Solutions
Collect RSVPs details
Overview
AddEvent lets you collect RSVPs for your events. This is a great way to find out how many people are planning to attend your event, as well as who is planning to attend. You can also choose to collect additional information from your users by creating a custom RSVP form. This page outlines how to create an RSVP event, how each sharing method works, as well as technical details about collecting RSVPs in AddEvent.
Creating an RSVP event
Creating an event in AddEvent is the first step to collecting RSVPs for your event. There are three ways to create an RSVP event:
- Create an event in the dashboard
- Create an event using the API.
- Create an event using the Zapier integration.
Regardless of which method you use to create your RSVP event, you will be required to enter certain event details.
When you create an event, you must enter the following event details: event title, time, and date. We also recommend setting a timezone for your event to ensure the event time gets converted to each user's timezone correctly.
You can also choose to enter additional event details such as a description, a location, the event organizer, calendar notifications, and more. For an RSVP event, you must also select which RSVP form you would like to use.
RSVP forms define the information that your users are required to enter before registering for your event. You can choose to use the default RSVP form, or to create a custom RSVP form.
The default RSVP form requires the user to enter their name and email address. If you wish to collect additional information beyond this, you should use a custom RSVP form.
Custom RSVP forms allow you to choose the fields that are presented to users when they register for an event. Custom RSVP forms support multiple question types including text, number, marketing consent checkboxes, multiple options (radio buttons and checkboxes), email, date, country, state, query strings, and custom HTML. The email address field is always mandatory, but all the other fields can be set as either mandatory or optional. Custom RSVP forms that you create can be saved as a template and applied to multiple events.
RSVP emails notifications and reminders
AddEvent allows you to send automated confirmation, reminder, and follow-up emails to your users when they register for an RSVP event. The following emails are included:
- a confirmation email when someone RSVPs for the event (sent immediately by default)
- 2 reminder emails (sent by default 1 day and 2 hours before the event)
- a follow-up email after the event (not sent by default)
The content of each email can be completely customized, and each email can be enabled or disabled individually. The time interval at which the reminder and follow-up emails are sent can also be configured. Customizing these emails can be done using HTML, and you can use the information collected in the RSVP form as a tag in the email content. Custom emails can be saved as a template and applied to multiple RSVP events.
By default, these emails are sent from “AddEvent.com” (events@addevent.com). The sender name and the email address that the emails are sent from can be updated so that your users will receive the emails from a sender they recognize.
How to share an RSVP event
Once you have created an RSVP event, the next step is to share the event with your users. Read each section below to learn more about each sharing method and which situations they are best suited for.
An RSVP button is a great way to share an event on your website or landing page. AddEvent’s RSVP button works perfectly with most website and landing page builders, as well as with custom-built websites.
When an end-user clicks an RSVP button, they are sent to the RSVP landing page (see below). This is done so that we can collect the user’s information before they register for the event. The user must enter the information that is required (see the section on RSVP forms above) and select whether they are “Going”, “Interested” or “Can’t go” before registering for the event. Once the user has registered for the event, they are shown an "add to calendar" button which allows them to add the event to their calendar.
How to use it?
To install an RSVP button on your website, simply copy the code snippet from an event page in the AddEvent app. Then paste this code into your website where you want the RSVP button to appear. If you are using a website or landing page builder, you will probably need to use the “Custom embed”, ”HTML embed”, or similar option to allow you to paste the code into that section of the website.
Customization
The RSVP button is fully customizable, including the text, icon, and language by changing the image that the link is added to. There are also several default options available with different styles, colors, and icon combinations available. The RSVP landing page is also fully customizable using HTML and CSS, see below.
RSVP links work the same as our RSVP button above and are perfect for using with email newsletters and campaigns.
When an end-user clicks an RSVP link, they are sent to the RSVP landing page (see below). This is done so that we can collect the user’s information before they register for the event. The user must enter the information you require (see the section on RSVP forms above) and select whether they are “Going”, “Interested” or “Can’t go” before registering for the event. Once the user has registered for the event, they are shown an "add to calendar" button which allows them to add the event to their calendar.
How to use it?
To use an RSVP link in an email or another place, simply click the “Copy” button next to the RSVP link on an event page in the AddEvent app. Then paste the links in your email editor or wherever you want the RSVP link to appear. In some email builders the image-based RSVP link will not work. In this case, you should either use a button block and link manually to the RSVP landing page (see below) or simply include a link to the RSVP landing page in the email. There is also an option to view the HTML code for the RSVP link and copy and paste this into your email. This is useful if you are using a HTML email template.
Customization
The RSVP button is fully customizable, including the text, icon, and language by changing the image that the link is added to. There are also several default options available with different styles, colors, and icon combinations available. The RSVP landing page is also fully customizable using HTML and CSS, see the section below.
An RSVP landing page is an ideal way to share your event on social media and when you want to display additional information to your users about the event before they add the event to their calendar. There are also extensive customization options available, so you can make the landing page your own.
When an end-user clicks on a link to an RSVP landing page, or they click on an RSVP button or RSVP link in an email, they are brought to the landing page which displays the event name, time, location, description, and other event details. The user can click to register for the event after which they must indicate whether they are “Going”, “Interested” or “Can’t go” to the event, and enter the information that you have chosen to collect (see the section on RSVP forms above). Once they have entered this information and registered for the event, they will be presented with an "add to calendar" button which allows them to add the event to their calendar.
How to use it?
RSVP landing pages are hosted by AddEvent and are automatically created for each RSVP event that you create in AddEvent. There are two unique links available for each RSVP event: a standard link, and a short link which is useful for social media, SMS text messages, or other places that you might need to share your RSVP landing page with a character limit.
There is no configuration or set-up necessary to use an RSVP landing page for your event. Simply copy the appropriate link to your RSVP landing page and share it with your users however you want.
Customization
RSVP landing pages are fully customizable, with full access to the HTML and CSS for the page. This means that you can change everything on the page from time and date format, to font, language, colors and more. You can include images such as logos or background images, and add additional elements that you want to display.
An embeddable RSVP form is a great way to share your event on your website and increases the visibility of the event compared to an RSVP button. It also means that users can register for your event directly on the tile, without ever leaving your website or landing page. The embeddable RSVP form also displays all your event details to your users.
To register for the event, the user must indicate whether they are “Going”, “Interested” or “Can’t go” to the event, and then enter the information that you have chosen to collect (see the section on RSVP forms above). Once they have entered this information and registered for the event, they will be presented with an "add to calendar" button which allows them to add the event to their calendar.
How to use it?
To install an embeddable RSVP form on your website, simply copy the code snippet from an event page in the AddEvent app. Then paste this code into your website where you want the embeddable RSVP form to appear. If you are using a website or landing page builder, you will probably need to use the “Custom embed”, ”HTML embed", or similar option to allow you to paste the code into that section of the website.
Customization
The embeddable RSVP form is fully customizable from time and date format, to font, language, colors, size, and more.
Technical details
Before creating or sharing your RSVP events, you may want to review the following sections for specific technical information about events and the various sharing methods. If you need help getting set up, or if you have any questions about the content on this page, please contact support@addevent.com and our wonderful support team will be happy to help you.
RSVP Limits
You can limit the number of available seats/the maximum number of attendees at your event by setting an RSVP limit. By default, there is no limit set, and when you set a limit you also get the option to display a custom message once the limit has been reached.
Calendar Notifications
As well as automated email reminders for RSVP events, all events in AddEvent have an option to include a push notification from the user's calendar service to remind them of the upcoming event. You can set the timing of when the notification is sent before the event takes place. Only one calendar notification is available for each event.
Timezone support
Events in AddEvent have timezone support, which means that events are automatically converted to the correct time and date based on the user's timezone when they are added to the user's own personal or work calendar.
Daylight savings time support
Events in AddEvent also have support for daylight savings time (DST) rules. We automatically convert all events to the correct time and date based on the 17+ different DST rules that exist worldwide.
Analytics & attendee information
AddEvent records the information that users enter when they RSVP to an event, as well as additional information about the time and location of the RSVP. You can change the information that users must enter in order to RSVP by creating a custom RSVP form, see the section above. If the user is inside EEA (European Economic Area) their IP address is automatically anonymized to comply with GDPR. You can also choose to anonymize this data for all users. More information about analytics for your RSVP events is available on the Analytics solution page.
AddEvent can also send email notifications when users RSVP to your event: you can choose to receive a notification each time a new user RSVPs to your event or to summarize all new RSVPs each day.