What is the difference between Pausing someone's membership and cancelling?
Pausing A Membership
What it means: Pausing a Membership simply skips any upcoming monthly membership charge(s) on that billing date.
Pausing will immediately stop any membership-related perks, so they couldn't use them while membership is paused.
NEW (June 2026): You can schedule BOTH when a pause begins and ends – meaning you can now “schedule out” a pause if you know a member wants to pause on a future date.
What it doesn't mean: You cannot pause someone's membership and expect their membership to continue in any way after that unless manually unpaused by the studio.
Pausing does not issue any partial payments or have the ability to schedule out when membership "unpauses."
If there is a desire for partial payments/prorating, it's actually better to cancel membership altogether. Studio managers have the option to prorate the cancellation. If they have remaining time in their month, it will add Account Funds to their account for that time/money. Then, whenever they start back up, the amount will prorate depending on the time of the month they sign up for – and use any Accounts Funds that are in account at the time.
Cancelling A Membership
What it means: Cancelling membership immediately stops membership fees and perks.
Studio managers will have the option to prorate and add to users' account funds to access perks through remaining month or pre-determined time.
If/when a member restarts a plan, they will pay a prorated amount based on the time they sign up.
You can schedule when a membership cancels.
What it doesn't mean: Pausing a membership! They will not have access to Kiln Fire until they restart.
What happens when someone signs up for a membership that starts in the future? When/how are they charged?
When you the New Member Start user sign up link (Users > All Users > User Sign Up Links button), you can customize the link you send to 1.) be specific to the membership they want to sign up for and 2.) set a start date in the future. If you check the “Charge full amount immediately up front, add to account funds” will allow you to gather full payment right away, then “store” that amount in the member's Account Funds in Kiln Fire. Then, when membership officially starts, Kiln Fire will automatically pull the amount from Account Funds rather than their card for that month, then from saved card on file for the other months moving forward.
What are Account Funds and how do I use them?
Account Funds are dollars stored in your Kiln Fire account. You can essentially use them towards anything in Kiln Fire instead of charging your card. You may have Account Funds for certain things like membership dues, refunds, credits for volunteering in-studio, etc. You can check your amount by going to your user profile and scrolling down to Account Funds.
What is the process for ordering hardware for piece tracking?
Go to Studio > Hardware Orders > Start Hardware Order. There you will find options for Firing Ticket Package or Point of Sale system. When you click into either, there are a few options you have to customize your order. Once you submit, we'll be in touch about delivery and configuration!
I set up a Discount Code but forgot to tell someone to use it during their checkout. Can I retroactively apply a discount for someone's membership?
Yes, you can, but only in Stripe. Go to that specific person in Stripe, select Subscription (Stripe's term for Membership) and apply “Coupon” (Stripe's term for Discount Codes). Enter in the Discount Code you saved in Kiln Fire and save it in their account in Stripe.
We are updating our membership prices. How do I change our current membership plans?
Unfortunately, you cannot update a membership plan's price directly. Stripe doesn't allow any changes to that once it has been created.
In order to change membership prices for your studio, you will need to create new ones and archive the old ones. The process looks like this:
- Create new membership plans (Studio > Membership Plans > Create New Plan Level)
- Manually move people from old membership plan to new membership plan. You will have a chance to choose whether to prorate that change, or just have it bill the new amount at the next billing.
- Once moved, they will receive an email so it's good to let them know ahead of time!
- Archive old plan(s) by clicking into old plan (old price) and scrolling to bottom to select "archive". That way it still keeps record of who was subscribed to this plan previously after updates are made. Once archived, this plan will not show up to new members signing up for the first time.
How do I link or embed Kiln Fire on my studio's website?
There are several different options, but here are the common ones studios tend to use:
Class Embeds
NAVIGATE TO: Classes > Settings > Website Integrations
The options are laid out within that page pretty clearly, but if you need more of a deep-dive, you can click here!
Membership Start Link
NAVIGATE TO: Users > All Users > User Sign Up Links > New Member Plan Start
This is a link that you can customize if need be, and then put a button/link on your website where people can directly sign up and pay to start a new membership]. The link typically looks like this:
https://(yourstudioname).kilnfire.com/start-membership
Waitlist Link
NAVIGATE TO: Users > Waitlist > Public Waitlist Link
If your studio is one that typically wants to know a little bit more about people before they sign up, you might want to link to our Waitlist functionality instead. It's similar to a Membership application where you can customize questions to ask, review once they submit, and then send them a member invite link from that. Typically the link looks like this:
https://(yourstudioname).kilnfire.com/join-waitlist
You can customize this waitlist form under Studio > Waitlist.
“Member Portal”
Many studios have a "Member Log In" or "Member Portal" or some kind of link on their website which brings people to the main login page for your studio's Kiln Fire. It looks like this:
How can we remove or delete users from Kiln Fire?
You cannot delete user accounts as they can be used across any Kiln Fire studios (aka they could join another studio using Kiln Fire). You can, however, mark them as "Inactive" which removes them from your view and prevents them from being able to log into your studio from that point on.
Go to Users > All Users > Select the person(s) > Click "Edit" > Under "App Status", select Inactive.
How can I set up a “Firing Fee” that's free?
NAVIGATE TO: Studio > Pieces & Firing Fees > Firing Prices
You can do that by setting up a Firing Price that is free. Go to Studio > Pieces & Firing Fees > scroll down to Firing Prices and either edit the current Prices (if you don't plan on charging anyone for firing at any point) or you can create a different type that shows up to certain groups (i.e. some studios have it set up that non-members get a particular price, but certain members get free, etc.) Under “Firing Fee Type” drop-down, select “Flat Fee”, then make sure Piece Flat Fee is “0”. Save.