RSVP element in Forms Manager

This article refers to our legacy product, Forms Manager. For the best Finalsite experience, we recommend using our newest product, Forms, which is already available to you in your modules list. To learn more, please review our New Forms FAQ.

This function allows event admins to send out private event invitations to a select list of participants (as opposed to allowing open, public registration.) Activate by adding an "RSVP" Registration Element to a form.

Edit the properties of the RSVP element by hovering over it and clicking the pencil icon. On this screen, you can edit the element label, any descriptive text you want to add, and the options represented by each radio button.

Then, adjust the radio button options in the "Responses" section of the element settings. By default, there are three buttons labeled "Yes," "Maybe," and "No," but you can add, remove, or edit buttons as needed.

If you want a button selection to add a user to the list of attendees, enter a “1” as the value in the "Number of Seats" column. Otherwise, enter "0," which indicates that the selected option will NOT add a user to the event roster. In the case of Yes/Maybe/No, the "Yes" response has a seat value of 1; the others have a seat value of 0. This means that a user selecting "Maybe" will NOT be added to the list of event attendees (but their response will be tracked in the event registrations).

RSVPing for multiple attendees

If you want to give users the option of RSVPing for more than one person at a time, use a Number Spinner element or a Number Field element in conjunction with the RSVP element.

1. Add the RSVP element as described above, and then add either a Number Spinner or a Number Field element after it.

2. Edit the settings on the Number Spinner or Number Field element. Under the "Conditional" section, set this element to appear only when a user replies “yes” to the initial RSVP field. This will make sure that users are only prompted to invite additional guests if they confirm their own attendance.

3. In the settings for the conditional element, you may want to set the cost per additional guest and restrict the number of additional guests each invited guest is able to register.

Managing RSVP responses

After guests have RSVP'd to your event, you will be able to view and edit their registrations. Go to the "Registrations" tab for the form and select the "RSVP" screen.

On the RSVP screen, you can limit access to the form, send email notifications to form respondents, and more.

Location and Access Settings

• RSVP URL: For Page Manager users only, this section will list any available form pages on your site that can be used to display your form. (A form page must be published in order to be usable.)

• Form Access: Selecting this checkbox means that no users will be able to submit this form unless they are specifically invited.

• Share Attendance: Select this checkbox to allow invitees to share their attendance status with one another, if they so choose.

Notifications

You can add one or more email addresses to the "Notifications" field. Any address entered there will receive an email whenever a user replies to the form.

RSVP email message

If you want to send a customized email invitation to a select group of users, write your message in the "RSVP Email Message" field. Use the "RSVP Recipient List" controls to select the list of invitees.

RSVP recipient list

The RSVP recipient list table will need to be populated with the users whom you would like to receive a unique link. This unique link will allow for the user to be listed in the "Share Attendance" list once they have completed the form.

You will be able to manually add users to this list. Use the green "Quick Add" button to add invitees one at a time to the recipient list. You can also use the "Bulk Import" button to copy and paste users from an existing spreadsheet to the recipient list.

After adding users to the list, use the blue "Send Message" button to send an email to every user on the list; this email will contain a link to the form where they can fill out the RSVP fields and register for the event.

If you allow the form to be accessed and filled out without an invitation, their results will still populate in the results table and their seats will still be reserved; however, those users will not be included on the "Who's coming?" list.