Before We Start
It's super important to us that every club - from technically proficient to technophobes have the chance to experience the brilliant power of ClubManager by BMABA and how it can transform how successful you are as a martial arts club. For this reason we want to be crystal clear; if anything throws you out, looks off, causes confusion or doesn't work our team are on web chat and email and ready to help. We can jump in and do most things for you in terms of setup or troubleshooting and this is free. There's no such thing as a silly question, so do reach out if you need to!
System Requirements
ClubManager is designed to work on just about any Wordpress site, but there are a few basic parameters you'll need;
Wordpress 6.0 or higher.
PHP 8.1
IonCube needs to be enabled (see below)
WooCommerce plugin installed and active.
That's it!
Using our WordpressbyBMABA setup? You can ignore this - we'll take care of making sure your site can always run the latest version.
These are very basic requirements. Almost any active Wordpress site will support these requirements, as they're considered very basic. You may need to ask your host to switch on IonCube for PHP, but for the most part almost every Wordpress setup should be supportive of our plugin 'out of the box'.
Not got a Wordpress website?
Don't worry. Wordpress is super affordable. It's just a type of software that helps you run a stand-out website. Every major host on the internet (GoDaddy, 1and1, HostGator and so on) will offer ultra-affordable Wordpress hosting, and BMABA also have a completely free Hosting offering - WordpressbyBMABA.
A Full Introductory Tutorial
We strongly recommend taking the time to watch this tutorial - it will walk you through the initial install and setup of the plugin, including how to get fully ready to take payments and use your platform to the full.
Getting Started With ClubManager by BMABA
This tutorial walks you through setup, from the initial login through to being ready to accept payments and having most of the basic settings fully configured.
A Full Explainer
We fully recommend watching this in full to ensure you know how to make the most from your platform. In this tutorial we take a look at the various functionalities and modules in action, with loaded data, to help you explore what's possible.
DON'T FORGET - If you use Stripe or PayPal for recurring payments (automatic payments) you must make sure you setup the webhook, or your site won't know the payment has cleared!
Getting Started - Installing the Plugin (Non WordpressbyBMABA Users Only)
We'll assume you're hosting your own website elsewhere, and not on the WordpressbyBMABA service. If you are, you'll find most of these steps done for you!
If you're self-hosting on your own external Wordpress website start by exploring Pricing with ClubManager by BMABA here. When you find the package you're ready to work with, click Get Started to register for our licencing system.
Once you've signed up, you'll need to await an automated verification email which should come through to your inbox. It can take up to 10 minutes occasionally. Click the link in the email to activate your portal account.
Head to the DOWNLOADS section and download the latest plugin, as shown below.
Take the zip file and upload it to your Wordpress plugins section (under Plugins > Add New).
When prompted, activate the plugin.
IMPORTANT: Depending on your server, you may need WooCommerce installed before activating the plugin. For most users, you'll see the link to install WooCommerce on the club manager dashboard.
As soon as you've activated WooCommerce, you'll find before you can get started you need to start by verifying your licence.
Getting Started - Activating Your Licence
To unlock the plugin for use, you'll need to activate a licence.
ClubManager is free, forever, for up to 16 students. If you're trying out the software, you can activate a free licence key to get started and you can update this at any point in the future if you want to move to a paid plan.
Make sure you're signed into the ClubManager licencing portal, and head over to the packages;
Pick the right option for you;
If you're opting for a paid plan, don't forget any applicable discount codes you might have - such as a BMABA member's discount etc;
When you're ready, place the order.
You'll see a confirmation of your order on screen, and shortly thereafter an email will be sent to your inbox too.
Your order confirmation will look similar to the below;
After a short period of time, you'll find the licence key is then issued. If you need access sooner rather than later, you're welcome to jump onto web chat, or to email us ([email protected]) and we'll try and speed that up for you.
From your orders screen, you can click the blue key icon to find any available licence keys.
On the licence key section, once the key is live, you'll see this as per the below. Note please that the licence key is typically five blocks long, not two per the example!
Head back to your Wordpress website, and click into the Club Manager plugin. From there, click 'verify license'.
Initially, you'll see the unlicensed state;
Once you've copied in your licence key and updated via the blue button, you'll see confirmation the Plugin is now live.
From the top of the admin bar, you'll now see the ADMIN DASHBOARD.
That's it!
You're now live and ready to go. Please take the time to work through the other onboarding tutorials - we'll walk you through how to setup your first membership plans, how to customise the plugin to match your branding, how to onboard existing and new students - and more.