Course checkout forms define what customers see during checkout, which questions they must answer, and where their answers are saved in Cademy.
This guide is for course providers. It starts with what customers see, then explains where you control it. The primary booker is the person making the booking, called the primary contact in some settings. Guest participants are the other people attending.
Your existing checkout forms are now under Forms in your Cademy dashboard. You do not need to recreate them. For the different form types, see Forms.
Course Owners and System Admins can manage forms. You also need access to the course you want to change. If either is missing, ask the person who manages your team’s Cademy access.
What customers see at checkout
Depending on your course settings, customers may be asked whether they are attending or booking for others, and whether they are registering as a person or a business.
You choose which questions the booker and guest participants answer. They can complete the same form or different forms.
Attending or booking for others
When Capture Details of All Participants is enabled, checkout asks whether the booker will be attending the course.
Attending: the booker is also a participant and completes the primary form for themselves.
Booking for others: the booker still completes the primary form, but you can hide questions that only apply to someone attending. The other participants use the guest form.
For example, you may need a booker’s email address even when they are not attending, but only need dietary requirements from the people coming to the course.
If you choose Only Capture Primary Contact Details, the attendance question is not shown. Customers can still book multiple spaces, but guest details are not collected during checkout. The next sections explain these course settings.
Personal or business registration
Organisation fields allow customers to register as a business instead of as an individual during checkout. Business details are saved on the organisation’s record, separately from personal contact details.
When the Person / Business choice appears
Both of these must be in place:
The course’s primary checkout form includes an Organisation Section.
Ask Customers If They’re Purchasing As An Individual Or Business is switched on in that section’s settings.
Customers choose whether they are registering as a person or a business. Business customers can then select or enter organisation details, depending on the options you allow below. Having organisation fields elsewhere in your account does not turn on this choice.
If the Organisation Section is present but this choice is switched off, checkout shows Business Details directly. Switching off the choice does not remove the business section.
How to enable personal or business registration
Open your Cademy dashboard and select Forms.
Open the Checkout form used as the course’s Primary registration form, then open Form Editor.
If the form has no business section, click Add Organisation Section. Inside it, use Add Field to add the business details you need.
Open the three-dot menu beside Organisation Section and select Section Settings….
Turn on Ask Customers If They’re Purchasing As An Individual Or Business.
Check the options below, click Save in the window, then Save at the top of the form.
Make sure this form is selected on the course. The path is Courses > open the course > Edit Course > Settings > Forms & Participants > Primary registration form. Save the course after changing its selected form.
Choose how business details are entered
These options are in the same Section Settings… window:
Pre-Populate: fill in the business details when the customer is already linked to an organisation.
Auto-Link By Domain: if the customer is not linked to an organisation, try to match their email domain to an organisation’s domain. For example, a work email ending in @example.com may match that company.
Allow Organisation Search: let customers find and select an existing organisation from your account.
Lock Linked Organisations: stop a customer who is already linked to an organisation from choosing a different one.
Allow Creating New Organisations: let customers create a new organisation during checkout.
Under Org Fields Visibility, choose what happens when an existing organisation is selected:
Hide All Org Fields When An Existing Organisation Is Selected: the customer does not need to fill in those business fields again.
Always Show All Org Fields & Allow Editing: show the business fields and allow changes to the saved details.
If you allow customers to select and edit an existing organisation, their changes can update that organisation’s saved record. Choose these options carefully.
Where checkout behaviour is controlled
Open Courses > choose the course > Edit Course > Settings > Forms & Participants.
This page controls:
whether you collect guest participant details during checkout;
which forms the primary 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. The following sections use the same setting names you see on this page.
Participant capture preference
This setting controls whose details are collected during checkout.
Only Capture Primary Contact Details
Customers can book one or more spaces.
Only the booker completes a form, using the Primary registration form.
The attending or booking-for-others question is not shown.
Guest participant details can be added later.
Capture Details of All Participants
Checkout asks whether the booker is attending or booking for others.
Details are collected for each participant before checkout is completed.
The booker uses the primary form; other participants use the guest form.
The attendance question comes with this setting. It cannot be switched off separately.
Primary registration form
Select the form for the person making the booking under Primary registration form. This is also where you choose the form containing your personal or business registration options.
When the primary booker is attending
The booker answers the questions on the primary form. Any required questions that are shown must be completed.
When the primary booker is not attending
The primary form is still used. Questions with Hide If Primary Contact Is Not Attending enabled are hidden. The booker completes the remaining questions.
This avoids asking someone who is booking for colleagues to provide their own dietary or medical details. See “Hide or show fields based on attendance” below for the steps.
Form for guest participants
Under Form for guest participants, select the form for the other people attending. You can use the same form as the primary booker or a different one.
When Capture Details of All Participants is enabled, the booker provides each guest’s details using this form. The booker’s attendance choice does not hide questions from the guest form.
Create each guest as a contact
This setting is on the course’s Forms & Participants page.
On: guest details also create a contact record in your account.
Off: collecting guest details does not itself create a separate contact record.
For on-demand and blended courses, guest contacts are used for course access and this switch is not shown.
The guest form must include Email for on-demand and blended courses, and when Create each guest as a contact is on. The primary form must also include Email. If a missing-email warning appears, add the field or choose another form.
Send guest participants emails
On the course’s Forms & Participants page, turn on Send guest participants emails when guests should receive course confirmation and reminder emails.
Collect each guest’s email address. The course’s email templates and sending rules still apply; the switch alone does not confirm that an email was sent.
Send primary contact reminder emails
This separate switch controls course reminders to the person who owns the order. Turn it on when the booker should receive reminders too.
Save the course after making changes. These are course email settings. The response confirmation emails in General forms are configured separately.
What a checkout form is
A Checkout form is the set of questions used during a booking. You create and edit it under Forms, then select it on the course.
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 next sections 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. They do not have the separate publishing, sharing or response tabs used by 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.
Open Form Editor and use Add Field to add your 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. Field Width, where available, lets you place questions side by side. Two neighbouring fields set to Half share a row.
Click Save in the options window, then Save at the top of the form.
Use Remove Field to take a question off this form. Locked fields cannot be removed. To rename the form for your team, open Settings > Internal Name, enter the name and click Save.
Select it on the course
Open Courses > choose the course > Edit Course > Settings > Forms & Participants. Select your forms under Primary registration 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.
Contact fields and how data is stored
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 > 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.
Change a shared field
Open Settings > Fields > Contacts, select the field, make your changes and click Save Field. Course Owners and System Admins can access these settings.
Contact fields are shared. Changing a field’s name or choices affects other forms using it, including copies of a form. Create a separate field if just one form needs different questions. Some system fields offer Custom Label in Field Options to change their wording on one form only.
Registration fields: answers for a particular course
Not every answer should be kept as a person’s general contact details. Registration Fields keep answers for that person’s registration on a course. They can differ between courses without replacing the person’s contact details.
Use them for course-specific declarations, one-off consent or “What would you like to learn on this course?”. These replace the old “Save to Enrollment” choice described in the previous article.
In Form Editor > 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. Their answers appear on the registration, rather than on the contact profile.
Organisation fields and business registration
Organisation fields collect business details, such as a company name or billing email. Their answers belong to the organisation’s record.
In the form’s Organisation Section, click Add Field to select an existing organisation field. Or choose New Organisation Field…, enter the details and click Create Field, then save the form.
Manage these shared fields under Settings > Fields > Organisations. To let customers choose between a person and a business, follow “Personal or business registration” near the start of this guide.
Hide or show fields based on attendance
Hide questions that only apply to attendees when the booker is registering other people. This works when Capture Details of All Participants is enabled on the course.
Open Forms and select the course’s primary Checkout form.
In Form Editor, open the question’s Field Options.
Turn on Hide If Primary Contact Is Not Attending.
Click Save in the options, then Save at the top of the form.
If the booker is attending, the question is shown. If they are booking for others, it is hidden. This does not hide questions from guests. Locked required fields and organisation fields do not offer this option.
How to make a field 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.
Some system fields are always required. A question hidden by the booker’s attendance choice does not need an answer at that point.
How Allow Autocomplete works
Allow Autocomplete controls whether checkout fills in a contact field using details already saved for that person.
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 in its options and click Save Field.
For example, leave it on for a telephone number you want to reuse. Turn it off when you want someone to provide a fresh answer. Registration fields do not copy answers from earlier registrations, and uploaded files are not filled in automatically.
This is a shared-field setting. Business details have their own Pre-Populate option in Organisation Section settings.
Where course providers see submitted data
Where you find an answer depends on the kind of field used.
Registration details
Open Courses > choose the course > Registrations. Select the registration and expand Contact Info to see its details and course-specific answers. System Admins can also start from Registrations in the main sidebar.
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.
Organisation page
A System Admin can open Organisations and select the business to see its saved details. Checkout answers are not listed in a separate Responses tab on the form.
Updating participant details after booking
The order owner manages participant details. This is the person whose account the order belongs to, normally the person who placed the order.
They can open My Account > My Courses & Bookings > Orders & Billing, open the order and use Manage Participants. Available actions depend on the booking.
A guest cannot manage somebody else’s order. If required answers are missing, the guest can complete them when the course page asks for Additional details required. Their email address remains locked.
For the full steps, changing an email address, replacing a participant and missing controls, see Manage Participants and View Their Course Progress and Certificates.
Custom form validation rules
Validation checks that an answer has the format you need before checkout can continue. Only set a rule when you need one.
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, Pattern Validation offers Regular Expression and Custom Error Message. A regular expression is a pattern used to check the answer’s format.
Click Save in the options, then save the form. Check the customer form with an answer that should pass and one that should fail.
If you use an AI tool to help write a pattern, check it before using it. The error message should tell the customer how to correct their answer.
File uploads
When creating or editing a shared File Upload field, set Max files, Max file size (MB) and, if needed, Accepted file types. Find the field later under Settings > Fields.
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.
Using a checkout form for membership signups
A System Admin can also select a Checkout form under Memberships > Membership Plans > choose the membership > Advanced Settings > Membership signup form. Click Save Membership.
Course participant settings do not control membership signups. For the rest of the membership setup, see Create and Manage Memberships for Learners.
Copying or removing a checkout form
Before changing a shared form, open its Usage tab to see the courses using it. Click View to open a course’s settings. Archived courses appear too, but do not have a View button.
Copy: in the Forms list, open the three-dot menu beside the form and choose Duplicate…. Select the copy on the courses that need it. Shared contact, registration and organisation fields are still shared.
Rename: choose Rename… from the same menu.
Remove: choose Delete…. A form cannot be deleted while a course uses it. Select a replacement on those courses and save them first.
Archived courses can also block deletion. Contact Cademy through the dashboard chat if an archived course prevents you from removing a form. Usage only lists courses, so check any memberships using the form separately.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the booker not asked whether they are attending?
Check Courses > choose the course > Edit Course > Settings > Forms & Participants. The question appears when Capture Details of All Participants is selected.
Can customers book multiple spaces when I only capture the primary contact?
Yes. Only Capture Primary Contact Details collects the booker’s details without asking for each guest’s details during checkout.
Why is the Person / Business choice missing?
Check the course’s selected Primary registration form. It must include an Organisation Section with Ask Customers If They’re Purchasing As An Individual Or Business switched on. Follow “Personal or business registration” above.
Can the booker and guests complete different forms?
Yes. Select them separately under Primary registration form and Form for guest participants on the course’s Forms & Participants page.
Why is a question missing for the booker?
Check that it is on the selected primary form. Also check Hide If Primary Contact Is Not Attending and the personal or business choice. These can hide questions that do not apply.
Why are guests not created as contacts?
For courses showing this option, check Create each guest as a contact. On-demand and blended courses use guest contacts for course access and do not show the switch.
Why did a guest not receive an email?
Check their email address, Send guest participants emails and the course’s email settings. If you still need help checking delivery, contact Cademy through the dashboard chat.
Why did my form changes affect several courses?
The courses use the same form. Duplicate the form and select the copy where needed. Remember that editing a shared field’s name or choices can also affect other forms using that field.
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.
Why can I not choose a General form for checkout?
These selectors accept Checkout forms. General forms collect separate responses and do not create course bookings.
Where can I get help?
Use the chat in your Cademy dashboard or email support@cademy.io.