Release Notes & Performance Updates

🔔 What’s New: Enhancements to Enrollment and Payment Experience

Release 6.25.26

Feature Enhancements:

• Password Reset Control

  To streamline account recovery, Admins, Managers, and Coordinators can now initiate password reset emails for primary parents directly from the Contacts page. This eliminates the need for manual support requests and empowers staff to assist parents more efficiently.

• Manual Invoice Status Management

  We have introduced greater flexibility in managing invoice lifecycles by allowing manual status updates. This feature provides administrative teams with precise control over financial records, ensuring status reflects real-world payment scenarios.

  
  

  Editable Statuses:

  • Open
  • Past Due

  • Uncollectible

    
    

     Available Status Changes:

• Paid: Select this if payment was collected outside of Stripe. E.g. check or cash. 
• Void: Select this if an invoice was finalized in error or contains incorrect information.
• Uncollectible: Use this when payment is not expected. Note: While invoices marked as "Uncollectible" signify that payment is no longer anticipated, this status is not permanent; the system remains open to accept payment should the customer later decide to settle the balance.

Note: Invoices marked as "Paid" will display as "Paid Offline" on the Invoice page and are non-refundable.

Please ensure that status changes are applied with care, as these modifications directly impact financial reporting and account balances.

• UI Enhancements

The Invoice Itemization window has been fully redesigned to provide a more intuitive and efficient user experience. Updates include improved layout spacing, clearer typography, and standardized icon usage, all of which contribute to better readability and faster navigation during routine financial reviews.

• System Updates

As part of our commitment to platform performance and security, we have implemented the following infrastructure upgrades:

• Java: Upgraded to Long-Term Support (LTS) version 25, delivering enhanced stability and security features.
• Spring Boot: Updated to the stable release 4.0.3, ensuring compatibility with the latest framework optimizations and improved overall system reliability.

Release 4.22.26

Feature Enhancements:

• Custom Grade Feature

  Admins are able to customize grades to fit their organization!  Have Tiny Tots rather than kindergarteners?  This feature is for you—find more info here!

• Invoice Itemization on Transactions page

  Looking for additional information on a specific transaction? On the transactions page, invoice names will now be clickable.  When clicked on, a window will open showing transaction itemization.  Moreover, we are working on adding more details and improving the view. Stay tuned for future updates!

• Grade/Age Advancement – Logic Improvements

  The Popsicle platform will now recognize the grade/age a child will have at the start of an activity and allow registrations accordingly.

  Previously, if an activity started in September, enrollment was only possible after the automatic grade update in August. This could restrict when a child could be registered.

  We have improved this logic. The system now takes grade transitions into account at any point in time. This means a child can be enrolled as soon as they will meet the requirements at the start of the activity, without needing to wait for the grade update in August.

Example:

• Activity start: September
• Registration opens: May
• Required grades: 2–3
• Eligible children:
  • Grade 1 → becomes Grade 2 in August → ✔ eligible
  • Grade 2 → becomes Grade 3 in August → ✔ eligible
  • Grade 3 → becomes Grade 4 in August → ✖ not eligible

Release 3.23.26

Feature Enhancements:

• Billing & Invoices - Resend invoices in one click with confirmation upon delivery. Billing performance improvements reduce errors and streamline payment management. The “Send Invoice” feature now makes it easier to deliver invoices for past, open, or past-due payments directly to parents via email. This reduces missed invoices, improves record-keeping, and simplifies the payment process for both administrators and parents.
• Reporting - Transaction reports now display accurate data, including activity types. Users with appropriate permissions can generate detailed reports covering payments, refunds, and transaction statuses, making it easier to monitor financial activity and verify records.
• Parent Portal - Improved Enrollment Guidance. Users who have not added a child are now prompted with a clear message and direct link when attempting to enroll. The system ensures the correct view is displayed based on their profile.

Release 2.18.26

Feature Enhancements:

• Add a delete option for coupons:  Admins are able to delete coupons via the Coupons page.  Please note: If a coupon was previously applied to an enrollment, it will remain valid for that enrollment. Deleting the coupon will not remove or affect any past invoices or payments.
• Add the ability to filter invoices by 'Date' and 'Type of activity' on the Invoices page: Additional filtering abilities for the Invoices section.
• School Portal | Revenue/Refunds providing accurate values on the Dashboard: Revenue and Refund summaries accurately reflect the financial information

• Updates for the “Payment for your subscription on Popsicle failed” email.

  If the school user receives this email, it means that Stripe attempted to charge the parent for a subscription payment, but the payment failed.

  It is important to contact the parent and ask them to update their payment method or complete the payment manually. If the parent does not complete the payment, the subscription will be canceled by Stripe.

  Once the subscription is canceled, no future invoices will be generated for that subscription, even if the child is still displayed as enrolled in Popsicle.

Release 1.27.26

Feature Enhancements:

• Multiple Instructors: Admins are able to assign multiple instructors to one activity
• Recurring payment: Feature calibration to ensure accurate billing and charges
• Registration interruption: Added additional conditions to allow parents or admins to navigate away from the registration window, if needed, and complete registration at a later time.
• Transaction Descriptions: Additional information was added to each line item/transaction to facilitate quicker identification and reconciliation.
• Invoice Creation:  Reinstated, with improved reliability, the functionality that allows admins to create invoices manually within the School Portal. The ‘Add Invoice’ feature allows users with Super Admin or Manager roles to manually create invoices in Popsicle.
• Attendance Roster:  Enhanced the attendance roster feature to ensure improved accuracy.
• Coupon Error Messages:  Improved coupon-related error messages to provide more detailed information and clearer explanations of the specific issue encountered.
• Coupon Usage Count:  Reinstated visibility into coupon usage by displaying how many times a coupon has been used, by whom it was used, and the usage details for each parent. This helps admins better track coupon limits and understand why a coupon may no longer be applicable.
• Enrollment Summary:  Daily, weekly, and monthly summary emails have been improved, making it easier for admins to track enrollment information.
• Enrollment Process:  Advanced registration process and flow in the Parent Portal to make enrollment more intuitive and user-friendly for parents.

Release 7.12.25

Enrollment and Payment Experience

• Instant Enrollment: Parents can now enroll their children immediately.
• Multiple Payment Methods: Parents can now add as many cards as they need, making it easier to manage payments.
• Clear Discount Visibility: All discounts are clearly shown at the time of payment, giving parents full insight into what they’re saving.
• Admin Transparency: Admins can now view all applied discounts and coupons for each payment and subscription at the invoice level.
• Usage reporting is now daily, offering more timely and accurate insights compared to the previous end-of-billing-cycle reports.
• Admins can also track the number of usages and exact timestamps when usage is reported.

Receipts Page Improvements – Parent Portal

• Detailed Invoices: Invoices now include more comprehensive information, helping parents better understand the charges.
• Clear Payment Statuses: Each invoice clearly displays whether it is Open, Paid, or Past Due.
• Flexible Payments: Parents can pay any Open invoices directly from the Receipts page.
• Invoice Filtering: Parents can filter invoices by payment status for easier navigation.
• Historical Access: Older invoices are available for review at any time.
• Performance Enhancements: The page now loads faster for a smoother experience.

Invoices Page Improvements – School Portal

• We’ve merged the ‘Receipts’ and ‘Invoices’ pages into a single unified ‘Invoices’ page, making it easier to find and manage all payment-related data in one place.
• Flexible Payments: Admins can pay any Open invoices directly from the Invoices page at the parent’s request.

• Performance Enhancements: The page now loads faster for a smoother experience.

Enhanced Enrollment Emails

• Parents will now receive Stripe-generated invoices with complete payment details.
• If a payment is still due, the email will include a direct link to manually pay the invoice.

Release 6.05.25

• Feature Enhancements:
• Upfront Aftercare changes: Aftercare activity usage is measured and gathered more regularly, allowing for more accurate and efficient proration of activities, automatically.
• Performance issue fix on the Invoice/Receipts pages (New Flow): This page now operates more quickly and seamlessly for a better user experience.
• Toggle to view old invoices (School/Parent Portals): A toggle button is available on this page, to present older invoices, while allowing you to keep your transactions managed, succinctly.
• Invoice filtering by status on the Parent Portal: Filter invoices by their current status in the system (Draft/Open/Paid/Past Due/Voided)
• Successful payment email changes: Successful registrants receive confirmation of payment directly from Stripe.

• 'Total' field on the invoice (School/Parent Portals - New Flow): Showing the full price for the activity, without add-on fee, coupon and other discounts.