Goal: Explanation for the Seats Taken Counter and what each category of seats taken means.
Permissions: Class editing permission can change how the counter is displayed.
When an end user looks at the "more" information about a class, they will see a number that shows how many available seats there are in the class and how many of those seats are taken.
In the class set up for an administrator it gives four options for how this information is displayed. See the note at the end* for information about how the counter displays handle cancelled attendees.
Screenshot from Admin Console where this is set.
Each of these options displays the available and taken seats in a different way. The first option sets a firm limit. The others have no limit but display the information in different ways.
For all of these options, the display count is hidden until a minimum threshold is reached. It gives a message that says, "Sign Up in Progress".
Set Limit: This sets a firm limit and the display will always have a set number of seats, even if exceeded.
For classes set to normal, public view, it does not physically limit the class size. It will go over. See the workaround below for how to restrict it to a hard, set limit.^
Unlimited: There is no limit to the number of seats and the display will dynamically change but never be reached. For example, if 31 people are registered, it will say 31 of 50 seats. If 89 are registered it will say 89 of 125. This is done to motivate people to sign up because it gives the impression of a limited number of seats but it does not ever discourage someone from signing up because the limit is reached.
Display Count: This option displays the number of people attending with no reference to the number of seats available.
Hide Count: No count is shown.
*Cancelled Attendees and The Counter:
The display counter on the "end user" side and the admin side work slightly differently regarding cancelled attendees.
The admin side displays "absolute" count. The "end user" side displays current value. Here is the display for a class where the limit is set to 50. It shows that 51 seats are taken. But that "includes" a cancelled attendee.
Here is how the same class appears on the "end user" side:
If someone cancels, the admin take will stay at 51, but the seat taken will go down to 49 on the end user side.
^Work Around for Limit Maximum
For normal (not hidden) classes, the limit is a reference and not a constraint. We prefer that the limit be a guide but it will not prevent someone from signing up for the class if the class is set to public view. If you want a hard limit to the class set, you will need to manually switch the class to "hidden" at or near your desired limit. Then, the only way a person can get to the class to signup is by using the "direct link" to a class. Any who uses that link will be allowed to signup until the limit is reached. Then at that time, they will get a warning that the class is full and they cannot sign up. They will be given an option to contact the instructor to see if they can be allowed entry. If the instructor wants to grant entry, they would then increase the limit of the class by one to allow that person to come in.
If someone cancels from the class it opens up another seat in the class that someone can join.
Here is what the "class limit" screen looks like once it is full. If a person clicks the "Exception" button and fills out the form, it will create a support ticket. That ticket will be forwarded on to the contact for the class to have a decision be made.
