Automation Example: Limit Registrations to an Event

Details

Looking to limit subscriptions on a form, or registrations to an event? You can use our built-in Contact ID field to achieve this. Some example use cases could be:

• Limit the number of attendees to an event
• Limit competition or survey entries; ie. 'The first 50 to complete our survey win a prize...'

What This Example Will Cover

In this example, we'll limit the number of registrations to our XYZ Donuts cooking classes, given our stores only have a given amount of space available.

How-to Guide

Setup the Automation

Before you begin, you'll need to have the emails that you wish to send if someone is accepted, as well as not accepted, built and ready to go. We'll also assume that you have created a new list for this process (thus, the list's first contact will be given the Contact ID value of '1').

1. Select Automation from the sidebar.
2. Select the Advanced Automation tab.
3. Click New Workflow.
4. Give the workflow a name and click Save.
5. Click New Step.
6. In the first section, set the action as A trigger against the following list and then select the list that you're monitoring for registrations.
7. In the second section, set the trigger as the Subscribe event.
8. Also in this section, click Add/Edit to add a filter to the automation criteria. A popup dialog will open.
9. In the first dropdown, select the Contact ID field.
10. In the second dropdown, select Greater than.
11. In the third field, enter 0.
12. Click New Field.
13. In the first dropdown, select the Contact ID field.
14. In the second dropdown, select Less than.
15. In the third field, enter 11. For us, this will limit the registration to 10 - so adjust this according to your needs.
    
16. Click OK.
17. In the third section, set the action as Send the Contact the Message and select the email you'd like to send successfully-registered contacts that fit within your limit of 10.
18. In the fourth section, set the timing of when to send the email. In most cases, Immediately would suit.
19. Click Save.
20. Let's now create the step to send the 'Sorry, we've sold out'-style email for anyone that misses out on the registration limit. Click New Step.
21. In the first section, set the action as A trigger against the following list and then select the list that you're monitoring for registrations (the same list as before).
22. In the second section, set the trigger as the Subscribe event.
23. Also in this section, click Add/Edit to add a filter to the automation criteria. A popup dialog will open.
24. In the first dropdown, select the Contact ID field.
25. In the second dropdown, select Greater than.
26. In the third field, enter 10 (adjust this number according to your registration limit).
27. Click OK.
    
28. In the third section, set the action as Send the Contact the Message and select the email you'd like to send those that missed out on a spot.
29. In the fourth section, set the timing of when to send the email. In most cases, Immediately would suit.
30. Click Save. You'll be taken back to the automation workflow screen. You can now rename the automation steps, if you like.
    
31. Click Save to return to finish.

Ready to go? Activate Your Automation

1. Select Automation from the sidebar.
2. Select the Advanced Automation tab.
3. Finally, click … next to the automation and choose Activate.

Things To Note if Testing Your Automation

For every contact record you add during testing, the 'Contact ID' will increase (even if you delete the contact afterwards). As such, you'll need to adjust both of your automation filters to suit the new start & end values - as they will change.

How To Locate Users Who Were Successful

1. Select Contacts from the sidebar.
2. Select the relevant list.
3. Click the Table Settings (small ⚙️) icon towards the top-right of the table and select the Contact ID field to enable it.
   
4. Click Apply. This field will now be added to your view. You can click this field in the table heading to sort ascending / descending - or run an advanced search to search for contacts that fall between your desired values (in our case, greater than 0, but less than 11).