Registration Items are at the core of our platform. Primarily, registration items are used to create offerings for users that register for your event. In this article, we will discuss the two main types of registration items:
- ACTIVITY/ATTENDEE ITEMS (Quantity-based)
- ENHANCED ITEMS (Single selection)
USING THE RIGHT ITEM TYPE
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO TYPES
The two main types of Registration Items are:
- ENHANCED - this item only lets a registrant pick a quantity of 1; in other words, the Enhanced item automatically enforces a selection limit of 1 per registrant
- The main input type for this type of item is a checkbox - 1 to 1 relationship with the attendee
- SIMPLE - this item allows registrants to select a quantity of 1 or more (depending on the limit per registrant that the event host sets in the Builder)
- The main input type for this item is a dropdown menu to select the desired quantity
HOW EACH ITEM TYPE IS USED
The usage of each item type depends on the event's registration requirements; however, consider a very common registration scenario:
- The event requires each registrant to fill out their own form (i.e. 1 form per registrant)
- Registrants can fill out forms for others, but each attendee will have their own form
- Each form presents options for a registrant to select or not select
- Options could include breakout session choices, event registration access level/fee, meals
In this scenario, it typically makes most sense to use the Enhanced Registration Item type. This way, each registrant is selecting options only for themselves. Allowing the registrant to select a quantity of greater than 1 (per se, the General Registration Access item you created for them), would not make much sense since any given form is only for 1 single registrant.
When offering a quantity of something, you would consider using the Simple Attendee/Activity Item type. For example, if you decided to offer raffle tickets (and each registrant was permitted to purchase more than 1 and up to a limit of 10), you could use the Simple Item type and set the Limit Per Registrant setting to 10.
IMPLICATIONS FOR GUEST REGISTRATION
Now that we understand the core functionality of each of the two main item types, let's explore an indirect, yet critical, implication of the two item types on guest registration.
GUEST SETUP
Our guest registration tool is built around what we call "Triggering" privileges. A trigger is an item that you give the power to award a registrant with guest slots. In other words, triggers drive the number of guests a registrant earns during registration.
Please read our help article on the Guest Setup tool if you are not familiar with guest registration.
Triggers are set at the item level. When an item is designated as a trigger (within the Guest Setup tool), it becomes capable of awarding registrants (that select that item) with a specified number of open guest slots based on the calculation. After the main registrant completes their own registration, the system will allow he/she to fill the open guest slots they earned during registration.
TRIGGER CALCULATION
The guest slots that are awarded/triggered by a registration item is based on a calculation. That calculation is depends on the type of item (Enhanced or Attendee/Activity).
- ENHANCED ITEM CALCULATION - awarded guest slots are pre-determined by you per item
- The Guest Setup tool will allow you to determine how many guests should be awarded if that item is selected
- ATTENDEE/ACTIVITY ITEM CALCULATION - awarded guest slots are based on the following:
- For any given Attendee Item that is set as a trigger:
- [Quantity of Triggering Item Selected During Reg] - 1 = Awarded Slots
- If more than 1 attendee item is set as a trigger and selected during registration, then the total quantity of attendee items selected is added, then 1 is subtracted from that total to arrive at the Awarded Slots....
- [Total quantity of all Triggering Items Selected During Reg] - 1 = Awarded Slots
- For any given Attendee Item that is set as a trigger:
Take a look at the below screenshot, it shows the guest triggering configuration for two different types of registration items:
- ENHANCED - You'll see the "Guest Pass" Enhanced item is designated as a trigger with the checkbox on the left. Notice the dropdown on the right - it allows you (the admin) to pre-determine the number of guest slots that the registrant will earn when selecting this item during the registration process.
- SIMPLE - You'll see "Quantity Chosen" next to the "Admission Tickets" Simple item. This means the calculation explained above in this article will determine the number of guest slots that a registrant will earn through the registration process. For example:
EXAMPLE: Registrant selects quantity of 5x from the "Admission Tickets" item dropdown >> registrant will receive 5 - 1 = 4 guest slots