Digital event with timeslots

In order to create your event, click the "Events" button in the menu bar above.

If you've never set up an event with guestoo before, the event overview will be empty. In order to change that, click on the "+Create event" button in the top left corner.

You will now be redirected to a new page.

Event or template

Select whether you want to create an event or an event template.

• Event:
  An event can be used productively and guests will be able to sign up for it. We recommend using this option for all events that you want to actively use, even if the registration isn't open yet.
• Template:
  Templates are mainly used to create event prototypes with the most important default data and settings. With the help of an event template, you'll be able to create multiple similar events. We recommend to only use templates for this purpose, because guests can not sign up for an event template.

We choose the option "Event" for our example, because we want to create an event that guests can actively sign up for.

What

Enter the basic data for your event:

• Name
  
  The name of the event is public and will be shown to the guests and used in your internal event overview. Choose a name that will make sense for both you and your guests.
  
  Examples: Online marketing workshop, Annual digital employee meeting
  
  
• Subtitle
  
  Here you can add a subtitle to further explain your event.
  
  Example: "This workshop is suitable for beginners."
  
  
• External event-ID
  
  Here you can add an external event ID, that you use for your event outside of guestoo, if applicable. The external event ID is not visible for guests, it's only used in the back-end for your internal administration.
  
  
• Event image
  Upload an image to make your event look more appealing. This could be your company's logo, a picture or a graphic that has been specifically created to promote the event.

You can find further information on this and the additional data you can define in the "Info" tab of your event on this page.

This is where you decide if you want to create an event that is free of charge or if there will be paid tickets.

Free of charge event

• Your guests can sign up for the event free of charge
• You can still send your guests an admission ticket which can be used to check them in at the venue
• There is only one category of guests

Paid tickets

• Your guests have to choose at least one ticket when signing up
• A ticket can have the price of 0€
• There can be multiple ticket categories with different prices

Further information regarding the event type can be found here.

In order to keep things easy for our simple event, we choose the type "Free of charge event" for this tutorial. 

Now it's time to let our guests know when and where the event is supposed to take place.

When

In the "When" section you can choose the date and start time of your event. If you want to, you can also choose the date and time of the event's end or choose the option "Open End".

Warning: Your event needs to have at least a start date and time (unless you choose the option "Event has no date" - otherwise there will be an error once you click on the "+ Create" button!

Further information regarding the "When" section can be found here.

Type of event

The default setting in the "Type of event" section is usually "On location event". Since we want to create a digital event, we'll change this setting to "Online event".

Further information regarding the "Type of event" section can be found here.

Meeting URL

The "Meeting URL" section is usually used to enter the URL where the online meeting will take place, e. g. a Zoom link. Since we will create multiple timeslots that have different meeting URLs later on, we'll leave this section empty.

Further information regarding the "Meeting URL" section can be found here.

As soon as you have entered this basic information, you can click on the "+ Create" button on the top right corner in order to save your settings!

As soon as we've created our new event, a few more sections will appear in the "Infos" tab. In order to edit these, click on the "Edit" button in the top right corner.

We advise you to fill at least the following sections with the relevant information: 

Contact details for visitors

Enter the contact information of the person who your guests can contact in case they have any further questions regarding the event. 

Please enter the following information:

• Name of contact person
  e. g. Max Mustermann
• Phone number
  e. g. 0123 / 456 789 01
• Email
  e. g. max@mustermann.de
• Additional contact information
  e. g. "Available daily from 9am to 5pm"

Editorial texts

The texts you enter here will be displayed to your guests on the event microsite.

Please enter the following texts:

• Introtext
  Will be displayed as an introductory text on the event microsite.
• Description
  Will be displayed on the event microsite. Use the description text to give your ideas a better idea of what they can expect from the event.
• Intro text registration form
  This text will be displayed above the registration form and can be used to give your guests further information on how to fill in the registration form. You can also use personalised text blocks to directly address your guests.
• Tip: In order to personalise the editorial texts, you can use the text blocks that are displayed above the fields where you can enter the texts. In order to use a text block, click on it to save the code to your clipboard and then enter it at the desired position within your text.

Important: Don't forget to click the "Save" button in the top right corner as soon as you have entered all necessary information.

If your event is supposed to have a maximum capacity, you should limit the amount of people who can sign up for your digital event.

Here's how:

• Go to the "Settings" tab of your event
• Scroll to the "Registration process" section
• Click on the "Edit" button in the top right corner
• Enter the maximum number of guests under "Max. guests"
• In addition, you can decide whether or not a guest can sign up additional guests in the same registration form by changing the number in the "Max. guests per registration" field
  For our example, we'll enter the number "1" because we want each guest to sign up individually.
• Guest confirmation:
  Decide whether you want the guests to be confirmed automatically or if you want to decide which guests you'll allow to participate.
  For our example, we'll choose the option "Manual confirmation by organizer", which means you'll have to confirm every single guest manually. We'll go more into depth about this later.
• Click on the "Save" button in the top right corner in order to save your settings 

Further information about the settings that are available in the "Registration process" section can be found here.

In order to make your event a bit more pleasing to the eye, you can change the colorsn that are used for the event microsite, the registration form and the emails you send out to your guests.

This is how it works:

• Go to the "Design" tab of your event
• Click on the "Edit" button in the top right corner
• Enter the color codes (e. g. #000000) or choose the colors with the color picker
• Upload a background image, if desired
• Click on the "Save" button in the top right corner

Further information regarding the design settings of your event can be found here.

Tip: If you don't enter any colors here, guestoo will use the colors that have been saved under Agency > Design as a fallback.

In order to collect all necessary information of your guests during their registration, you can customise the registration form to your liking.

Here's how it works:

• Go to the "Form" tab of your event
• In the "Master data" section, decide which fields you want to be shown in the registration form and whether the fields should be voluntary or mandatory:
• Crossed out, red eye symbol: Won't be visible in the registration form for the guest
• Green eye symbol: Will be visible in the registration form for the guest, voluntary
• Green star symbol: Will be visible in the registration form for the guest, mandatory
• Further information regarding the master data can be found here.

In order to keep our digital event for this tutorial simple, we'll choose the following master data: Email, Salutation (voluntary), Pronouns (voluntary), First name, Last name, Mobile.

But feel free to choose the master data that is relevant for you and your event. :)

After customising our registration form, we now have to set up the option for our guests to choose from different timeslots. 

This is how it's done:

• Go to the "Form" tab of your event
• Click on the "+ Add field" button under the headline "Event-specific fields"
• Choose the field type "Timeslots / Smart selection list" in the dialog window
• Label
  Enter a name for the timeslot field.
  In our example we'll call this field "Which meeting would you like to attend?"
• Description
  Here you can add a further description for your timeslot field (optional)
• Options for this field type
  There are different options available for this field type. For our example, we'll enable (Switch = green) the following options: 
  • EITHER Simplified selection (Option 1: only one timeslot/workshop/meeting per guest)
    If you enable this option, the guest will be shown a selection list with all available timeslots from which they can choose one timeslot. We recommend this option for events with multiple meetings of the same kind, where it's only necessary to attend one of them. 
  • OR Allow multiple selection, Value: X (Option 2: multiple timeslots per guest)
    If you enable this option, the guest will be allowed to choose multiple timeslots and will be able to attend multiple meetings/workshops. We recommend this option if you're offering different kinds of meetings. As the value you can either enter the number of timeslots a guest is allowed to choose or you enter the value "-1" which will enable the guest to choose as many timeslots as they want (provided that there are still spots available)
  • Hide no longer available options
    Makes the appointment selection more clear by hiding the options that are no longer available
  • Attach calendar entry for timeslot to confirmation email
    Enables the guest to save their appointment to their calendar quickly and easily
  • Use timeslot date as the date for the event
    If this option is enabled, the timeslot date will be used in the confirmation email instead of the event date. This is especially helpful for events that span over multiple days, in order to make sure that every guest knows on which day they'll be attending the event.
  • Marks the event as full as soon as no more timeslots are available
    Makes sure that no guest is able to sign up for the event as soon as the timeslots are all fully booked
  • All other options will be disabled for our example (Switch = red)
    An explanation for the other options can be found in our documentation.
• Before you proceed with creating the timeslot options, click on the "+Create new" button on the bottom left corner to save your settings
• As soon as you've created the field, you have the opportunity to choose whether the field will show up in the registration form and whether the field will be mandatory or voluntary:
• Crossed out, red eye symbol: Won't be visible in the registration form for the guest
• Green eye symbol: Will be visible in the registration form for the guest, voluntary
• Green star symbol: Will be visible in the registration form for the guest, mandatory

For our example, we decide that this field is a mandatory one - the guest has to choose a timeslot in order to participate. 

Timeslots: Create options

Now that we've created the timeslot field itself, it's time to create the available options that the guests will be able to choose from. 

• 
  Go to the "Form" tab of your event
• Click on the "+ Add field" button under the headline "Event-specific fields"
• Choose the field type "Timeslots / Smart selection list"
• Description
  Enter the name for your timeslot field
  For our example we're gonna choose the name "When would you like to visit the exhibition?"
• Options
  There are different options available for this field type. For our example we're going to activate (Switch on green) the following options:
  
  • Accompanying person must choose a timeslot as well
    To make sure that every accompanying person is counted as a visitor of the chosen timeslot as well
  • Allow multiple selection, value: 1
    In order to enable the guest to choose a ticket for each accompanying person as well.
  • Selection as quantity
    We activate this option to make sure a guest can choose the same timeslot for themself and their accompanying person
  • Hide no longer available options
    Makes the timeslot selection easier because the timeslots that are already fully booked will not be displayed
  • Attach calendar entry for timeslot to confirmation email
    Makes it easy for the guest to save the date of their exhibition visit to their calendar
  • Use timeslot date in email
    Ensures that the timeslot date will be used in the confirmation email instead of the start date of the event - especially helpful for events that run over multiple days, like the one in our example
  • Marks the event as full as soon as no more timeslots are available
    Makes sure that no more guests can sign up as soon as all timeslot spots are assigned
  • Attention: All other options have been deactivated for our example (Switches on red).
    To find out what the other options mean and what they can be used for, check out this page.
• Scroll down to click on the "+Create new" button 
• As soon as you have created the field, you have the option to decide whether the field will be displayed in the registration form and whether it is voluntary or mandatory:
  
  • Crossed out, red eye symbol: Won't be visible in the registration form for the guest
  • Green eye symbol: Will be visible in the registration form for the guest, voluntary
  • Green star symbol: Will be visible in the registration form for the guest, mandatory
  For our example, we select the green star symbol, because we want it to be mandatory for our guests to choose a timeslot in order to be able to visit the exhibition.

Timeslots: Create groups and options

Now that we've created the timeslot field itself, it's time to create the options that the guests will be able to choose from. 

Timeslots can be created like this:

• Click on the field "When would you like to visit the exhibition?" that you have previously created
• Scroll down to the "Options for the guest" section and click on the "+New option" button
• This is gonna be out first available timeslot. Enter the following data for this timeslot:
  
  • Label + description:
    e. g. "Meeting 1", "Workshop for XY", etc.
  • Additional text for calendar entry
    Here you can enter an additional text that will be shown in the calendar entry that the guest receives in their confirmation email.
  • Meeting URL
    Here you can enter the URL for the designated meeting room for this specific timeslot/workshop
  • Availability
    Number of available spots for this timeslot.
    We'll choose an availability of "20" for this example timeslot.
  • Date + Time Timeslot Start
    We'll use May 1st 2024 at 10:00 am for our example
  • Date + Time Timeslot Start
    We'll use May 1st 2024 at 10:30 am for our example
• We have just created a timeslot for a timespan of half an hour, which can be booked by up to 20 people, before it will be marked as full and won't be shown in the registration form anymore. Following this pattern, you can create as many timeslots as needed.
• Once you have created all necessary timeslots, don't forget to click on the "Save" button in the bottom left corner

Important remark regarding the available spots within a timeslot

• Keep an eye on the available spots within your timeslots
• If you set a maximum capacity for the event in Step 5 of this tutorial, but set your timeslots up in a way that allows for a higher amount of spots than the capacity of the event, the registration will be closed after the maximum capacity that you've set in the event settings has been reached - regardless of whether or not there are still timeslot spots available.
• If you want to make sure that all available timeslot options can be booked, make sure to set an adequate capacity under "Settings > Registration process > Max. guests" (e. g. "9999" and make sure that your timeslot field is mandatory in order to sign up for the event. 

Of course you can add further eventspecific fields for your event. You'll find further explanations about the different types of eventspecific fields here.

As soon as you have customised the event according to your wishes, the first guests can register for your event.

You'll have different options for this:

1. Event microsite

• Send the public URL to the event microsite to your guests, so that they can sign up for the event there by clicking on the "Register now" button. The URL can be sent via email, SMS, etc.
• In order to get the URL, go to the menu on the right-hand side and click on the menu item "Event microsite"
• The link to the event microsite will be displayed there. You can visit this URL to check your event settings and also forward it to your guests so they can look at it and sign up for the event.

2. Registration form

• You also have the option to only use the registration form, without the rest of the event microsite.
• In order to do this, go to the menu on the right-hand side and click on the menu item "Registration form"
• Here you can choose from two options:
  
  • Send the URL that is displayed in the new window to your guests, e. g. via email, SMS, etc.
  • Copy the code below the URL and paste it to the HTML code of your own website in order to embed it there. Your guests will be able to sign up directly through the form on your website.

3. QR code

• Use a QR code to guide your guests to the event microsite or registration form. You can print this QR code on flyers, posters, printed invitations, etc.
• In order to do this, go to the menu on the right-hand side and click on the menu item "QR code"
• Save one of the two QR codes and use it for your flyer or invitation design or just print it out. You can choose from two different QR codes:
  
  • QR code to the event microsite
  • QR code to the registration form

If you only want to invite specific guests to your event, you can also choose to invite them with a personal email, directly through guestoo.

Here's how it's done:

• Go to the "Guests" tab of your event
• Click on the "+ Add a guest" button
• Enter the email addresses of the guest(s) you want to invite into the field in the new window. You can separate multiple guests with a comma (,) or by using the Enter key between email addresses.
• Confirm that you have the consent of every single person to save their data and contact them via email.
• If desired, you can already enable the option "Send invitation" here. The guests will receive an invitation email with a personalised link to sign up for the event. You can also send the invitations at a later time though.
• Click on the "Add" button in the bottom right corner

Once your guests have signed up for the event or you added them manually, you have different options to manage them and check them in and out of the event. 

Check out our other tutorial to find out how.

Sometimes it can be necessary to send updates or further information regarding the event to your guests.

With guestoo you can send mailings of all kinds easily and at any time - here is how it's done:

• Go to the "E-Mails" tab of your event
• Click on the "Open mailing dialogue" button at the top of the page
• Choose the type of mailing
  The mailing type "Standard" can be used for all kinds of mailings
• Choose the recipients of the mailing
  You can choose one or multiple statuses. Only the guests who have one of the chosen statuses will receive the mailing.
• Personalise the mailing
  Use the placeholders and dynamic text blocks to individualise the mailing and address your guests personally. Simply click on the placeholder/text block of your choice to copy it to your clipboard and paste (Right click > Paste or CTRL + V) it to the desired spot in your mailing.
• Send your mailing (or save it for later)
  Once you're done, click on the "Send" button in the bottom right corner. If you don't want to send it yet, you can also choose to only save the mailing for now to send it out at a later point.
• Done :)

Tip: If you want to personalise your invitation emails, you can also send them through the mailing dialogue as described above, by choosing the mailing type "Invitation".

guestoo has loads of other features and settings that we haven't covered in this tutorial to keep it as short and easy as possible.

We'd like to encourage you to click your way through our tool and play around with the different options and settings to find new ways of making the organisation of your event as easy and fun as possible for you. Almost all settings are reversible, so that you can't really do anything wrong. :)

In our Documentation for Organizers you'll find further inspiration and explanations for all of our features. And if you still find yourself in need of help at some point, feel free to send us an email to support@guestoo.de at any time, so we can help you out.

But for now, we hope you'll have fun exploring and planning your events with guestoo! :)