Details
While we have an Events module to assist with more advanced event workflows, there are times when you just need something a little less complex! In this guide, we'll walk you through two different examples depending on your needs and use case. Each method has pros and cons, so have a think about which might work best for you.
How-to Guide
This article contains a number of guides for various related topics. Click below to jump ahead to a particular guide.
- Option 1: RSVP Details Are Stored on the Same List That You Send the RSVP Emails To
- Option 2: RSVP Details for Each Event Are Stored on Separate Lists (Not on Your Main Contact List)
Option 1: RSVP Details Are Stored on the Same List That You Send the RSVP Emails To
This example will result in a setup where your event RVSPs are stored on the same list that you send your registration emails to. Note that if you use our 'Starter' plan, this setup probably won't suit if you run more than one event at a time (as the 'Starter' plan only lets you have one active RSVP form at a time).
Furthermore, with this particular option, only existing contacts on your list can register for your event. This is because we're using the 'Update Profile' form type (which only works for existing contacts on the same list).
Part 1: Create the RSVP Form
- Select Lists and Forms from the sidebar.
- Double-click on the desired list, to open forms view for that list. All of the forms associated with your chosen list will now appear as different tabs near the top of the screen.
- Select the Update Profile form tab, then the Update Profile sub-tab (as shown below).
- Your Update Profile form will now appear. If you like, to can double-click on the text of the upper-tab (as shown below) to rename it. Doing so can make it easier for you and your colleagues to locate & know what the form is used for. As you can see, we've renamed ours to 'May 2024 Workshop RSVP form'
- Click , over to the right.
- Select the Radio Buttons field type, then click .
- Give your field a name (in our case, 'May 2024 Workshop').
- Remove all Radio Values except one, and rename the value to something like 'Yes I can attend'.
- Click . The new field will now appear on your form.
- Click your newly create field (on the form) to select it, then set it as mandatory (over on the right, as shown).
- At the bottom right of the screen, open the Advanced Settings panel and enable the option titled Do not show login form if Contact has clicked through from an Email. This will allow your contacts to get straight to the form without having to verify themselves first.
- Make any design changes to your form as needed - you can add your logo, a brief agenda, or any other text explaining the event and what the form is for.
If you're emailing this form to your contacts, the system will know who the contact is when they complete the form. As such, you generally don't need any fields to capture information you already know (such as their name, email address, etc). However, feel free to add additional fields to the form if required - such as dietary requirements, job role, etc. - If you'd like to receive a notification when this form is completed by a contact, click Details near the top right, select Notifications, then enter your email address into the 'When a Profile is updated' field. Click .
- Click at the top right to finalise the form process.
Part 2: Create the Email To Drive People to Your New Form
- Select Messages from the sidebar. Create a new email (or copy an existing one if easier).
- Design your email as needed - you may wish to include event details such as dates & times, location, speaker bios, images and so on.
- Add a RSVP text link or button somewhere in your email and insert a link on the element. When adding the link, set the link type (on the left) to be a Web Form, then select Update Profile Form, your list name & form name from the right side of the dialog (as shown).
- Click . The button or text element will now link the contact through to the selected form when they click on it.
- Click and give your email a name and subject as per normal.
Part 3: Create a ‘Thank You / Save-The-Date’ Email
- Let's clone our new RSVP email and make a 'Thanks for registering' email. To clone the message, go to the button again - but this time select the (dropdown arrow) next to it and choose the option to Save as new message.
- Give your cloned email a new name and subject. Remember, this will be the 'Thanks for registering' email, so you may wish to name it as such.
- Now that we've cloned the email to a new one, adjust the email text as necessary. For example, you may wish to alter the wording to reflect that the contact has just registered for your event.
- Let's re-use the link you added to the original version of this email and make it a 'save the date' style link instead. Select the button or text that you'd linked previously and adjust the wording if necessary (something like 'Save the date' might work well). Adjust the link, but this time change it to an Add to Calendar link (on the left), then enter your event details on the right. You can view our example below.
- When done, click .
- Finalise the design of your email and click when done.
Part 4: Setup the Automation To Send the 'Thank You / Save-The-Date’ Email
- Finally, let's create an automation to automatically send the new thank you email to anyone that RSVPs to your event. Select Automation from the sidebar.
- Click , then click next to the first option, titled Create your own automation. The automation builder will now open.
- In Step 1 of the automation builder, select the trigger as Update Profile.
- In Step 2 of the automation builder, select your contact list from the relevant dropdowns.
- In Step 3 of the automation builder, select the email message you just created (the 'Thanks for registering / Save the date' one).
- In Step 4 of the automation builder, set the timing as Immediately.
- Click . Your automation will be created & you'll be taken back to the main automation overview. Hover over the automation name and click the pencil to rename it if you wish.
Nice work! You've now created a new RSVP form, linked to it from an email, made a thank you email with a calendar invite and created an automation to automatically send that calendar email whenever someone fills in your RSVP form. When ready, don't forget to send your first RSVP email to the list to tell everyone about your event so that they can click your link and register via your new RSVP form.
Locate Contacts That Have RSVP’d
If you're wondering how to find the contacts that have RSVP'd, you can run a search on the Contacts screen to look for a value inside your newly created radio button field.
An Important Note About Testing
If you use the send a test process to test your new setup, note that the Update Profile form won't know who you are - so you will see a login screen when you click that RSVP link or button. As such, we recommend adding yourself to the contact list as an actual contact, then sending the email just to your address via a regular email send (nb. you can manually select just your email address on the send screen) so that you can conduct some testing before sending it to your full contact list.
Option 2: RSVP Details for Each Event Are Stored on Separate Lists (Not on Your Main Contact List)
This example will result in a setup where event RSVP details are stored in a separate list (one of each event). This scenario will work best if you want to keep all of your event RSVP lists separate from one another.
With this particular option, both new & existing contacts can register for your event(s), as we're using the 'Subscribe' form type.
Part 1: Create the RSVP Form
- Select Lists and Forms from the sidebar.
- Click .
- A selection of pre-made list templates will appear - but for this particular use case, we'd recommend clicking the button under the Blank List option.
- Next, click Edit List & Create Forms. You'll be taken to the forms editor for your newly created list.
- Given 'Blank List' isn't very descriptive, let's rename it to something else first. Click Details near the top right and give your list a name. We'd recommend naming it specific to the event you're collecting RSVPs for. In our case, we've called it '2024 April Cooking Class'.
- While we're here on this screen, you can optionally setup list notifications if you like. Select Notifications, then enter the email address to notify in the When a Contact subscribes, message field. Doing so means you'll receive a notification email each time someone RSVPs to this event.
- Click .
- As you can see, our form only has two fields at the moment - 'Email' and 'Mobile Phone'. Use the
If you don't need a field (such as 'Mobile Phone'), you can remove it from the form. The 'Email' field, however, is a required field.
button over on the right to capture any additional information you might need to know from attendees - such as 'First Name', 'Company', 'Role' and so on. - Once you've added your various new fields, feel free to reorder them if required. You can also make fields mandatory & use Design over to the right to customise the look and feel of your form. If you double-click on any text area within the form, you can also add additional text, create headings, add images (such as your logo) and so on. Here's what our example form looks like now...
- When done, click . You can now use the Add Form to Website option (top right) to grab the code required for this (in case you want the general public to be able to RSVP to your event via your website) ...but for now, we'll continue along with building the emails and so on.
Part 2: Create the Email To Drive People to Your New Form
- Select Messages from the sidebar. Create a new email (or copy an existing one if easier).
- Design your email as needed - you may wish to include event details such as dates & times, location, speaker bios, images and so on.
- Add a RSVP text link or button somewhere in your email and insert a link on the element. When adding the link, set the link type (on the left) to be a Web Form, then select Web Form in the first dropdown, select your list (the one you created at the start), then select the Subscribe Form Style (as shown).
- Click . The button or text element will now link the contact through to the selected form when they click on it. Click and give your email a name and subject as per normal.
Part 3: Create a ‘Thank You / Save-The-Date’ Email
- Let's clone our new RSVP email and make a 'Thanks for registering' email. To clone the message, go to the button again - but this time select the (dropdown arrow) next to it and choose the option to Save as new message.
- Give your cloned email a new name and subject. Remember, this will be the 'Thanks for registering' email, so you may wish to name it as such.
- Now that we've cloned the email to a new one, adjust the email text as necessary. For example, you may wish to alter the wording to reflect that the contact has just registered for your event.
- Let's re-use the link you added to the original version of this email and make it a 'save the date' style link instead. Select the button or text that you'd linked previously and adjust the wording if necessary (something like 'Save the date' might work well). Adjust the link, but this time change it to an Add to Calendar link (on the left), then enter your event details on the right. You can view our example below.
- When done, click .
- Finalise the design of your email and click when done.
Part 4: Setup the Automation To Send the 'Thank You / Save-The-Date’ Email
- Finally, let's create an automation to automatically send the new thank you email to anyone that RSVPs to your event. Select Automation from the sidebar.
- Click , then click next to the first option, titled Create your own automation. The automation builder will now open.
- In Step 1 of the automation builder, select the trigger as Subscribe.
- In Step 2 of the automation builder, select your newly-created contact list from the relevant dropdowns.
- In Step 3 of the automation builder, select the email message you just created (the 'Thanks for registering / Save the date' one).
- In Step 4 of the automation builder, set the timing as Immediately.
- Click . Your automation will be created & you'll be taken back to the main automation overview. Hover over the automation name and click the pencil to rename it if you wish.
Nice work! You've now created a new RSVP form, linked to it from an email, made a thank you email with a calendar invite and created an automation to automatically send that calendar email whenever someone fills in your RSVP form. When ready, don't forget to send your first RSVP email to the list to tell everyone about your event so that they can click your link and register via your new RSVP form.
What About the Next Event?
You will need to repeat all steps in this process for each event that you run - however, you can copy lists - which includes their form questions & form designs (though we'd recommend NOT copying your contacts at this time), emails and automations ...which will certainly speed up the process. Just remember to go into each form, email, calendar link and automation to adjust it for your next event.
Locate Contacts That Have RSVP’d
If you're wondering how to find the contacts that have RSVP'd, simply open your relevant event list (which, in our case, was named '2024 April Cooking Class'). Everyone's who's filled in the form will be on that list.
Testing Your Setup
Feel free to test your registration email by sending a copy to yourself. You'll then be able to click the button, fill in the RSVP form and receive your automated thank you / save-the-date email a few moments later.