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Glossary · Operations

What is “Sub-activity”?

A sub-activity is a child attendance point under an activity, such as a specific return bus under a transfers activity, letting organisers track detail without cluttering the main list.

Also called: child activity, nested check-in

Sociana team19 Oct 20262 min read

Sub-activity in detail

Real events have hierarchy. Transfers are one thing; the 5 pm coach to the airport and the 7 pm coach are two things inside it. Dinner is one thing; the Day 1 and Day 2 dinners differ. Sociana models this by allowing sub-activities beneath an activity, each with its own check-in record and, where needed, its own rules. The parent summarises the children, so a manager can read overall transfer attendance while a volunteer on the 7 pm coach scans only that sub-activity. This keeps the activity list manageable for the people scanning, a real operational concern, and gives the reporting team a rollup without manual merging. Sub-activities can inherit eligibility from the parent or override it, such as a bus restricted to one group. When designing, ask which counts will actually be used. If no decision depends on a distinction, do not create a sub-activity for it.

How Sociana uses it

Sub-activities live under activities in the attendance configuration. Check-in records roll up from child to parent in reports and exports.

Example

A workshop tracked entry, dinner and return buses as separate activities, with each bus departure as its own sub-activity.

Questions

Why use sub-activities?

To track detailed points, such as individual coach departures, under one activity while keeping the list simple for volunteers and the report easy to roll up. Sub-activities live under activities in the attendance configuration. Sub-activities can inherit eligibility from the parent or override it, such as a bus restricted to one group.

Do sub-activities have their own rules?

They can inherit the parent's eligibility or override it, for example restricting one departure to a particular group. Sociana models this by allowing sub-activities beneath an activity, each with its own check-in record and, where needed, its own rules. A workshop tracked entry, dinner and return buses as separate activities, with each bus departure as its own sub-activity.

When should I avoid them?

When no decision depends on the distinction. Extra sub-activities slow volunteers and add reporting noise without improving anything. This keeps the activity list manageable for the people scanning, a real operational concern, and gives the reporting team a rollup without manual merging.

Keep reading

QR attendance & activitiesLive operations workspace & exception handlingConferences & summitsAttendance activityAttendance ruleUnique accepted attendanceSub-processors and integrationsHow to manage dinner and bus check-ins

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