This tutorial walks you through the full lifecycle of a class in your space: you will create a class offering, schedule a session with a capacity, watch members sign up (with a waitlist when it fills), mark attendance as the instructor, and complete the session so it can award a certification. By the end you will have run one class from start to finish.

Set aside about fifteen minutes. You will need the `classes.manage` permission to create classes and sessions, and `classes.instruct` to run the session and mark attendance. Both are granted to the `board` role by default. To have completion award a certification, the instructor also needs `certifications.grant`.

## Before you start

- Sign in as a member with `classes.manage` (a board member by default).
- Optional: if you want the class to award a certification, create the certification type first at [/certifications](/certifications). Note its name.

## Step 1: Create a class

A class is the reusable offering ("Woodshop Basics"). Sessions are the individual scheduled occurrences you will add later.

1. Go to [/classes/manage](/classes/manage).
2. Select **New class**.
3. Enter a **Title**, for example `Woodshop Basics`. Add an optional description.
4. Optionally set a **Default capacity**. Leave it blank for unlimited. Each session can override this later.
5. Optionally, in the certification dropdown, choose **Grants: `<your cert>`** so completing a session awards that certification to attendees.
6. Select **Create class**.

You will see a "Class created" confirmation and the class listed with any `cap` and `grants` badges you set.

Two optional fields you can ignore for this tutorial: a **Payment link** (a plain external URL shown to members, with no live payment processing) and a **required form** that gates signup until the member has it on file (for example a liability waiver published under [/forms](/forms)).

## Step 2: Schedule a session

1. On the class card, select **+ Schedule session**.
2. Set **Starts** (and optionally **Ends**). Ends must not be before Starts.
3. Optionally add a **Location**, a **Capacity override**, and **Notes**.
4. Select **Schedule**.

The session appears under the class with its start time and a **Scheduled** status. The effective capacity is the session's capacity override if set, otherwise the class default; if both are blank, the session is open (unlimited).

## Step 3: Members sign up

Members do not need any special permission to sign up, only membership in the space.

1. As a member, go to [/classes](/classes). Upcoming, non-cancelled sessions appear with "X of N spots left" (or "open" when unlimited).
2. Select **Sign up**. You will see "You are signed up" and a **Registered** badge.

When registered signups reach capacity, the button reads **Join waitlist** instead, and new signups get a **Waitlisted** status. A member can select **Cancel signup** at any time; if a registered member cancels, the earliest waitlisted member is automatically promoted to registered and emailed. If the class requires a form the member has not submitted, the button becomes **Complete required form** and links to the form first.

## Step 4: Mark attendance

Now switch back to someone with `classes.instruct`. (A user with only `classes.manage` can open the roster and see who signed up, but cannot check **attended** or run **Complete session** — both require `classes.instruct`.)

1. On [/classes/manage](/classes/manage), find the session and select **Signups**. (Instructors browsing [/classes](/classes) can use **Attendees** on the session instead.)
2. The roster lists each signup with its status. Check the **attended** box next to each member who showed up.

Attendance is what determines who receives a certification in the next step, so check it before completing.

## Step 5: Complete the session and award the certification

1. In the same attendees panel, select **Complete session**.
2. The session status changes to **Completed**.

If the class grants a certification, completion awards it to every member you marked as attended. The result confirms how many certificates were issued. If the instructor lacks `certifications.grant`, the session still completes but you will see "Certificates were NOT issued (requires the certifications.grant permission)" — grant that permission and the members can be certified through [/certifications](/certifications).

Members can see their signups and completed sessions on their own page at [/me](/me), and any certification they earned appears in their certifications.

## What you built

You now have a class with one completed session, an attendance record, and (optionally) certifications awarded to attendees. From here you can:

- Schedule more sessions of the same class — the offering is reusable.
- **Archive** a class you no longer offer instead of deleting it (deleting is only allowed when a class has no sessions).
- **Cancel** a session instead of deleting it to keep the signup history; every signed-up member is emailed when you do.

See the [classes reference](/docs/reference/classes) for every field, status, and permission, and [manage certifications](/docs/how-to/manage-certifications) for setting up the certification types classes can grant.