> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.groupflow.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating Your First Event

> Start an event, price its tickets, set a capacity and a waitlist, and publish it to your group

An event in GroupFlow begins as a draft. You fill in its sections — title, date, venue, tickets, capacity — in whatever order suits you, saving as you go, and nothing reaches your members until you press **Publish**.

That makes your first event a safe thing to practice on. Build it, look at the page your members will see, and publish it when it reads the way you want.

<Note>
  Everything here is in the Admin Dashboard and needs the **Events** permission. Any active member can start a draft event of their own, unless your group has turned that off — see [Event Management](/guides/event-management).
</Note>

## Starting a draft

In the admin menu, go to **Events › Events** to open the event list, which has three screens: **Upcoming Events**, **Draft Events** and **Past Events**. Press the **+** button at the top to open **New Event**.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Title & Description">
    Enter an **Event title**, which is required and can run to 80 characters, then write the **Description** your members will read.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Times & Status">
    Set the **Start time** and **End time**. **Events on the same day** lists whatever else is already on that date, so you can spot a clash before you publish.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Photo">
    Press **Add Image…** to upload the picture that appears at the top of the event page and in the event list. You can skip it and add one later.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Venue">
    Find the place under **Venue**, or press **Add Venue** to create one. For an online event, put the meeting address in **Link for video call**. If either should stay private until someone signs up, tick **Hide the address until someone registers** or **Hide the video link until someone registers**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Team">
    **Staff** is the hosts, volunteers, presenters and venue hosts. You are added as the host of an event you create; add anyone else helping to run it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The button at the foot of each section reads **Save & Next** until the last one, where it reads **Save**. **Back** returns to the previous section, and **Reset** throws away edits you haven't saved yet. Once you have saved, a summary appears at the top of the page and keeps up as you work, with a **missing venue** badge on it until the event has one.

<Warning>
  An event can't be published without a venue. Set one before you get to publishing.
</Warning>

## Who the event is for

Events are for members unless you say otherwise. Open the **Categories** section and tick the **Public event** box to open it to the general public; leave it clear for a members-only event. **Tags** on the same section group your events together for members browsing the calendar.

The choice also decides who an announcement can go to. For a public event you pick from **Active Members**, **Inactive Members** and **Non-Members**. A members-only event is announced to active members only.

## Tickets and price options

The **Pricing** section opens with three paths. Pick the one that fits:

| Path | What it is |
| - | - |
| **Free** | "Single free ticket. RSVPs only." One ticket type, no payment, attendance tracked |
| **Ticketed** | "Multiple ticket options — free, paid, or mixed." Per-ticket pricing |
| **External registration** | "3rd-party site handles registration." Members RSVP with you and register elsewhere |

On **Free**, set **Maximum quantity allowed** — the number of people one registration covers. Count the attendee as one of them: one attendee plus one guest is a maximum quantity of 2.

**External registration** takes the same **Maximum quantity allowed**, a **Displayed price (informational)** shown on your own listing, and an **External registration URL** to send members to. The address is optional; leave it blank if people register or pay at the door. Either way, no money is collected in GroupFlow.

### Setting up ticketed pricing

<Steps>
  <Step title="Set the displayed price">
    **Displayed price** is the figure on the event listing. Set \$0 if every ticket is free.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a ticket">
    Under **Ticket options**, press **+ Add ticket** to open the **Price Option** dialog.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Describe it">
    Choose an **Option Type** — **Ticket**, which is required for entry, or **Add-on item**, sold alongside a ticket. Enter a **Name** and a **Price**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose how it adds up">
    **Subtotal calculation** is **Price x Quantity** to charge per person, or **Flat Price, regardless of Quantity** to charge once per family or party while still counting everyone attending.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Limit it">
    **Maximum quantity allowed** caps how many people one registration can cover on this option. **Inventory for Event** is how many of it exist at all; leave it blank for unlimited. Press **Done**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Repeat, then choose how they combine">
    Add an option for each rate you offer. Then under **Ticket options per registration**, pick **Single option per registration** — one tier per registration, and ticket transfers are available — or **Multiple options per registration**, which lets a registrant mix tiers, say one adult and two children, with no transfers.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Collecting money for a ticket needs online payments set up for your group first. See [Payments](/guides/payments).
</Note>

Attendees are charged around the time of the event. To take the money at registration instead, tick **Charge attendees immediately** under **Realtime Charge**.

<Warning>
  With **Charge attendees immediately** on, refunds are yours to handle. Put your refund policy in the event description — the registration form tells attendees to read it there.
</Warning>

## Capacity and waitlists

The **Policies** section decides what happens as the event fills up.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Set the limit">
    **Attendee limit** is how many people can be on the going list. Enter `0` to have everyone start on the waitlist.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Say what happens when it's full">
    Under **When the event is full**, choose **New registrations go to a waitlist** or **Event is closed to new registrations**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a waitlist type">
    **Single waitlist** keeps one queue for the event. **Separate waitlists for each pricing option** keeps one per option, and needs an **Inventory for Event** set on each of them in **Pricing**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Say what happens when a place opens up">
    **Waitlist Auto-Delisting** is either **Automatically move the longest-waiting waitlisted attendee to the "going" list** or **Do nothing. Keep existing people on the waitlist.**
  </Step>
</Steps>

Two more settings sit in the same section. **Allow attendees to unregister from event** lets someone who said yes change their mind; with it off they can still transfer their ticket. **Closed to RSVPs** shuts registration whether or not the event is full.

<Note>
  Ticket transfers need both a single ticket option per registration and a waitlist on the event. With a per-option waitlist, the person receiving the ticket has to be waitlisted for the same price option.
</Note>

## Publishing and announcing

Publishing puts the event on the calendar. Announcing it sends your members an email and a mobile push notification. They are separate steps, and you can do both at once.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Send yourself a test">
    **Test Announcement** at the top of the event sends the announcement to you alone, so you can read it before anyone else does.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Press Publish">
    **Publish** opens the **Publish Event** dialog.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide about the announcement">
    The dialog asks whether to announce the event as well. For a public event, tick the **Audience Segments** to send it to. A members-only event goes to active members only.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish">
    Press **Publish**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

If you publish without announcing, an **Announce** button appears beside the others, and you can send the announcement whenever you're ready.

### Announcing it later, automatically

To line the announcement up in advance, go to **Times & Status**, tick **Schedule Announcement**, and set an **Announcement Date and Time**. GroupFlow publishes the event at that moment if it isn't published already. The event needs a venue by then, or the announcement isn't sent.

### Sharing the event

Once the event is published, **Event Page** on its summary opens the page your members see. That address is what you paste into a newsletter, a message or a social post. Members can also add the event to their own calendar from that page.

When the same event comes round again, **Duplicate** copies it into a fresh draft, so you set the date and publish rather than start over.

## What's next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Events" icon="calendar-days" href="/guides/events">
    What your members see: browsing, registering, waitlists and discussions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Event Editing" icon="pen-to-square" href="/guides/event-editing">
    Every section of the event editor in detail, including questions and notes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.