Your first event: a checklist

Everything that has to be done before you can open registration, in an order where each step unblocks the next. Skipping ahead usually means redoing work.

Allow more time than you think for the domain step — DNS is the one part of this that is not under your control and cannot be rushed.

1. Decide the shape of the event

Before touching a setting, be able to answer these. Everything downstream depends on them.

• Is this a one-off, a series of seasons, or a fundraiser? → decides your event mode
• Is entry free or paid?
• Are you selling merchandise?
• Are participants tracking activities, or is this registration-only?
• Is there a public leaderboard?
• Are you raising money?

2. General settings

Setup → General. Set the event name, the URL slug, the description, and the event mode.

Set the Timezone correctly now. Every date you enter afterwards is interpreted in it, and changing it later shifts every deadline you have already set.

→ General settings

3. Host and organiser

Setup → Host. Who is running this event, as participants see it — the display name, logo and description that appear on the public site.

→ Host and organiser

4. Dates

Setup → Dates. Fill in the registration period and event duration at minimum. Leave the periods you are not using empty rather than guessing.

→ Dates and deadlines

5. Branding and appearance

Setup → Branding for logos and images, Setup → Appearance for colours and fonts.

Get the logo and primary colour right before you show anyone the site. Everything else here can be adjusted later without consequence.

→ Branding and images · Appearance and theme

6. Registration form

Registration → Registration Form. Build the signup form: what you ask, in what order, and what is required.

Keep it short. Every additional required field costs you completed signups.

→ The form builder

7. Payments

Payments. If entry is paid, or you are selling merchandise, connect your payment account here.

Test with a real card before you launch

A test payment is the only way to confirm money reaches the right account. Do it end to end: register, pay, and check the transaction appears in Payments and that the confirmation email arrives.

8. Rewards and merchandise

Rewards. If you are selling anything, set up the items, their sizes and prices, and how many you have.

→ Rewards and merchandise

9. Website pages

Website. Your landing page, FAQ, and any other pages participants need before signing up.

→ Website and pages

10. Emails

Communications. At minimum, check the registration confirmation email: that it is on, that the sender name and address are right, and that it reads the way you want.

→ Communications

11. Domain

Setup → Domain. Connect your own web address.

Start this early. You add DNS records at whoever you bought the domain from, and propagation can take anywhere from minutes to a day. It is the one step you cannot compress.

→ Custom domain

12. Test the whole thing

Before you announce anything, register yourself as a participant, from the public site, on the real domain, with a real card.

Check, in order:

• The form submits without an error.
• The payment goes through and appears in Payments.
• The confirmation email arrives, from the right sender, reading correctly.
• Your name appears in Participants.
• If you bought merchandise, the order shows the right item and size.

Then remove your test registration before launch. Registration → Registration Options has a Re-Registration setting that exists for exactly this kind of replay — set it back to disallow before you go live.

13. Open registration

Set Registration Opens to now — or, if you want a quiet soft launch, use Early Registration to open the form ahead of the announced date. Anyone who signs up during it is a real participant, not test data.

→ Coupons and access gates