (Allow Autocomplete)
Allow Autocomplete controls whether checkout fills a Contact field from details already saved for the identified contact in your account.
On: use a saved answer when one is available, so the person does not need to enter it again.
Off: ask the person to enter the answer again.
Open Settings > Fields > Contacts, select the field, change Allow Autocomplete and click Save Field. For example, leave it on for a telephone number you want to reuse. Registration fields and uploaded files are never filled in automatically. Business details have their own Pre-Populate option in Organisation Section settings.
View the Forms People Completed on Registration (Checkout Answers)
Checkout forms have no Responses tab. Each answer is saved on the registration, the contact or the organisation, depending on its field.
Find Checkout Answers on the Registration (Registrants)
Open Courses, choose the course and select Registrants. Open the registration. Expand Contact Info for contact details or Registration Fields for answers saved on that course registration. System Admins can also start from Registrations in the main menu.
Find Checkout Answers on the Contact Page
A System Admin can open Contacts and select the person to see saved personal details. If an answer is not here, check the registration: it may have been collected through a Registration Field.
Find Business Checkout Answers on the Organisation Page
A System Admin can open Organisations and select the business to see its saved details.
Check an Answer’s Format with Validation Rules
Validation checks that an answer has the format you need before checkout can continue.
Open the Checkout form under Forms, then open the question’s Field Options in Form Editor.
For a Number or Date field, use Minimum and Maximum. For example, limit a number to a range you accept.
For supported text fields, the Validation section has Pattern, a regular expression (a pattern used to check the answer’s format), and Error Message, shown when the answer does not match.
Click Save in the options, then save the form. Check the customer form with an answer that should pass and one that should fail.
Require Students to Upload a Certificate Showing Eligibility (File Upload)
To make customers send a document at checkout, such as a certificate that shows they are eligible, add a File Upload field to the form and turn on Required in its Field Options. Checkout then cannot continue without a file.
On the shared File Upload field, set Max files, Max file size (MB) and, if needed, Accepted file types. The default is one file up to 10 MB. You can allow up to 10 files and up to 50 MB per file, but the number of files multiplied by the size limit must be 100 MB or less. For example, 5 files at 20 MB each is allowed.
Checkout checks only the number, size and type of the files, so review each document yourself. A Registration File Upload is saved on the registration (Registration Fields in its side sheet), a Contact File Upload on the contact record. Uploaded files are not included in exports.
Use a Checkout Form for Membership Sign-Ups
A System Admin can select a Checkout form under Memberships > Membership Plans > choose the membership > Advanced Settings > Membership signup form, then click Save Membership. Signup forms do not support File Upload questions. For conditions, Number of People is 1, Order Value is the membership price and Primary Contact Attending is Yes. See Create a Membership for Your Courses.
See Which Courses (Sessions) Use a Form Before Copying or Deleting It
Before changing or deleting a shared form, open its Usage tab to see the courses using it. Click View to open a course’s settings; archived courses appear without a View button. The list shows at most 50 courses. Memberships using the form are not listed, so check them separately.
Copy: in the Forms list, open the three-dot menu beside the form, choose Duplicate…, check the Name and select Duplicate. Select the copy on the courses that need it and save each course. Its fields are still shared.
Rename: choose Rename… from the same menu, change the Name and select Save.
Remove: choose Delete…. Select and save replacement forms on the listed courses first, or use the dialog’s Remove action to detach this form from a listed course. Remove clears every primary and guest assignment of this form on that course. Each cleared assignment immediately uses Cademy Default Form.
Archived course uses can be removed here too. Save a replacement signup form on each membership plan that uses the form, then select Delete in the final confirmation.
See Which Forms Use a Field Before Deleting It
Open Settings > Fields, choose the tab for the field, open the field’s gear menu and select Delete. If forms still use the field, Cademy lists them instead of deleting it. Select the X beside a form, then Remove, to take the field off it.
Let Participants Update Their Details After Booking
Participants Editing Their Own Details (Edit Your Details)
Learners Updating Saved Contact Details on My Profile
Bookers Editing Another Participant’s Details (Edit Attendee)
Choose Whose Details Checkout Collects (Participant Capture Preference)
Only Capture Primary Contact Details: The Booker Only
Capture Details of All Participants: Every Attendee
Ask Whether the Booker Is Attending or Booking for Others
Choose the Booker’s Form (Primary Registration Form)
See “Add the Checkout Form to a Course” above and Collect Details for Every Attendee or Only the Booker.
Questions for a Booker Who Is Attending
Questions for a Booker Who Is Not Attending
Choose the Form Guests Fill In (Form for Guest Participants)
Create Each Guest as a Contact
Send Course Emails to Guests (Send Guest Participants Emails)
Send Course Reminders to the Booker (Primary Contact Reminder Emails)
Let Customers Book as a Person or a Business
When the Person or Business Choice Appears at Checkout
Turn On the Person or Business Choice
Choose How Business Details Are Entered at Checkout
Show the Business Section Only for Some Bookings
Frequently Asked Questions
Why has checkout not changed after I edited the form?
Save the form and check the course’s selected primary and guest forms under Edit Course > Settings > Forms & Participants. Save the course if you change its selected forms.
Can I preview a checkout form without making a booking?
The Form Editor shows the questions in order. When the form has conditions, Preview Logic lets you answer the questions and see which appear; nothing in the preview is saved.
Why can I not choose a General form for checkout?
Course form selectors accept only Checkout forms; General forms do not create bookings. A Form block in an online lesson takes a General or Feedback form, not a Checkout form. See Add Forms to Lessons.