(GS-11) Settings and Going Live
So here we are, in the final lesson of the Getting Started Guide.
Now you are familiar with the main use of Workshop Angel, we are going to take a look at where you can set up the information for your business which will enable you to start working with your live clients.
Most of what we will look at here is in the Settings area:
- Click on the Settingsicon on the main menu bar.
You can see the Settings area follows the familiar format of the items you are working with listed on the left, and the details of a specific item which you can modify on the right.
In the user settings area, you can modify your own personal details, and things which effect your own experience in using the app.
Your personal details are your name and an affiliate link which you can have your contacts sign up with which will then give you a percentage of the fees the pay to use Workshop Angel.
The user experience options include what screen you see when you first log in, and various options to control the display of icons, help text and demo data throughout the app.
We separate out the idea of your business details from the details of your brand.
Here is why...
Your business is primarily about the accounting and legal side of your business. Most of our users will only have one business, which may legally be themselves, or a separate limited or incorporated business entity. However you may find that you have more than one legal business entity that your income flows into, and if this is the case then Workshop Angel can handle this situation, allowing you to define more than one "Business".
A Business is created for you by default.
Important - only add another business if your situation requires you to do so.
Like many self employed workshop leaders, you may find you present your work through more than one brand. Maybe one brand for is for yoga, and another for dance. Or one for classic cars, and another for construction. If this is you, then you can add a second or third brand to represent your work, and associate activities, attendees and contacts to your different brands as required.
- Click on Business Settings on the left hand side.
Here you can see the main items to work with are:
- Your business name, address and country.
- The currency your business uses (known as you Accounting Currency).
- Text/sms message sending settings
- Sales tax and final payment details
- Links to your legal documents for privacy policy and term and conditions.
- Your specific payment details for different payment methods such as bank transfer or Paypal.
- Fill in any fields which you wish to update at this time.
- Click [Save]
- Click on Brand Settings on the left hand side.
Here you can enter information such as:
- Brand name, email address your emails are sent from
- Email address all emails sent can be copied to
- Business name that this brand belongs to
- Name that emails are sent from
- Brand contact details - that can be included in emails sent out.
- Fill in any fields which you wish to update at this time.
- Click [Save]
What we haven't talked about yet, is how you get to receive your money when clients pay by card.
A very important topic! :-)
You may have used other apps where the business behind the app takes the money on your behalf, and passes it on to you. This often done in the background through an account they have with a company called Stripe, who are one of the leading internet payment systems.
Workshop Angel works slightly differently, in that it has you create your own account with Stripe. We feel this puts you more in control, reduces the fees involved, and gives you more flexibility.
So before you can go live with your own clients, you will need to create an account with Stripe. This is a simple process which you can do on their web site - you can go to https://stripe.com and follow the directions from there.
Once you have opened your account, you will need to link your Stripe account to Workshop Angel. This involves generating four "api keys" on the Stripe web site and copying them into a specific part of the Settings area which we will look at in a moment. Like Workshop Angel, Stripe has a test mode and a live mode, and there are two keys to add for each mode.
- Click on "Booking Form Settings" in the Settings area on the left.
On the right side you will see an area to add the four Stripe keys.
- Click the (?) help icon next to the field for the first key.
You will find detailed instructions here about how to create that key in Stripe and enter it into Workshop Angel.
Once you have entered all four keys, we recommend you create a test Activity with a very low admission price and book yourself on the activity using your own card for payment, just to be sure the Stripe access keys are working correctly.
You may choose to set up Stripe and the access keys now, or at a later date.
You can continue to take card payments in Test Mode without entering your own Stripe account details - in this case the entry is made in our Workshop Angel demonstration Stripe account.
You will not be able to take real live client card payments until you have set up your Stripe account and correctly entered the four access keys.
When you have created the Workshop Angel Activity for the activity you are running and tested it with some Test mode bookings, then you are ready to publish a link to the live booking form in your online marketing.
There are two ways to do this.
Method 1
- Switch Workshop Angel to Live mode
- Visit the Booking Form from the [+Add Attendees] link on one of the Booking area screens.
- Copy the url of this page to your on-line marketing.
Method 2
- Search for the Activity in the Activities - Define Activities area.
- Click on [Live Booking Form Links] on the left hand side local menu.
- Select the text of the link and paste it into your online marketing.
If you have someone manage your on-line marketing for you, then Method 2 quickly allows you to give them a list of links to a number of different activities at the same time.
You have completed our Getting Started Guide.
Congratulations!
Having worked through these lessons, you should now have a great overview of how to work with Workshop Angel. Of course, there are lots more details to be familiar with, and you can dive in and learn about those on an as-needs basis both in the following chapters of the documentation, and using the in-app help system available through all the help (?) icons.
Some parts of the app will probably feel quite intuitive now, and you will most likely work them out as you go along. Some of the other more powerful parts may take a bit more study to fully understand, especially in the area of message creation and working with the finances.
We hope this has all been helpful so far, and we look forward to support you on your journey to creating your own activities and taking them live with Workshop Angel!