VBS Friend Preferences

During VBS registration, families can request that their children be grouped with specific friends. The friend preferences panel in the Groups page lets you review these requests, confirm automatic matches, and manually link children.

How Friend Matching Works

Families enter up to 3 friend names per child during registration. The system uses fuzzy name matching to find registered children that match the entered names. Each match is assigned a confidence level: High, Medium, or Low.

Note

Friend preferences are advisory — the system suggests matches but you make the final decision on whether to confirm or dismiss each request.

Friend Requests tab showing requests organized by match status — Review friend requests grouped by status: Needs Review, Auto-Matched, Confirmed, and Dismissed

Reviewing Friend Requests

Friend requests are organized into four status sections: Needs Review, Auto-Matched, Confirmed, and Dismissed.

Open the Friend Requests tab

Navigate to Groups in your VBS admin sidebar and open the Friend Requests tab.

Review each request

Each request shows the child's name, the friend name they entered, the matched child (if found), and the confidence level of the match.

Confirming and Dismissing Matches

Review auto-matched requests

In the Auto-Matched section, verify that the suggested child is the correct match for each friend request.

Confirm or change the match

Click Confirm to accept the match. If the suggested child is wrong, use the dropdown to select a different registered child instead.

Dismiss unfulfillable requests

Click Dismiss to remove a request that cannot be honored — for example, if the requested friend is not registered.

Tip

Confirming a match does not automatically place children in the same group. Use Auto Assign with friend-aware grouping on the Groups page to group confirmed friends together.

Resolving Matches

Trigger automatic matching

Click Resolve Matches to scan all registered children and attempt to match pending friend requests by name similarity. Matches above 50% confidence are auto-matched; others remain in Needs Review.

Manually Linking Friends

Open the linking form

Click Link Friends to open the manual linking form.

Select two children

Choose the first child from the dropdown, then select the second child.

Create the link

Click Link to create a confirmed friend connection between the two children.

Note

Manual links bypass the matching system entirely — use this when families contact you directly about friend requests that weren't entered during registration.

Friend-Aware Auto Assign

When you use Auto Assign on the Groups page, confirmed friend matches are grouped together whenever grade ranges allow. If friends have incompatible grade ranges for the same group, a conflict dialog appears letting you choose whether to place friends together (overriding the grade range) or keep them in grade-appropriate groups.

Permissions

Managing friend preferences requires the events.manage permission.

VBS Friend Preferences

How Friend Matching Works

Reviewing Friend Requests

Open the Friend Requests tab

Review each request

Confirming and Dismissing Matches

Review auto-matched requests

Confirm or change the match

Dismiss unfulfillable requests

Resolving Matches

Trigger automatic matching

Manually Linking Friends

Open the linking form

Select two children

Create the link

Friend-Aware Auto Assign

Permissions

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