Creating an event

Configuring and managing an event is simple and easy to do. From the Staff site you can manage program items, registration options, accounting, pricing, and more!

For more information about other event configuration options, see the Event Display content item.

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Note

While creating your event, use the Show in search fields to hide your unfinished event from public users.

Do the following to create an event:

1. Go to Events > Add event.
2. Select one of the following options:

   • Create a new event

   • Choose a template - From the Template drop-down, select an event template. Fields defined in the event template will automatically populate for the new event. To learn more about event templates, see Managing event templates.

   • Copy existing event - Select an event to copy and use as the basis for the new event. All information including registration options, program items, and questions are copied into the new event. Begin typing the event name, or select an event from the drop-down. Clicking the down arrow will load more results that you can scroll through. Copied events will have a status of Pending.

     

3. Click Next.

Info tab options

The following are available on the Info tab:

• (required) Enter an Event name.
• Keep in mind the following when creating an event name:
  • Special characters will cause the Event name to be truncated because special characters are encoded for security reasons if the encoded results are more than 60 characters.
  • When copying an event, "Copy of" is added to the beginning of the Event name. Be sure to delete "Copy of" and enter a new Event name.
• From the drop-down, select an event Category. New categories can be defined at Settings > Events > Event categories.
• Select a Registration Type: A program item can only require a registration or a fee if the parent event required it.
  • Registration not required – Users view the event for information purposes only.
  • Registration required – Users see a Register button on the event page. When the user registers for an event, they become a member of the group of registrants.
  • Fee required – Users see a Register button and will be charged a fee for the event or its program items. If you are planning to add Registration Options, you must select Fee required at this point.
• Enter a Description of the event.
• Specify the Start/End dates and times.
  For charitable events, a Start date is required for receipting purposes. If an End date is not defined, the Start date will be used as both the Start and End dates.
• Specify the Event time zone. You can choose to not show this information by selecting the Hide time zone checkbox.

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  Note

  The event time zone is displayed in the event showcase if Hide time zone is not enabled and at least one Start date and time or End date and time time field has a value.

If a new event does not have an Event time zone defined, the event will use the system Time zone setting.

The Event time zone applies to the following for an event:

• Show in search Beginning and Ending dates and times on the Display tab.

• Registration opens and Registration closes times on the Registration tab.

• (optional) Enter a Virtual meeting URL if the event is a virtual, such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. A Join Meeting Now button appears on the event page 30 minutes before the start time for registered users and displays for the duration of the event. If you are using Zoom specifically, see Adding a Zoom meeting link to an event for details.

• Select a Location. Choose or search for a previously used location, or select Add location.

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  Note

  Locations can also be managed from Events Locations on the Staff site.

  • Any location added from this window is automatically added to the Locations group.
  • New queries added to the $/Events/DefaultSystem/Queries/Locations folder will display for selection.

• Select event Tags by clicking the Modify link.

Display tab options

The following options are available on the Display tab:

• Select an image from the Image Selector, or upload a new one to the Document system. When an image is selected, a preview displays.

  • Enter in the Image alt text field the text that will display when your image cannot be viewed.

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    Note

    The maximum supported characters for an event Image file path is 255 characters. Event program item and registration option images support 100 characters.

• Select a Default program sort to set the initial sort order of the event’s program items. You can choose Day, Category, Track, or View all. Website users can change the program items’ sort order when viewing the event.

• Enable Display program item availability to non-staff registrants to display the program item’s availability. The Availability is only displayed if there is a Capacity defined for the program item.

• Specify the Show in search Beginning and Ending dates and times. The time displayed for the date and time fields is determined by the Event time zone setting on the Info tab:

  • If these fields are left blank, the event will display in search results and on the calendar for non-staff users to see.
  • If the date range includes the current date, the event will display in search results and on the calendar for non-staff users to see.
  • If the date range does not include the current date, only staff users will see the event in search results and on the calendar.
  • When an event date is changed, each of the associated program items will need to be reconfigured as well.

• The Event Showcase Layout fields allow you to display separate event content records to public and Staff users. Select the content record to display for each view, or enter a shortcut. The default view for public users (Default) is the event Showcase (~/EventDetail), and the default view for Staff users (Owners) is the event Dashboard (~/EventDashboard). See Configuring system content for more information.

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  Note

  These options will only be used when the event is reached through the Event.aspx redirector.

• Additional information - Enter HTML text in the editing panel. There is no limit on size. See Understanding the toolbar icons for more information about how to use the Additional information HTML editor.

Registration tab options

The following options are available on the Registration tab:

• Enter a Capacity if you want to limit the number of registrations to accept.
• In the Registration opens and Registration closes fields, enter the registration date and time range. The registration date and time range is based on the system Time zone setting.

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  Note

  Staff users and system administrators can always register themselves and other contacts for the event, regardless of the date or time.

• In the Registration closed message field, enter a message to display on the event Showcase page after the registration has closed to public users. The default message is Registration is closed.
• Enable Allow registering others to allow users to Register Someone Else.

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  Note

  This only applies if Fee required is the selected Registration Type.

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Note

Enable Permit public users to register existing contacts (Settings > Events > General) to allow public users to register existing contacts they do not have read access to. When disabled, make sure the contacts available in your Register Someone Else query (configured in the Event Display content item) are also included in the Contact security query for All authenticated users. Otherwise, users who attempt to register someone else could receive an error if they do not have access to the contact they are trying to register.

• Enable time-based itinerary conflicts in program items by default - When enabled, all new program items for the event will have the option Enable time-based itinerary conflicts selected by default. When registrants register for program items containing conflicting time schedules, they will be alerted. The warning will appear in the event registration window and again in the cart.
• Allow non-staff registrants to complete registration with conflicts in their itinerary - When enabled, registrants are allowed to checkout of the cart even when itinerary conflicts are present. If this option is not enabled, registrants will not be able to checkout until the conflict is resolved.

Pricing tab options

Define event pricing on the Pricing tab. This tab is enabled when Fee required is chosen on the Info tab.

Questions tab

Add all relevant questions for the event. This tab is enabled when Registration required is selected on the Info tab.