Purple Dragon

A complete, role-by-role guide for staff and members at Purple Dragon dojos.

Overview

This guide is organized into five role sections:

  1. Admin / Owner
  2. Program Director
  3. Instructor
  4. Front Desk
  5. Member / Student

About roles. There are four staff roles — Admin, Program Director, Instructor, and Front Desk — plus the customer-facing Member / Student portal. Each staff role starts with a default set of permissions that the Admin can fine-tune for any individual.

Getting started

Signing in

  • Staff sign in at the staff login page with their email and password.
  • Members sign in at the member portal login page with their email and password.
  • The two logins are separate front doors — staff use the management app, members use the portal.

If a staff account has been suspended, the login will succeed but the management app will refuse to load.

The sidebar

Staff see a sidebar on the left with up to ten sections. Items only show up if the role has access to them.

Sidebar itemWhat it's for
DashboardDay-at-a-glance home for the dojo
MembersThe student database, plus rosters, check-ins, agreements, belt progress, technique library, and announcements
MessagesTwo-way email / SMS conversations with members
FinanceMoney hub — overview, collections, transactions, plans, staff payroll
ScheduleWeekly class schedule, seminars and events, staff tasks
OutreachLeads, intake forms, campaigns, referrals, automations
Pro ShopPoint-of-sale terminal, gift cards, online orders
AnalyticsGrowth, reports, and AI-driven insights
SubscriptionThe dojo's own bill from the platform
SettingsDojo configuration, staff, programs, closures, branding
Can't see a section? You don't have access. Ask your Admin to grant it under Settings → Staff → your row → Permissions.

What each role can do out of the box

Capability Admin Program Director Instructor Front Desk
View members, edit members, check members in
Take a payment at the desk or terminal
View payment history and set billing rules
Manage payment provider credentials
See the weekly schedule
Edit the schedule
Manage leads and the sales pipeline
Send messages to members
Edit message templates and signatures
Manage other staff and run payroll
Edit dojo settings and programs
Use the lobby kiosk mode
Receive dashboard notifications

1. Admin / Owner Full access

The Admin is the head of the dojo — usually the Sensei or owner. The Admin has every permission turned on, including the only one that nobody else gets: managing the payment processor credentials.

Daily workflow

  1. Open the Dashboard. A day-at-a-glance home with engagement numbers, action items, and the latest activity.
  2. Check the Inbox. Unread member SMS and email replies show up under Messages. The Messages icon shows an unread badge.
  3. Triage the Finance hub. The Money page shows revenue month-to-date vs last month, recurring revenue, past-due balances, failed payments, and a 30-day forecast. Failed payments and overdue invoices are surfaced as action items to clear.
  4. Review AI Insights. Automatically generated alerts — retention risk, re-engagement opportunities — plus a written owner briefing. The AI Retention Digest lands here weekly with a short list of at-risk members and a suggested action for each.

Setting up the dojo (first-time)

Most first-time setup happens in Settings. There is a setup wizard that walks through the bare minimum on day one; the Settings page is where you go back to fine-tune later.

SettingWhere to find it
Dojo name, hours, address, contactSettings → General
Programs (Don Jitsu Ryu Karate, Kick-Fit / Fitness Kickboxing, Yoga)Settings → Programs
Belt ranks per disciplineMembers → Belt Progress
Membership plans & pricingFinance → Plans
Holiday closures & blackout datesSettings → Closures
Document templates (waivers, agreements)Members → Agreements & Waivers → Templates
Email templatesSettings → Communications
Payment processor credentialsSettings → Payments
Kiosk PIN, branding logoSettings → General

Belt ranks are per-dojo. When a new dojo is added to the platform, its belt rank ladder is copied from an existing dojo as a starting point. Each dojo can then edit its own ladder without affecting anyone else.

Adding staff

  1. Go to Settings → Staff.
  2. Click Add staff member, enter name and email, pick a role (Admin, Program Director, Instructor, or Front Desk).
  3. The role pre-fills the permission checkboxes from the matrix above. You can override any individual checkbox before saving.
  4. Set a Check-in code (the 4–6 digit code used at the kiosk).
  5. Set Payroll terms if this person earns hours, per-session, or bonuses.
  6. Save — the staff member receives an invitation email to set their password.

Onboarding a new member end-to-end

The fastest path is Members → "+ Add Member":

  1. Personal info, photo, contact details.
  2. Pick a membership plan — this defines billing cycle, programs, and signup fee.
  3. Sign waivers inline. Required templates are shown automatically. Adult members sign on-screen; minors get a parent/guardian signature flow.
  4. Take payment — the card is stored securely so future auto-charges use the same card on file. Card numbers are never stored on dojo servers.
  5. The system creates the member, enrolls them in the plan, and schedules their first auto-charge per the billing workflow below.

Alternative: Convert a lead. If the person started as a prospect, open them under Outreach → Leads and hit Enroll. Their contact info pre-fills the enrollment form.

Billing lifecycle (what auto-charging actually does)

This is the system's built-in cadence — adjust it per plan under Finance → Plans if needed.

  1. 3 days before: Advance-notice email/SMS to the member ("$X will be charged on [date]").
  2. Charge day: Invoice is generated. If the member has a card on file and auto-pay is on, the system attempts the charge.
  3. 24 hours later: If declined, the system retries automatically.
  4. 48 hours later: Retries again.
  5. 72 hours later: Final retry. After this the invoice is marked Overdue, a $25 late fee is added, and a collections action item appears under Finance → Collections.
  6. The Admin can waive the late fee, retry manually, swap the card on file, or mark the invoice paid outside the system (cash/manual).

Refunds and adjustments

  • Open the member, go to the Billing tab.
  • Click a transaction → Refund. Choose full or partial.
  • A refund posts a new transaction record (so the original history is preserved) and notifies the member by email.

Closing the books each month

  • Reports → Financial — financial summary by period.
  • Reports → Monthly — month-over-month rollup.
  • Reports → Compare — side-by-side period comparison.
  • All reports export to CSV (open in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets).
  • Finance → Staff Payroll — pay-period summary by staff member (hours, sessions, bonuses, deductions). Export to CSV for your payroll provider.

The dojo's own subscription

Admins manage the dojo's own software subscription under Subscription — view invoices, change plan, update the card on file, see chargeback status. This is separate from member billing; it is just the bill the dojo pays the software provider.

2. Program Director Day-to-day operator

The Program Director runs the day-to-day of the school: programs, schedule, member health, leads, communications. They have nearly the Admin's access except they cannot rotate the payment processor credentials and they do not see the multi-location overview.

Owned areas

  • Schedule and curriculum — design the weekly schedule, plan seminars, run belt progressions.
  • Programs — create / edit programs and define which belt rank ladder each one uses. Settings → Programs.
  • Member retention — the AI Insights page shows retention risk per member; the Director assigns interventions (call / message / pause conversation) from the retention list.
  • Leads pipeline — own the funnel from lead → trial → enrollment.
  • Staff scheduling — assign instructors to sessions, approve payroll.

Designing the weekly schedule

  1. Schedule → "+ New session".
  2. Pick the program, day(s) of week, start/end time, instructor, capacity.
  3. Choose recurring (every week) or one-off.
  4. Add a class color and visibility (members only, public, hidden from members).
  5. After saving, individual class instances appear in the week view. Click any instance to add an exception — cancel one date, move the time, change the instructor — without breaking the recurring pattern.

Holidays: Closures from Settings → Closures automatically cancel sessions on those dates and notify booked members.

Running a belt grading

  1. Members → Belt Progress.
  2. Pick a discipline. The page shows everyone currently eligible to test.
  3. Click Schedule grading — set date, location, fee per candidate.
  4. The new grading appears under Grading.
  5. From the grading detail page:
    • Build the candidate list (drag from the eligibility list, or add manually).
    • Generate invoices for grading fees (or waive per candidate).
    • On grading day, mark pass / fail per candidate.
    • Complete the grading → promotes everyone who passed, archives the candidate list, and logs each promotion to the member's rank history.

Lead → trial → member

  1. New leads arrive through one of three channels: an intake form posted on the website, an embedded form on a third-party page, or manual entry by staff.
  2. Stage flow: New → Contacted → Trial booked → Showed → Converted (or Lost / No-show).
  3. Open a lead to see the full timeline, conversation history, and tasks. A one-click Stage dropdown moves the lead through the pipeline; the system applies any automation rules attached to that stage. The AMAA Cadence Engine (Awareness → Meet → Assess → Activate) drives automatic follow-up timing in the background, so leads don't go cold.
  4. Hit Enroll to convert. After save, the lead record is closed and a member record is opened.

Communications

  • Outreach → Campaigns — bulk email / SMS blasts and scheduled drips (e.g., "lead nurture", "win-back lapsed").
  • Outreach → Automations — rules with three parts: a trigger (what starts it), an optional condition (when it should fire), and an action (what happens). Example: when a member's status changes to paused and they have at least six months of tenure, automatically send the "we miss you" message and create a follow-up task.
  • Outreach → Delivery Health — open rates, delivery failures, bounces. Watch this if announcements stop reaching members.
  • Messages — inbound replies land here. Each member has a single two-way thread covering both SMS and email.

Approving payroll

  1. Finance → Staff Payroll.
  2. Set the pay period (defaults to the current month).
  3. Each staff member shows hours, sessions, bonuses, deductions, and net total.
  4. Expand a row to see the line items — these are auto-generated from the schedule plus any manually added bonuses or deductions.
  5. Export CSV for your payroll provider.

3. Instructor On the mat

Instructors teach classes, mark attendance, message students, and help with front-desk-type tasks (collecting a payment when the Admin isn't around). They do not see the financial overview, payroll, or settings.

Their sidebar

  • Dashboard
  • Members (and: Student Roll, Check-ins, Agreements, Belt Progress, Technique Library, Announcements)
  • Messages
  • Schedule (read-only)
  • Pro Shop (so they can take a payment if asked)
  • Analytics (limited — no financials)

They will not see Finance, Outreach, Subscription, or Settings unless an Admin grants extra permissions.

Before class — the Student Roll

Members → Student Roll shows every active program with the count of enrolled members. Click a program to see the actual class roster: name, belt, attendance streak, last seen, and any flags (e.g., "missing waiver").

Running roll call

  1. Members → Check-ins.
  2. Pick today's class from the day's session list.
  3. Use Bulk Present / Bulk Absent, or tap each member to toggle.
  4. The page is mobile-friendly — a tablet on the mat works fine.

Kiosk check-in

If members are using the lobby kiosk instead, the system handles roll call automatically. The Instructor only intervenes to:

  • Override a "Check-in closed" message — the kiosk blocks check-ins more than 30 minutes after class start or more than 15 minutes before.
  • Add a walk-in or visitor manually from the Check-ins page.

Logging a promotion

  1. Open the student → Ranks tab.
  2. Click Record promotion — pick the new rank, date, awarding instructor, and any notes.
  3. The promotion appears immediately on the member's portal home and on their training log.

Messaging a student or family

  • From the member page, click Message → opens a thread under Messages. SMS and email are unified into a single conversation.
  • For broadcast announcements to the whole class, use Members → Announcements. These show up on every member's portal home.

Technique Library

The Technique Library is the staff-facing library of techniques (videos, articles, PDFs) organized by belt rank and discipline. Instructors curate the library; members consume it from their portal.

4. Front Desk Lobby

Front Desk is the lobby attendant: check people in, take a payment, book a private lesson, capture a walk-in lead. They do not send messages to members by default, do not edit the schedule, and do not see financial reports.

Their sidebar

  • Dashboard
  • Members (Student Roll, Check-ins, Agreements, Find Duplicates, Belt Progress, Technique Library, Announcements)
  • Schedule (read-only)
  • Pro Shop
  • Analytics (limited)

The kiosk

The check-in kiosk is the page that should be open on the lobby device. Three steps:

  1. Search — by 6-digit member code (default mode) or by name.
  2. Select class — the kiosk shows the member's booked sessions first, then any open class for today.
  3. Confirmation — name and belt color flash on the screen for three seconds, then auto-reset for the next person.

Offline mode. If the dojo's Wi-Fi drops, check-ins queue on the device and sync automatically when connectivity returns. An amber "Offline mode" banner appears, and the pending count is visible to staff.

Exiting kiosk mode. Tap the admin button → enter the kiosk PIN (set under Settings → General). Without the PIN, no one can leave the kiosk for the rest of the management app.

Taking a walk-in payment

  1. Pro Shop → Terminal.
  2. Search the product grid or scan a barcode.
  3. Add items to cart.
  4. (Optional) Look up the member → applies their account credit or charges their card on file. Without a member, take card-present or cash.
  5. Pay → card / cash / account charge / gift card.
  6. The receipt prints (or emails) on success. The sale appears under Pro Shop → Sales History.

Booking a private lesson

  1. Schedule → Private Lessons.
  2. Pick the instructor, student, date, and start time. The rate auto-fills from the instructor's default; override if needed.
  3. Save → an invoice is generated if the appointment is paid, and a calendar entry appears in the Schedule for both the instructor and (if integrated) on Google Calendar.

Capturing a walk-in as a lead

  1. Outreach → Leads → "+ New lead" (only visible to Front Desk if leads management is added to their profile — it's off by default).
  2. If leads management isn't enabled, take their info into a paper form and hand off to the Program Director, or use the public intake form on a tablet — that form doesn't require a staff login.

Finding duplicates

Members → Find Duplicates flags possible duplicate member records (same name, phone, or email). The page renders a side-by-side comparison with a merge preview showing exactly which records — attendance, invoices, notes — will transfer onto the kept profile. The source profile is deactivated, not deleted.

5. Member / Student Portal

Members sign in to the member portal with their email and password. The portal is a separate, focused app — no admin menus. It also works as an installable app, so members can install it to their phone home screen and use it even with spotty signal.

Portal home

For a single member, the home screen is a personal activity summary — recent check-ins, next class, next payment due, pending documents. For a parent of multiple linked members, the home screen becomes the Family Hub with a tile per child showing their rank, plan, attendance this month, and any unsigned documents.

Profile and member card

  • Profile — edit contact info (if the dojo permits inline edits), see your 6-digit check-in code for the kiosk.
  • Member Card — a full-screen QR code plus the check-in code, designed to be held up at the kiosk scanner.

Booking a class

  1. Schedule — weekly calendar of public classes.
  2. Tap a class → see time, instructor, capacity, and whether the class is appropriate for your rank.
  3. Book — the booking appears on your dashboard and a reminder goes out per the dojo's notification settings.
  4. Cancel from the same screen if your plans change.
  5. Subscribe to your calendar. From your Profile page, copy the personal iCal link — your booked classes will sync to Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, or any other calendar app.

Family members: a parent can book for any linked child from the family hub.

Paying and managing billing

The Billing page shows:

  • Account balance (credit or amount due)
  • Outstanding invoices with Pay now buttons
  • Active membership with billing cycle and next charge date
  • Saved payment methods — add a new card, set default, remove
  • Prepay future periods to pause auto-charge

Payment is collected through whichever processor the dojo has configured. Card data is stored securely with the processor; nothing sensitive lives on the dojo's servers.

Documents and waivers

The Documents page groups documents into three sections:

  • Action Required — unsigned required waivers or agreements
  • Optional — unsigned optional documents (e.g., photo release)
  • Completed — signed copies with date and time stamps

Members sign in-app; the signed PDF is saved to the member's record and is visible to staff in the management app.

Rank, achievements, training log

  • Rank — current belt plus the full promotion timeline.
  • Achievements — badge grid (earned and locked).
  • Attendance — total check-ins, current streak, best streak, and progress to the next milestone.
  • Training Log — per-class personal notes plus a 1–5 star rating.
  • Goals — set custom goals (target attendance count, streak length, target rank).

Messages and announcements

  • Messages — two-way thread with the dojo. Replies land in the staff inbox.
  • Announcements — read-only feed of dojo-wide announcements.

Pro Shop

The portal Pro Shop lets members browse products, add to cart, and pay with card, saved card, account credit, or account charge. Order status is visible from the same page.

Technique library and content

The Technique Library has curated training materials grouped by belt rank. Videos play inline; articles and PDFs open in a new tab.

Common questions

I'm an Instructor and I can't see Finance.

That's correct — Instructors don't see payment history by default. If you need it, an Admin can enable it under Settings → Staff → your row → Permissions.

A member says they were charged twice.

Open the member, go to the Billing tab, find the duplicate transaction, and click Refund. The refund is logged as a new transaction so the history stays intact.

The kiosk says "Check-in closed."

The default cutoff is 30 minutes after class start. Mark the member present manually from the Check-ins page.

A family with three kids — how does that work?

Create each child as a separate member, then link them on the parent's record (Member → Family tab). The parent will see the Family Hub on their portal home and can book and pay for any of them.

Where do I change the kiosk PIN?

Settings → General → Kiosk PIN. Requires Admin or Program Director access.

A member never received their welcome email.

Check Outreach → Delivery Health for bounces or filtered messages. Email deliverability issues show up here.