You might have received a notification that a new User was created in your account, but noticed they did not make a purchase. This is likely because they created a user profile on your site, but did not enroll in a course. This article covers the difference between a Sign Up and an Enrollment.
What is a Sign Up?
A Sign Up simply means that a customer has created a User Profile on your Thinkific site. In order for your customers to enroll in your courses and interact with your content, they must first create a User Profile. When creating a User Profile, they are required to fill out the following:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Email Address
- Password
- Required Custom Fields
This is typically filled out when they click on one of your Buy buttons on your Course Landing Page and are taken to your Checkout. Our Checkout involves a two-step process:
- The first step is account creation, where the student will fill out the details listed above.
- The second step is where they will input their payment details.
If a customer completes the first step in this process, this is a Sign Up and there will be a User Profile created in your Thinkific account. If they do not complete the second step in the Checkout to pay for your course, they will not have any Enrollments, but will still exist in your Users page.
Review the User Profile to check to see if they have any enrollments:
- From your Admin Dashboard, select Support Your Students
- Find Users who have not enrolled by using the Filter, selecting Enrollment status and Never enrolled:
What is an Enrollment?
When a student completes the second step of the Checkout as described above, they have an Enrollment in your course. Having an Enrollment gives them access to your course and course materials!
Not all Users will have Enrollments, but all Enrollments must be Users. For example, if I had not yet created a User Profile on your Thinkific site, but tried to purchase your course, I would be forced to Sign Up first. Only after signing up would I be able to enroll in your courses!
Additionally, because a student can enroll in multiple courses from their student User account, you may see more Enrollments than User accounts on your Admin Dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
I received an email notification that "A learner signed up to your school!" but they haven't paid for a product. What happened?
This User likely abandoned the second step of the checkout as described above and did not complete payment for the product. This is a great opportunity to reach out to them to encourage them to continue with the purchase!
What about students who sign up for Free products?
When students sign up for Free products, they do not have to complete the second step of the checkout as described above. This means they will automatically be enrolled into your Free course immediately after they create their User Profile.
Is there any other way someone could sign up, but not enroll in a product?
Yes! Although this is less common, it is possible that someone visits your site, clicks Sign Up on the top right and then Create a new account like this:
