Easy ticket scanning & event check-in with Tickets

Organiser information

The first thing you need to set up is the organiser information. Click 'Set up', and a window will pop up. Once you've completed the fields, click 'Save'.

Event information

Next, you need to set up your event information, so click on 'Set up' on the Event row. We start by entering some basic information: the event name. You have already set that previously when setting up your main event profile, but you can change it here if you want to display a different name to your audience.

Then enter some details in the event intro text, such as what will happen during the event, why it's important, and the outcomes the attendees can expect. This is just an introduction, so two to three sentences will suffice. We’ll be writing a more detailed event description shortly.

After you've completed the event intro, enter the relevant start date and time (and end date and time)

Important! Be sure to set the right time zone for the event destination.

You have three location types to choose from: a physical event, an online event, or both. If choosing an online event (or both), you will need to enter a URL. When choosing a physical event, you need to enter the address.

Once you've entered the details, the map automatically finds the address and puts a marker in the location. You can move this if it's not completely right.

Then we need to upload some images: a cover image and a preview image. Please ensure you use high-resolution images because customers will see large versions of these.

Next, we need to enter more detailed information about the event. If your event features live music, for example, you could give an overview of the performers, the genre of music, and any special details of the show, such as age restrictions and accessibility information.

For paid tickets, it's especially important to include your refund policy in the next field. To be compliant with EU GDPR legislation, you should also include a URL to your privacy page so that customers and attendees know what your privacy policy is. If you are processing or storing customer data, you require consent from the customers. Select 'Yes' or 'No'.

Then we need to head to Sections and click 'Set up'. This particular section isn't mandatory because many events don't have sections (which are essentially different types of tickets, such as a particular time slot or designated areas). Here, you'll see three options to choose from:

• Zone
• Time slot
• Zone and time slot

If you have an event where you sell tickets for regular customers and VIP customers, you can set those zones here. If you have multiple stages, you can set them here too.

A section can also be a time slot. For example, if you have an event that runs across multiple days, you can allocate users access to a ticket for just one of the days or offer a combi-ticket. You can even make combinations between a time slot and a zone, and you can add as many sections as you want.

When complete, hit 'Save' and head to the next stage, which is Ticketing.

There are some basic settings that we need to set over here. You have three choices available to you at this time. We can do RSVP events when you have a guest list, to send out the invitations and request that recipients respond if they are planning to attend your event.

We also have free tickets, and in the near future, we will also be offering paid tickets through our platform. Once you've selected the appropriate event type, you need to decide if you want to: generate a scannable QR code for each ticket, or automatically send a booking confirmation when somebody registers.

You may not want to do this for some events, for example, if you want to vet the attendees who register before issuing them with a ticket. After this, you can set a registration end date and time, such as ten days before the event at noon.

Next, you can choose whether there is a limit to the number of guests. Select the 'No limit' check box if you want to manually enter a specific number.

You then need to specify what information you require from the ticket buyer. Do you require their address and phone number? As for the attendees, specify whether you need their names and email addresses.

Important! There may be a difference between a buyer and the attendees. For example, a customer may buy three tickets: one for themselves and two for their friends.

You can ask for email consent from the users if you want their permission to send them marketing emails later.

Remember! With ticketing, you are processing lots of data. In this case, eventplanner.net is acting as the platform, but it is your data and you are responsible for managing it.

At this stage, you can also add some bespoke questions to the registration form.

Now it's time to create the actual tickets.

If you created any specific zones earlier, you'll need to create tickets for each of these by selecting 'Create new ticket'. You then need to specify:

• Ticket name
• Custom end date, e.g., early bird tickets
• Quantity (the total amount available)
• Maximum tickets per order
• Description (more detailed information on your event)

This will become especially useful when setting different prices when the functionality becomes available. In the meantime, have a play around with the settings. Once you’ve entered all the relevant details, hit 'Save'.

Next, we move on to publishing the event. Select 'Active'. Please be aware that you will not be able to change certain settings after publishing your event (such as changing the type from RSVP to Tickets).

In the next section (Sharing settings), you can choose from:

• Public event - anyone can access
• Private event - anyone with a specific secured link can access
• Private event - only people with the password can access

Selecting option 2 or 3 will generate a link for your event. If you follow that link it will take you to a checkout where you will see the ticket types you have created. If you follow the process as a customer, you will see that the predetermined rules are in place, such as the maximum number of tickets per customer, the customer information required, and any additional questions you are asking.

The user can decide whether or not to create an eventplanner.net account. That's completely up to them. After clicking 'Purchase tickets', they'll be taken to an order confirmation page.

If we head back to our Tickets page, you will see an updated guest list. In the right-hand column, you'll see some actions, denoted by an ellipsis (...). Clicking on that will reveal some options.

You can change the name, for example, if a user has entered the wrong email address or name. You can select 'Resend confirmation' if, for example, the user didn't receive a confirmation email.

Important! It's worth asking the user to check their spam/junk folder. Occasionally, an over-zealous email client will prevent our emails from reaching customers. If the issue persists, you can manually download the ticket yourself and send it like any normal email.

Our handy eventplanner app comes with a built-in ticket scanner. The app is available for free in the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

Normally, you need internet access to process all the scanned tickets and sync them back to our server. But the app is smart in that it enters offline mode if the connection drops during your event. You can still scan tickets in offline mode. When your internet access comes back online, everything syncs automatically.