Simple PTA Setup Guide

• Admin UI Overview
• Previous Users of pickAtime
• Checklist
• STEP ONE: Setup Event
• STEP TWO: Add or Import Teachers
• STEP THREE: Create Slots
• STEP FOUR: Adjust Settings
• STEP FIVE: Try it Out

Admin UI Overview

When you first log in to your pickAtime account, you will automatically land on the Administrative User Interface, with the Event Reports displayed by default.

Profile & Sidebar Navigation

• Profile Settings: In the top-left corner, your name is displayed. Click the back arrow (<) to edit your profile, change your password, or log out.

• Minimize Sidebar: Click the "X" in the green ribbon to collapse the sidebar and expand your workspace.

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• Multi-Account Users: Use the Vendor drop-down menu to toggle between different accounts.

Left-Hand Navigation Menu

• Reports: View both account-wide and event-specific data.

  • Account Reports: Select this button to view billing and global data.

  • Event Reports: Select this button to view data for specific events. Use the Event drop-down to switch between events, and the Report drop-down to switch between specific report types. (See the Reports section for more details).

• Events Preview: Create, view, and manage your scheduled events.

• Appointments List: View all upcoming appointments globally, or filter them by date/event. From this page, you can delete appointments and send one-off emails to participants.

• Contacts: Manage all users linked to your account (Administrators, Teachers and Parents).

  • Parents: View scheduled appointments, history logs (bookings, cancellations, emails sent), or manually reset parent passwords.

  • Teachers: View and adjust administrative access levels.

   

• Importer: Upload your roster and data files.

• Global Setup: Manage your sitewide configurations across two tabs:

  • Business: Update your school’s name, address, and core account settings.

  • Contacts: Create custom prompts and forms for parents to complete when they first register on your scheduling site.

• Calendar Sync: Authorize administrators to sync their Google and/or Outlook calendars with the platform.

• Online Scheduler: A quick-access link to the live booking page (also known as the Customer User Interface or CUI).

• Add New Account: Opens a new window to set up a brand-new business or sub-account.

• User Manual: Opens the comprehensive Online User Manual in a separate window.

• Tour This Page: Launches an interactive, step-by-step guided walkthrough with helpful on-screen popups.
  

Previous Users of pickAtime

Setting up a new event

If you've used pickAtime before, you don't need to create a new account — simply create a new event under your existing account (e.g., "Parent Teacher Conferences 2026").

Recommended order:

1. Create the new event first.
2. Delete the old event afterward, if you're not reusing its data.

Creating the new event before deleting the old one preserves your settings — UI Setup, Notification Setup, and CUI Messages — by carrying them over.

⚠️ Don't simply rename your old event. Importing new class/enrollment data into a renamed event will merge with the old data, rather than replacing it.

 

Contact Information

What happens to contact data between events

Contact information — including parent/teacher login credentials and student records — is retained across events and is not deleted when you delete an event. This means:

• Parents can log back in with their original email and password.
• Parents who've forgotten their password can use Forgot Password on the login page.

This is especially useful for schools running multiple conferences per year.

If you'd prefer parents create fresh accounts each time (e.g., for annual conferences), you can manually clear old contact data.

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How to remove all previous contact information

1. Go to Global Setup / Contacts.
2. Click Show Advanced Options.
3. Click Remove All Customers.
4. Select the access level to delete from the pull-down.

Access levels (from broadest to narrowest):

Important: Deleting a given level also deletes every level below it on this list. For example, deleting Resource Administrator also deletes Appointment Maker, Appointment Viewer, and Customer access (parents).

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Exceptions — what won't be deleted

• Contacts who have logged in within the last 2 months
• Contacts who have booked an appointment within the last 2 months
  

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⚠️ When you should remove old contact data

You'll want to clear previous contact/student data if either of the following applies:

• Teacher IDs are being reused — e.g., a new teacher will use a departing teacher's TeacherID

In either case, leaving old records in place can cause conflicts with the new data.

Checklist

Checklist: Setting Up a Simple PTA Event

To set up your Parent-Teacher Conference event using the Simple PTA scheduler, follow these steps:

1. Setup Your Event Create your conference event and give it a clear, descriptive name (e.g., "Fall 2026 Conferences").
2. Add or Import Your Teachers Add your teachers manually, or import them using a Teacher file.
3. Create Slots for the Event After verifying your data, create your time slots — including dates, times, and appointment durations.
4. Configure Settings
   • Appointment Settings — Adjust various settings specific to your event.
   • Configure Notifications (optional) — Customize the default email confirmations and reminder notices, if needed.
5. Try It Out Test your scheduler before opening it to parents.

STEP ONE: Setup Event

Create Your Event

When you first log in to pickAtime, you'll land in the Admin tool on the Event Reports page.

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Steps to Create a New Event

1. Select Events/Preview from the sidebar.
2. Click the green Add button.
3. Enter a name for your event — e.g., Fall 2026 Conferences.
4. Select the event type: Simple PTA.
5. (If you've used pickAtime before) Select a Template from the pull-down, based on a previous event. This carries over your starting settings from UI Setup, Notification Setup, and CUI Messages.
6. Select your event's time zone.
7. (Optional) Add a Date and Location.

Once saved, your event will appear as a new row in the Events list.

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About the Date and Location Fields

These fields are optional and primarily used to distinguish between multiple events when more than one is listed.

• The Date field is just a label — if your conference spans multiple dates, you can list them all here, or leave it blank.
• You do not need to create a separate event for each date — a single event can include any number of dates.

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Adding Event Details

Use the Event Details box to add event-specific information you'd like to display on the scheduler or include in emails.

Anything entered here becomes available as a macro: $(E_DESCRIPTION)

You can insert this macro into your CUI Messages or Notification Setup templates to automatically pull in this text.

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Removing a Previous Event

If you've used pickAtime before and are importing new data, you can delete your previous event(s) once the new one is created.

1. Create your new event first (see steps above).
2. Click Delete on the old event.

Creating the new event before deleting the old one lets you use the previous event as a template. Be sure to confirm your new event is set to type Simple PTA.

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Deleting Your Contacts

To remove all parents and teachers from your account:

1. Go to Global Setup / Contacts.
2. At the bottom of the page, click Remove All Customers.
3. Select the access level to delete from the pull-down.

Use this option if you'd like to clear out previous parent login information before a new event.

What's preserved:

• Contacts with full Administrator access are never removed.
• Any parent who has logged in within the past month is also preserved.

STEP TWO: Add or Import Teachers

There are two ways to populate your teacher roster: add them manually, or import a Teacher file.

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Option A: Manually Add Teachers

Go to Event Management / Appointments.

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Copy teachers from a previous event

1. Select the Teachers drop-down.
2. Select Copy Teachers.

Once copied, you can safely delete the old event.

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Add teachers one by one

To add an existing contact as a teacher:

1. Select Add Teacher from the Teachers drop-down.
2. In the Select Person dialog, search for the teacher's name.
3. Select the correct name, confirm the details on the right, then click Select.

To add a brand-new teacher:

1. In the Select Person dialog, enter the teacher's Last Name, First Name, and Email on the left.
2. Click Add New, then click OK.

Repeat until all teachers are added — each will appear in your teacher list on the right.

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Option B: Import a Teacher File

Step 1: Create the File

Example:

File must be tab-delimited (.txt from Excel, .tsv from Google Sheets), with column headers matching exactly (no spaces) in the first row.

Optional columns:

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Step 2: Import Your File

1. Log into pickAtime and click Importer.
2. Set Data Type to School.
3. Select your event from the Event pull-down.
4. Set File Type to Teachers.
5. Click Browse, select your file, and click Import.

If you left out some teachers, you can simply import a follow-up file containing just the missing rows.

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Error Messages on Import

"Found contact with teacherid of ABC and a different contact with the email of [email]"

This means your import row has TeacherID ABC + a specific email, but the Admin UI already has two separate existing contacts — one matching the TeacherID, one matching the email — and the system can't tell which one to update.

Example:

Your import file:

Existing Admin UI contacts:

How matching works: The import looks for a matching TeacherID or a matching email. If it finds one match, it updates the rest of that contact's info. If it finds both a TeacherID match and a separate email match — pointing to two different contacts — it can't determine which one you intended to update, so it flags this error instead.

Fix: In the Admin UI, search for the contact with the flagged email. If that contact has a different (likely outdated) TeacherID than your file, delete it, then re-import your teacher file.

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Viewing Your Imported Data

Go to the Appointments page and confirm your teacher list (right-hand side) is correct.

STEP THREE: Create Slots

Creating Slots

To get started, from the Admin UI, go to Events / Preview and select your event. Click the orange Go To Event button to open your event. You will then see the Appointments tab. From the left-hand calendar, select the date you want to work with. Open the Slots drop-down and choose Create Slots.

Step 1: Choose Which Teachers to Create Slots For

In the slot generator, choose to create slots for selected teachers or all teachers/resources. To select multiple teachers, hold Ctrl while clicking names in the right-hand panel.

Step 2: Set Your Time and Duration

Example: 10-minute slots with a 5-minute travel break create slots at 8:00–8:10, 8:15–8:25, 8:30–8:40, and so on.

Note: If you need a break that doesn't align with your slot duration (e.g., 20-minute slots but a 40-minute lunch break), create slots in two batches — one before the break, one after.

Step 3: Choose Appointment Type

Step 4: Set Slot Visibility

You can optionally add a custom message for unavailable slots.

Step 5: Set Maximum Appointments Per Slot (Optional)

Use this for group sessions, open labs, or any scenario where multiple families can book the same time slot.

Creating Slots for Multiple Days or Teachers

Tip: If you created identical slots for all teachers at once, individual slots won't display until you click a specific teacher's name in the right-hand panel.

Updating Existing Slots

Use Update Slots to change existing slot characteristics without deleting and recreating them.

To access: Appointments tab → select date/teacher → Slots / Update Slots

You can update:

• Appointment type (e.g., switch from in-person to virtual)
• Maximum appointments per slot
• Slot visibility (hidden, unavailable, etc.)

Tip: If you created identical slots for all teachers at once, individual slots won't display until you click a specific teacher's name in the right-hand panel.

"Keep existing slot type on slots being updated" — useful when teachers have already blocked parts of their schedule, since it lets you change appointment type without affecting slot type.

Blocking Slots

Blocking is the preferred way to temporarily remove availability without permanently deleting a slot.

1. Go to the Appointments page and click the X in the corner of the slot.
2. The slot turns red and displays "Blocked." You can enter a custom message (e.g., "Lunch Break" or "Staff Meeting").
3. To unblock, click the X again to restore availability.

Blocked slots appear on reports when Show All Slots is enabled.

Deleting Slots

Use Delete Time Slots to permanently remove slots.

To access: Appointments tab → select date/teacher → Slots / Delete Time Slots

If appointments already exist on those slots, you'll be prompted to choose:

• Move appointments to the red Appointments List (a holding area for manual rebooking or cancellation)
• Cancel appointments without sending a notification
• Cancel appointments and send a cancellation email

Tip: Consider whether parents need a cancellation notification before confirming any deletion.

Moving Slots

Use Move Slots to transfer an entire day's slots — and any existing appointments — to a new date. Useful for school closures, rescheduled conference days, or teacher availability changes.

To access: Appointments tab → select date/teacher → Slots / Move Slots

In the dialog, select the destination date, choose whether to move slots for all teachers or selected teachers, and confirm.

Existing appointments transfer with all parent information intact, and appointment times remain the same.

Important: Calendar notification emails are not sent automatically — advise parents to update any calendar entries they've saved. You can send a custom notification email explaining the change.

Copying Slots

Use Copy Slots to duplicate a day's slot structure to another date or teacher — without copying existing appointments.

To access: Appointments tab → select date/teacher → Slots / Copy Slots

Select the destination date and/or teacher(s) and confirm. Slot visibility, appointment type, and availability settings are all preserved.

If you also need appointments to transfer, use Move Slots instead.

Changing Slot Duration or Times

Slot start times, end times, and duration cannot be edited in place. To change any of these:

1. Delete the slots you want to change (or all slots for that day).
2. Recreate them with the correct settings.

Example: If you have 10-minute slots from 8:00 AM–2:00 PM but want 9:00 AM–1:00 PM instead, delete the 8:00–9:00 AM and 1:00–2:00 PM slots (or delete all and start fresh), then create the new schedule.

Quick Reference: Which Tool to Use?

Slot Color Guide

STEP FOUR: Adjust Settings

Event Settings (UI Setup)

The UI Setup page lets you adjust settings specific to a single event.

To get there:

1. From the Admin UI, go to Events / Preview and select your event.
2. Click Go To Event to open Event Management.
3. Select Settings / UI Setup.

Work through the sections from top to bottom, as outlined below.

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Scheduler Availability

Appointment Number Limits

Appointment Cancellations

Customer cannot cancel their appointment closer than XX hours/days/weeks Restricts how close to the appointment time a parent can cancel.

• Set to 0 to allow cancellation up to the last minute.
• Set to a large value to effectively prevent cancellations.

Note: Closing the scheduler does not automatically prevent cancellations — this setting is separate.

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Close Appointment Booking

Controls when slots become unavailable for new bookings, ahead of the appointment time. Choose one of three methods:

1. Close booking at a specific time of day, XX days before the appointment date.
2. Close booking XX hours/days/weeks/months before the appointment time.
3. Close booking XX hours before the first appointment of the day.

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Scheduler Settings

Scheduling Link

Your event's Scheduling Link is the URL you share with parents (on your website or via email) to access the booking page (CUI). You can customize it with an event-specific suffix — for example: https://pickatime.com/HowardSchool/LS or https://pickatime.com/HowardSchool/US

Important: Even with a custom event link, parents will see a toggle to switch to any other open events on your account. To restrict parents to a single event with no toggle option, use the Category link instead, which scopes the scheduler to only the event(s) in that category.

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Scheduler Display

View mode:

Parents can toggle between views anytime using the button in the top-left corner of the scheduler.

Date display mode:

Scheduler Display Limits

Display X weeks of slots: Sets how many days/weeks of slots are shown at once in the CUI. (Only applies when Paginator is selected.)

Teacher Display

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Teacher's Group Name

Lets you organize teachers into groups (e.g., "Lower School," "Upper School").

1. Enter your desired group names in this section.
2. Go to the Appointments page — each teacher row has a Group Name column where you can assign them to a group from the drop-down.

Miscellaneous

• Require parents to select their student name from a drop-down when booking an appointment (requires that students have been imported to the account)- This is used when you want a parent to attach a pre-imported student to their account. 

Advanced Settings

Online Meeting Provider

Use 'X' for online meetings: Select your preferred online meeting provider for this event from the drop-down.

Multiple Appointment Booking

Allow a parent to make conflicting appointments for themselves: If checked, a parent can book overlapping appointments at the same time.

Appointment Changes

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Notification Setup

The Notifications tab lets you configure: Confirmation Email, Cancellation Email, Reminder Email, Custom Email, Follow-up Email, Resource Notification Email, and Calendar Event Notification.

Confirmation Email

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Reminder Emails

Send Reminder Emails: Click Add and enter the number of hours before an appointment that a reminder should go out. You can add multiple reminder times — duplicates are automatically removed.

How reminders are grouped depends on your Printable Schedule setting:

• If "Replace the Email Body with the Printable Schedule" is ON: All appointments are grouped into a single reminder email per day, sent the configured number of hours before that day's first appointment. With reminders set at both 24 and 12 hours, you'll receive two emails — one at each interval before your first appointment of the day.
• If it's OFF: Appointments booked within the same hour are grouped into one reminder email. For example, 9:00, 9:15, and 9:30 AM appointments would be combined into one email, while a separate 10:15/10:30 AM email would be sent independently.

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Recommended: Use the Printable Schedule as the Email Body

For both Confirmation and Reminder emails, you can replace the email body with a Printable Schedule — a table summarizing all of a parent's booked appointments (identical to what they'd see clicking "Printable Schedule" on the scheduler page).

To enable this: Check "Replace the Email Body with the Printable Schedule of Appointments."

When enabled, the email will contain:

1. Your Header text
2. The printable schedule table
3. Your Footer text

The table's content/format is controlled separately under Settings → CUI Messages → Print Schedule.

With this option on, parents receive one email containing their full schedule — not one email per appointment.

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Configure CUI (Customer User Interface)

You can customize most of the text and labels parents see when booking appointments.

To edit CUI messages:

1. From the Admin UI, go to Events / Preview, select your event, and click Go To Event.
2. Select Settings / CUI Messages.
3. On the left, choose a label to edit — the corresponding text appears on the right for editing.

Common customizations:

• Login page title: Edit under Sign In Page / Welcome Message.
• Logo: Go to Global Setup / Business, under Account Level Settings / Account Logo, and click the Upload icon.
• HTML editing: Click the HTML icon (<>) in the toolbar to view/edit raw HTML for a given message.

STEP FIVE: Try it Out

1. Open the Scheduler

1. From the Admin UI, go to Events / Preview, select your event, and click Go To Event.
2. Select Settings / UI Setup / Event Settings / Scheduler Availability.
3. Set "Open scheduler to customers on" and "Close scheduler to customers on" to define the window during which parents can book appointments.

To access the scheduler yourself while it's closed to parents, check "Allow Admins access to the CUI at all times."

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2. View the Scheduler

1. Go to Global Setup / Business / Account Level Settings / Account URL, and find your Account URL at the bottom of the page.
2. Click the URL, or copy it into another browser window to test the scheduler as a parent would experience it.

You can customize this URL by checking "Set Custom URL" and entering your preferred name. The updated URL will be live in approximately 5–10 minutes.

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Additional Checks

Is the URL I gave my parents correct?

Go to Global Setup / Business / Account Level Settings / Account URL and check the Appointment URL for Customers section. Your unique scheduling link is listed here, along with the option to customize it.

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Are my slot durations correct?

Slot duration cannot be edited after creation. If it's wrong, you'll need to:

1. Delete the incorrect slots.
2. Create new slots with the correct duration.

Example: If parents have already booked 15-minute slots and you realize you need 10-minute slots instead, you'll need to delete the 15-minute slots (which will also cancel existing appointments) before creating the correct 10-minute slots.