You set up a new program for a summer camp, a lecture series, or a members’ class. The older programs in your list show registration and registrant tabs where you can see who’s signed up and what information they gave. The new one doesn’t. Same database, same login, and the tabs simply aren’t there.
This one is frustrating because nothing looks broken. There’s no error message, just a missing piece of the page. In practice, the cause is almost always one of a handful of things: how the program was set up, whether anything has been scheduled or sold yet, or what your user role is allowed to see. Here’s how to work through them in a sensible order.
Start by comparing it with a program that works
Before changing anything, open an older program where the registration tabs do appear and put it side by side with the new one. Most of the time the difference jumps out once you compare them field by field. Note:
- The program type, and whether it’s sold as daily admission or through advance sales with scheduled events
- Whether registration or registrant information is turned on in the program setup
- The price types and any registration options attached to them
- Whether the program has events on the calendar and any sales against them
If you created the new program by copying an old one, don’t assume every setting came across. Check anyway.
The likely causes, in order
1. The program type doesn’t carry registrant details
Registrant tracking in Altru is tied to programs where you expect to know who is attending each scheduled event, which is typical of classes, camps, and ticketed programs sold in advance. A program set up as general admission usually isn’t built around named registrants, so the tabs you’re used to seeing elsewhere may never appear on it.
If the new program was set up as the wrong type, that’s usually not something you can flip after the fact. Plan on creating a fresh program with the right type rather than trying to retrofit the existing one, especially if nothing has been sold yet.
2. Registration information wasn’t switched on during setup
Even on the right kind of program, the option to collect registrant information has to be enabled, and any fields you want to collect (age, grade, allergies, emergency contact, and so on) have to be defined. If that step was skipped, there’s nothing for the page to display. Revisit the program’s setup and look specifically for registration or registrant settings.
3. Nothing has been scheduled or sold yet
Some registrant views depend on event and sales data. A brand-new program with no events on the calendar, or with events but no orders, can look different from a mature program that has hundreds of registrants behind it. Schedule a test event, run a test order with registrant details through daily sales or advance sales, and then look again. If the tabs or the registrant data show up after that, the setup was fine and the program was simply empty.
Do this in a sandbox if you have one. If you have to test in production, use an obvious test constituent and refund or delete the order afterward so it doesn’t end up in your revenue reports.
4. Your role can’t see it
Altru controls page sections and tasks through system roles. If an administrator set up the program but you’re viewing it under a more limited role, some tabs can be hidden for you and visible for them. Quick test: ask someone with full admin rights to open the same program. If they see the tabs and you don’t, the fix is a security change, not a program change.
5. A page customization or display issue
Less common, but worth ruling out. If your organization has customized page layouts, or if the browser is serving an odd cached view, tabs can fail to render. Try a different browser or a private window, then log out and back in. If the tabs still don’t appear for an admin in a clean browser, move on to support.
When to call Blackbaud support
If you’ve confirmed the program type is right, registration information is enabled, there’s at least one test sale with registrant details, and a full admin still can’t see the tabs, open a case with Blackbaud support. Give them:
- The name of the new program and the name of an older program that works correctly
- Your user role and whether an admin sees the same thing
- Screenshots of both program pages
- What you changed during setup, if you copied from another program
That comparison saves a lot of back-and-forth, because support can check both records against each other instead of starting from scratch.
Preventing it next time
Write a short program setup checklist and keep it with your other Altru documentation. Include the program type, the registration settings, the registrant fields to collect, the price types, and a step to run one test order before the program goes on sale. New programs tend to get built under deadline pressure, often by whoever is available, and a one-page checklist does more than any amount of retraining.
It also helps to pull a quick registrant query right after that test order. If the query returns the test registrant with the fields you expect, you know the program is collecting what your education or camp staff will need, before real families start signing up.
Quick answers
Can I add registration tabs to a program that’s already on sale?
It depends on what’s missing. If it’s a setting, you may be able to turn it on, though earlier orders won’t have the registrant details. If it’s the program type, you’ll likely need a new program. Test in a sandbox before changing a live program.
Why do the tabs show for my coworker but not for me?
That points to system role permissions. Ask your Altru administrator to compare your role with theirs.
