Have you wrestled with duplicates created from event registrations or the many dates and details they add to profiles?
To avoid duplicates, you’d typically add a name field and a contact detail or birthdate field so that existing profiles could be matched. But if the name was spelt differently, the contact details changed, or the birthdate wasn’t already recorded, then, boom, duplicate. Plus, these fields are saved to the profile, creating lots of extra info that needs to be maintained. 😢
A while ago, we added the ability to link Forms to the Event, avoiding all the extra fields on a profile. However, to avoid duplicates, these Forms needed to know which profile was completing the Form. This was only known after registration, so the Forms were optional, as they didn’t need to be filled in until after registration.
We’ve updated the registration process so that people now start by entering a contact detail. If there is a profile with that contact detail, a code is sent to that contact, and when entered, it confirms that they own the contact.
Once the profile is known, Forms can be auto-populated from existing info. Because of this, forms can be displayed before the booking completes, meaning they can be required before a person can register.
Today, entering contact details before registering is enabled for all events, as it avoids duplicates. Suppose you are using Fields for your events. In that case, we recommend you migrate to required Forms to streamline registration and cleanup profiles by removing event-related info from the dates and details profile sections.
Further improvements for admins
You can add custom confirmation messages, forms, discount codes, and processes to the event and ticket types. Previously, you had to edit each ticket type to change these details, but we’ve redesigned this so you can do it all from the event page.
Confirmation
The new Confirmation tab allows you to set up the confirmation messages for the Event and each ticket type. You can also specify whether to email the confirmation to the registrant.
Forms
If you need additional info, please add Forms and make them required.
When adding a Form, you can select which ticket types you want to collect the information for. If you gather info about the registrant, make the Form required for the “Booking” option.
Promo codes
You can add the codes to the Promo codes tab to enable early bird or discount codes.
Like with Forms, you can specify whether you want to apply codes for bookings or specific ticket types. If your code is a percentage-off, picking “Booking” is the same as picking each ticket type. If it’s a fixed-price discount (e.g., $20), applying it to the booking will discount $20. If you apply it to the ticket type, they get $20 off each ticket.
Automations
Automations have been updated so you can specify which process step to add the person to once registration is complete.
If you apply this to “Booking”, the registrant is added to the selected process step. If you apply it to a ticket type, the ticket holder is added to the process step.
Reports
Previously, with Fields, the dates and details also made it difficult to find only the fields during registration. Often, fields from previous registrations would also show up. And if you previously reused a Form, you wouldn’t know which responses were for which events.
To solve this, you’ll now find a new report called “Export form responses.” This will export just the responses for the selected events.
Bookings
When viewing a booking for an Event with Forms, you’ll see a “Form responses” tab. This tab lists the Forms for the booking and the ticket types, and to the right, it shows if the Form was required. On the left, a green check will appear to indicate whether a response has been received, and you can click the link to view the response.
Registration
The registration process starts with ticket selection, but extra fields are no longer displayed at this step.
Next, you’ll need contact details. If the contact details match an existing profile, a code is sent to that contact detail, which needs to be entered for the person to confirm their identity. If the contact doesn’t match, the person proceeds to the next step.
Next is a new step where you’ll need any additional information. If no Forms or Fields have been added to the Event or ticket types, the person proceeds to the confirmation step.
Forms are displayed as checkboxes; when checked, they open the Form, and when the response is saved, the checkbox is checked. All these Forms need to be completed before proceeding.
If the person entered a known contact detail, when they open the Form, they can select one of their household members to auto-populate it.
Any fields will also be displayed under each ticket, but these will not auto-populate (given this, now is a great time for Admins to remove the Fields and instead, use the much more flexible Forms).
We have more Event related updates coming, so go to the Updates section and click Follow so you don’t miss those updates.