Welcome to CampSite
Start your learning journey with beginner-friendly resources that will have you creating in no time.
Camp Today
Training Video
Camp Today Module Training
To learn how to use the Camp Today module and Facial Recognition add-on, watch the training below.
In this training, we demonstrate:
- How the blog appears to readers
- Setting up Camp Today blogs
- Creating blog posts
- Controlling blog settings
- Facial Recognition matches as they're presented to parents
- Managing/reporting on Facial Recognition matches
Admin User Permissions
User Permissions (Camp Today Media / Communication)
For general information on managing user permissions, please read our Admin user permissions article.
Camp Today Communication
After the Camp Today Communication module is enabled for a user, you can grant the following permissions:
Basic
- Read on camper profile: Permission to view Camp Today Communication on the camper profile.
- Admin: Permission to generate and print Camp Today Communication e-mail batches.
- Authorized users: Permission to view and manage Authorized users and Extended family members for Camp Today.
Camp Today Media
Basic
- Create + manage content: Permission to create and manage Camp Today blogs/blog posts.
- Admin: Permission to access the Admin settings for the Camp Today Media module (i.e. access to the "Camp Today" tab within the Admin settings page and all the settings therein.)
- Authorized users: Permission to view and manage Authorized users and Extended family members for Camp Today.
Camp Today Media
Blog Tags
By applying tags to a blog post, parents can then filter for the posts matching specific tags.
First, create tags on the Tags page; then, when you're creating a new blog post, you can select which tags to apply to the post.
Tags can be created by selecting Tags in the Media Settings section of the Camp Today Media Dashboard.
To create a new tag, click "+Add tag..."
- Enter the name of the new tag
- Click "Add tag"
The new tag will be added to the list.
- Double-click to edit a tag
- Double-click to delete a tag
Creating a Blog
A blog is a collection of posts that represent one or more sessions of camp.
To create a blog, click "+Add blog..."
- Enter the name of the new blog
- Select the sessions to include in the blog
- Select whether or not the blog should be active
- Click Add blog
The new blog will be added.
- Click to access the blog and create new posts.
- Double-click to delete the blog. Blogs may not be deleted if they contain one or more posts.
Adding Photo Posts to a Blog
Photo posts allow you to create a new Camp Today post that contains photos and text. Users will see a preview of images contained within the post, and can click on an image to view the entire gallery of all images that have been uploaded to the post. From this page, they can download each image and/or purchase prints.
To create a new Cap Today photo post, click "Add photo post".
- Select whether or not you would like to publish the post at this time. You have 3 options:
- Select "Yes" to publish it as soon as you create the post.
- Select "Later" to schedule the post to be published on a specific day/time after you create the post.
- Select "No" to save this post, but not publish it on your Parent Dashboard yet. When you're ready to publish the post, you'll need to return to this page and set "Published" to "Yes" and save.
- Enter the title of the photo post
- Click to select tags
- Select the photo layout (this is only relevant to camps who are not using our new responsive parent dashboard)
- Enter text to be included with the photo post
- Drag & drop photos to add to the post (or, click this box to manually select the photo files from your device)
- Please note that these photo files uploaded to a Camp Today photo blog post must be .JPEG or .PNG file types. "Live photos" or "motion photos" are not accepted by CampSite and cannot be used.
- Next, double click a photo to designate it as the "key photo" for this blog post.
- When viewing all of your blog posts, parents will see just the key photo for this post initially. Clicking the key photo will redirect them to a new page that contains all the photos within the post.
- Click "Create post" to officially create the post. Keep in mind whether or not the post is also published to your Camp Today page depends on the 'Publish' settings above.
After you create a post, you'll be redirected to your blog page. For each post that's been added, view:
- The time stamp of when the post was created
- The type of post it is
- The title of the post (click the title to edit the post)
- Whether or not the post has been published
- Facial recognition matches for this post (if your camp has purchased our Facial Recognition feature)
Published posts will display on the Parent Dashboard (along with a "New" indicator in the top right corner). To view the entire photo gallery for a post, click the key photo for the post.
Clicking the key photo for a post will redirect you to SmugMug, where you can view all the images uploaded to this post. Use the icons above the selected image to:
- View a slideshow of the entire photo gallery.
- Download the selected image.
- Buy a print of the selected image from SmugMug directly.
Photo Layouts
When creating photo posts, you can choose from an assortment of layouts so share a preview of the images contained within the post.
Thumbnail
Banner
Filmstrip
Jigsaw
Pyramid
Tiles
Adding Video Posts to a Blog
Video posts allow you to share videos up to 20 minutes in length and 3 GB in size.
To add a new video post, select "Add video post".
- Select whether or not you would like the post to be published. You may also opt to have the post published as a designated date and time by selecting "Later".
- Enter the title of the video post
- Click to select tags
- Enter the text to be included with the post
- Drag video to add to the post
- Please note that Camp Today video posts only accept .MP4 and .MOV files as valid video file upload types.
After entering the information for the new post,click "Create post".
The new post will be added.
- Click the name of the post to edit.
- Double-click to delete a blog post.
Adding Text Posts to a Blog
- Select whether or not you would like the post to be published. You may also opt to have the post published as a designated date and time by selecting "Later".
- Enter the title of the text post
- Click to select tags
- Enter the text to be included with the post
- Click Create post.
The new post will be added.
- Click the name of the post to edit.
- Double-click to delete a blog post.
Camp Today Communication
Printing E-mails
Select Camp Today > Communication from the navigation bar at the top of the screen.
- Select the order in which you would like to print e-mails (By bunk, By division, or By alpha)
- Select the number of e-mails to be included in each print job
- Click Create batch.
The new e-mail batch will be created.
- Double-click the magnifying glass to reveal print jobs for the e-mail batch.
- Double-click to delete the e-mail batch. Deleting e-mail batches will move the e-mails back to "new". Batches may not be deleted after one or more print jobs have been printed.
The print jobs within the e-mail batch will be revealed.
Double-click the printer icon to print a batch.
- Select the font size you would like to use when printing e-mails
- Select whether or not you would like to ignore the theme choice
- Select whether or not you would like to ignore the font choice
- Click "Print e-mails"
The print job will open and be ready for printing.
The date and time the print job was printed will be indicated. Print jobs may not be deleted after they have been printed.
Communication: Settings
You may set the minimum character count for camper e-mails in Admin > Camp Today > Communication: Settings
- Select the minimum number of characters for camper e-mails
- Click "Save changes"
Facial Recognition
Getting Started: Facial Recognition
Click here to download the 'Getting started: Facial recognition' guide.
Guidelines for High Quality Reference Photos
CampSite uses a camper's profile photo as a reference photo to identify and tag the camper in photos uploaded throughout the summer. Therefore, it is important that the camper's reference photo be as high quality as possible, in order to provide the most accurate matches.
- Note that a new profile photo must be uploaded after the Facial Recognition module has been added to your database in order to be used as a reference photo. Profile photos that were uploaded before your camp added Facial Recognition are not automatically used as a reference photo.
- Also, reference photos expire each year, so a new profile photo must be re-uploaded yearly for facial recognition purposes.
What makes a good reference photo?
- The camper is the only person in the photo.
- The photo is taken with the camper looking straight at the camera (as opposed to looking at an angle).
- The background is a solid color that contrasts with the camper's face.
- Lighting should be consistent across the camper's face (i.e. minimal shadows).
- If the camper normally wears glasses, braces, etc., they should be worn in the reference photo.
- Important: The photo should be taken as close (time-wise) to camp as possible, to ensure the camper's appearance in the reference photo is similar to their appearance at camp.
Examples of good reference photos:
Examples of bad reference photos:
Camper Profile: Uploading a reference photo and viewing matches
Uploading a reference photo
In order for a camper to be recognized by the facial recognition system, CampSite uses the camper's profile photo as a "reference photo."
Note that a new profile photo must be uploaded after the Facial Recognition module has been added to your database in order to be used as a reference photo. Profile photos that were uploaded before your camp added Facial Recognition are not automatically used as a reference photo.
Also, reference photos expire each year, so a new profile photo must be re-uploaded yearly for facial recognition purposes.
To manually upload a new profile photo/reference photo for a camper, click on the current profile image/thumbnail and select an image to upload.
Once finished, refresh their profile page and the 'Ready for facial recognition?' field will say Yes and link to the camper's reference photo.
The 'Camp Today Media' Tab
Under the enrollment year there is a new Camp Today Media tab which houses any facial recognition matches for a camper. Admin users are able to view the created date, which blog the photo is associated with, which post it came from, and actually view the image through a SmugMug link. The option to delete an image from a camper's profile is also available.
Managing Facial Recognition Matches for a Photo Post
Upload photos as you normally would by adding a photo post to a blog. For help creating a photo post, click here.
After the photo post is created, the "Facial recognition status" for the post will say "Queued for processing".
The status will change to "Processing" shortly after the post finishes uploading. Note that processing takes longer for posts with many photos, and that posts are processed one at a time.
Once the facial recognition process is complete, the status will change to "Done" and list the number of facial matches it made. Click the number of matches to review the matches for each photo.
Facial Recognition Matches
On the next page, you'll be presented with every photo from the photo post and the facial recognition matches for each photo.
Note that CampSite can only identify campers if:
- They're enrolled in any of the sessions tied to the blog this post belongs to
- And, they have a reference photo uploaded
- Note that campers must re-upload a new reference photo every year.
If the post contains photos of campers who are not enrolled in the sessions tied to this blog, the facial recognition software will not identify those campers. To edit the sessions tied to a blog, return to the blog and manage the blog settings.
For each facial recognition match, view the camper's name (click to visit their profile); a copy of their reference photo; and the facial recognition software's confidence in this match.
Manually add a facial recognition match
If the facial recognition software did not recognize a camper, you can manually add a match to the photo by clicking "+ Add facial recognition match..." and selecting the camper from the dropdown menu.
Note that you can only select campers who are enrolled in sessions tied to this blog and who have had a reference photo uploaded.
The 'Confidence' column will indicate if a match was added manually.
Delete a facial recognition match
Double click the red delete button on the far right to delete a match, in the case that the facial recognition got it wrong (cases may include, but are not limited to twins, or siblings with very similar features).
Reporting on facial recognition
Advanced Reports
In Advanced Reports, users have the option to see what campers profiles are ready for facial recognition. Note that only campers who are part of a blog (i.e., enrolled in that blog's sessions) will actually be matched for facial recognition for that blog.
Photo Coverage Report
The Photo Coverage Report lets you report on facial recognition matches by division, bunk or camper.
- Search by selecting a particular session.
- Set the mode: Division, Bunk, Camper.
- Set a date range. (if left blank it will search all dates)
- Run the report
- After the report is run the User can either print or export the data.
Facial recognition on the Parent Dashboard
When facial recognition is activated, parents will have access to a new page with links to all of their camper's matched photos, as well as the ability to subscribe to automatic e-mail notification of new photo matches.
A new section now exists above the calendar for the Camp Today module. Here, parents will be able to view photo matches of their camper.
- The parent will now be alerted to the total number of photos that exist of their camper, and also when new photos of their camper are uploaded.
- The parent will also be given the option to have e-mail notifications sent to them when new photos of their camper are posted.
- Note that parents can only see facial recognition matches for the camp's "current year."
Couldn't find what you needed?
Don’t worry, we’ve got more options for you.
Message us
Start a conversation with our team and get the answers you need
Follow us
Stay up to date with the latest news and information