In a tennis school, people rarely choose their group directly: instead, parents are asked when the child is available, then the groups are built. Plugin.ch does this with preferred time slots: you define them in the lesson, the person ticks several of them when registering, in their order of preference, and these choices then guide the placement in the groups.

1Where the slots are

In Manage lessons, open the lesson (pencil) or create it. In the Registration section, set Sign up directly in a group to No: the Preference part appears just below.

Two lines are enough to offer 10 slots.

2Enter a line

One line describes several slots at once:

• tick the days (Mo to Su badges);
• type the start and end of the range. Times can be typed freely: 17, 1730, 17h30 or 17:30 give 17:00 or 17:30. When you leave the start, the end is suggested automatically (start + one slot);
• choose how to split it: Slots of 30 min to 4 h (in quarter hours), or Whole range for a single slot covering the whole range.

Below the line, a preview shows what will be created, for example “→ 6 slots (2 per day) · 16:00–17:00, 17:00–18:00”. If the range does not divide exactly, the unused end is flagged (“unused”); if no day is ticked, the preview reminds you.

Add more lines with Add a line (the split of the previous line is reused), remove some with the bin, then save the lesson. Each line is then expanded into slots: one per day and per block.

3The minimum number of slots

The Minimum number of slots to choose field sets how many slots the person must tick at least. The rule applied at registration is as follows:

• at least the lesson's minimum;
• and at least the number of Lessons per week of the chosen rate: for a 2× a week rate, at least 2, even if the lesson asks for 1;
• but never more than the number of slots offered.

4What the person registering sees

In the online interface (Sign Up for the Lesson), the slots appear as badges grouped by day. The message “Tick the time slots that suit you: at least 2.” reminds them of the minimum, and a counter shows where they stand (“1 more to choose”, then “3 chosen (minimum 2) ✓”). The order of the clicks is the order of preference: each ticked badge carries its number (1st, 2nd… choice).

Three slots chosen: Thursday as 1st choice, then Monday and Tuesday.

As long as the minimum is not reached, registering, adding to the basket and paying are blocked and the preferences block is highlighted. The full member journey is described in Sign up for a tennis lesson.

5Use the preferences to build the groups

In Manage groups, each pupil card shows their preferences numbered in the chosen order (beyond 3, a “+2” button expands them). While you drag a pupil, the groups that match their preferences light up in green; the Suggest a placement button goes further and suggests a group for each unassigned pupil. See Place pupils automatically.