Sign up
Signing up starts from a plan's button on the Choir Master CMS home page: Start for free, Choose Starter or Choose Premium. From there you are asked one thing on each screen. Nothing is created and nothing is charged until the last one, so you can go back or close the window at any point before it.
If you already have an account and only want to add a site to it, you do not need these screens: see Create your site.
Step 1: the plan above the one you chose
The first screen, marked Step 1 of 3, shows what the next plan up would add, so you can change your mind before you start.
| You chose | Heading | The large button | The small link below it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Before you start on Free | Sign up for Starter | Continue with Free |
| Starter | One more thing before Starter | Sign up for Premium | Continue with Starter |
| Premium | This screen is skipped: there is no plan above Premium |
Press the large button to take the higher plan, or the small link to keep the one you chose. As the screen says, you can move between plans at any time, so this choice is not final. What each plan includes compares them in full.
Step 2: "Shall we set it up for you?"
The second screen offers the setup and migration package: we build your site for you and move your existing content across. It is a single payment, separate from your plan. Have us set up your site says what it includes and explains founder pricing.
- Press Include the setup and migration package to add it.
- Press Continue without support to carry on without it. You can still buy it later from your account.
Step 3: "Create your account"
The third screen shows a summary box with what you have chosen and what it costs, and asks for your email address. When something you chose has to be paid for, the heading reads Create your account and check out.
- Type your address in Email address. Use one you will keep: it becomes the address you sign in with, and the address of your site's first admin.
- Press Email me the link.
- Open the email with the subject "Your Choir Master CMS sign-in link" and follow the link. It works once and for 15 minutes.
- The first time, the page that opens is headed One last thing. Tick the box to agree to the terms and press Agree and continue. See Sign in to your account.
There is no password to choose. If you already have an account, the same link signs you in, and if you are already signed in this screen is skipped.
What you chose in steps 1 and 2 travels inside the link, so you can open the email on a different device from the one you started on and still arrive at the right place.
The last screen: "Now, your site"
This is where your site is made.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Your choir's name | The name as it should appear on the site. You can change it later in Site Settings. Up to 120 characters. |
| Web address | The first part of your site's address, in front of .cmcms.org: harmony gives harmony.cmcms.org. 3 to 40 lower-case letters, digits and hyphens, not starting or ending with a hyphen. It cannot be changed later. On a paid plan you can put a domain of your own in front of it. |
| Country | Where your choir is. It also decides the currency you are billed in: see Your details and country. |
| Currency for prices on your site | What ticket prices and suggested gift amounts on your site are in. This is separate from the currency we bill you in, and you can change it later. |
| How would you like to pay for Starter? (or Premium) | Paid plans only. Choose the amount every month or the amount every year (two months free). Monthly is chosen to begin with. |
The button at the bottom says what will happen:
| Button | When you see it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Create my free site | You chose Free with no package | Makes the site. You land on your account page with the notice "Your site is ready. Open its admin panel to set it up." |
| Create my site and continue to payment | You chose a paid plan, the package, or both | Makes the site on the Free plan, then takes you to Stripe's payment page |
| Continue to payment | Your account already has a site (the heading is then Nearly done) | Takes you straight to Stripe's payment page for that site |
The rules for each field, and every message this form can give, are in Create your site.
Paying
A plan and the setup package are paid for together, on one page run by our payment provider, Stripe. We never see your card. Prices are in Canadian dollars in Canada and US dollars elsewhere, and taxes, where they apply, are shown before you pay.
When the payment is done you are returned to your account page, with one of these notices:
| Notice | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "Thank you. Your site moves to its new plan within a minute: reload this page to see it." | You paid for a plan. |
| "Thank you. Your site moves to its new plan within a minute, and we will be in touch by email to arrange your setup." | You paid for a plan and the package. |
| "Thank you. We will be in touch by email to arrange your setup." | You paid for the package alone. |
Your plan changes when Stripe confirms the payment to us, not when your browser comes back, which is why it can take up to a minute.
If payment cannot be started, or you leave Stripe's page
Your site is made before you are sent to pay, so it exists whatever happens next:
- If you leave Stripe's page without paying, you return to your account page and your site is on the Free plan.
- If Stripe's page cannot be opened, your account page shows "That did not go through to our payment provider. Nothing was charged: try again in a minute." Your site is on the Free plan.
In both cases, choose the plan again from the Plans section of your account page: see Move to a paid plan. If you had included the setup and migration package, it was not bought either; buy it from the Setup and migration card on the same page.
Signing up for the Community edition
The self-hosted Community edition takes the same screens, started from Get the Community edition on the home page, with these differences:
- Step 1 is headed Would you rather it was all done for you? and describes the Standard edition. Press Ask us about the Standard edition to write to us, or Continue with the Community edition.
- Step 2 offers the same package, which for a self-hosted site includes installing the software on your server or your Cloudflare account.
- There is no site to name. Without the package you go straight to your account page, with the notice "Your account is ready. The Community edition, with your licence key and the installation guide, is under "Self-hosted" below." With the package, a screen headed Nearly done asks for your Country if your account has none, then Continue to payment.
What to do next is in Get a licence key and the download.