A Seating Plan is a diagram or chart which shows where each ticket holder is to sit at an Event. Seating Plan allows you to easily collect information about who your ticket holders want to sit with at a table, and their menu choices or dietary requirements for your more formal events such as a Graduation Ball, Sports Ball or Awards Ceremony.
The Seating Plan assigns these groups of ticket holders to tables, keeping the groups on the same table where possible, or if the number in the group exceeds the table size, other nearby tables.
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You can access this feature from your MSL website. Only Content Editors with access to Events Admin can access the Seating Plan windows.
To collect menu choices and/ or dietary requirements for an Event without a Seating Plan, add a Customisation to your Ticket. For further information, see How to Add a Customisation to a Ticket.
For further information, see Events in Events Admin.
Edit Event Seating Plan
The Edit Event Seating Plan window displays the message ‘There is no seating plan for this event.’ until a date period is set and the Seating Plan is created. Once created, it displays the message ‘The seating plan is not fully configured. Set up tickets, tables and menu options.’ until the set-up is complete.
Details Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Details section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| URL | This is the web address where ticket holders can submit their seating plan preferences. This field is only displayed when you have created your seating plan. Use {seating_plan} in an event template to display a link to an event's seating plan if it has one. For further information, see Event Templates. |
| Date Period | This is the start and end date and time for seating plan submissions. Once the end date and time have passed, the URL will not allow further submissions. This field is mandatory. |
| Notes | Any content you add is displayed on the seating plan page, accessible by ticket holders via the above URL. |
| Use Transaction Reference Number | Select this checkbox if you are not issuing tickets containing a separate unique reference number e.g. a wristband or paper ticket. |
| Use Anonymous Mode | Select this checkbox if you don’t need the ticket holder’s name to be checked against the purchaser list when completing their submission. |
For further information, see How to Set Up the Seating Plan.
Tables Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Tables section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Table Size | This is the number of seats at each table. This field is only displayed when you have added a table to your seating plan. |
| Number of Tables | This is the number of tables added to your seating plan. This field is only displayed when you have added a table to your seating plan. |
| Spaces | This is the number of spaces at each table. For example, if you added 10 tables that each sat 8, you would have 80 spaces. This field is only displayed when you have added a table to your seating plan. |
| Add Tables | This is the number of tables and the number of seats at each table. Select a number from each dropdown menu. |
For further information, see How to Add Tables to the Seating Plan and How to Reset the Tables added to the Seating Plan.
Menu Options Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Menu Options section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| New Option | The Menu Section and Option Name text fields. For example, if your menu includes the choice between 2 main courses and 2 desserts, you would add 2 options against each menu section, with a total of 4 menu options added to your seating plan. |
| Menu Option | This field is only displayed when you have added at least one Option to your seating plan and lists any options added. |
| Delete | Click this button to Delete your menu option. This field is only displayed when you have added a menu option to your seating plan. |
For further information, see How to Add Menu Options to the Seating Plan.
Tickets
Once the Seating Plan details, such as table numbers and menu options have been added, the next step is to populate the seating plan with a set of ticket numbers your ticket holders can then use to register their tables.
For further information, see How to Populate the Seating Plan with Tickets.
Before you proceed, this is not where tickets are added to the event for purchase. To add tickets to your event, see How to Add Tickets to an Event.
Ticket Reference Options Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Ticket Reference Options section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Refresh ticket numbers from transaction data | This button is only enabled if the Use transaction reference number checkbox is selected. If clicked, this button populates the Ticket status text field with 8-digit ticket numbers from transaction data, plus -1, -2, -3 etc. where the final digits are the number of tickets for the event purchased in the transaction. For example, if the purchaser bought two tickets for the event, and their transaction reference number is 12345678, their ticket numbers are 12345678-1 and 12345678-2. |
Add Sequential Tickets Fields
If you are issuing paper tickets or wristbands, they must be individually numbered, and you must add all the valid ticket numbers here.
The Add Sequential Tickets section should only be used if you are issuing tickets containing a separate unique reference number e.g. a wristband or paper ticket.
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Add Sequential Tickets section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Number Format | Enter the format of the ticket number with the length of the sequential number length enclosed in curly braces. e.g. {4} could be ticket numbers 0001 to 0100, or Tick{5}ABC could be Tick00001ABC to Tick00100ABC if you sell 100 tickets. If you are not using the transaction reference number as your ticket number, this field is mandatory. |
| Start Number | The first ticket purchased for the event will start with this ticket number. This field is mandatory. |
| Number of Tickets | This is the number of tickets available using the number format specified. This field is mandatory. |
Add List of Ticket Numbers Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Add List of Ticket Numbers section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Text field | Enter a list of ticket numbers separated by a comma if the ticket numbers have not already been added to the Ticket Status field. Ticket numbers can contain letters and numbers. |
Ticket Status Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Ticket Status section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Text field | This field is automatically populated with ticket numbers of tickets purchased if the Use transaction reference number checkbox is selected or is populated from the Add Sequential Tickets or Add List of Ticket Numbers fields if you are issuing tickets containing a separate unique reference number e.g. a wristband or paper ticket. If the ticket number is highlighted in red, the ticket is yet to be added to a group. If the ticket number is highlighted in green, the ticket has been added to a group. |
Seating Plan Groups
A group is created by a single ticket holder (the table leader) who adds themselves and their fellow ticket holders to the group. They can access the Seating Plan Groups page via the auto-generated Seating Plan URL. Content Editors with access to Events Admin can access the Seating Plan window, create groups, and add ticket holders to the groups if required. For further information, see How to Create and Add Ticket Holders to a Group.
Add Person to Group Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Add Person to Group section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Group | These are the names of the Groups who want to sit together at a table. The options are any groups that have been created by each group's table leader. |
| Ticket Ref | This is the reference number for the ticket. The format is dependent on the options set in the Tickets section of the Edit Event Seating Plan window. For further information, see Tickets. |
| Select Person | This is where you select the ticket holder to add against the ticket reference. You can search for the user via their Person ID, Card Number or Name. |
| Menu Options | This field lists the Menu Options added to the seating plan that the ticket holders can pick from. One option must be selected from each menu section. |
Current Groups Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Current Groups section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Group | These are the names of the Groups who want to sit together at a table. The options are any groups that have been created by each group's table leader. |
| Owner | This is the name, card number, email address and telephone number of the table owner (the ticket holder who created the group). |
| Ticket | This is the reference number for the Ticket added to the group. |
| Name | This is the Name of the ticket holder linked to the ticket reference provided. |
| Menu Options | These are the Menu Options provided by the table owner on behalf of the ticket holder. |
| Delete | Click to Delete this ticket holder from the group. |
Add New Group Fields
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Add New Group section.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Name | This is the name of the group who want to sit together at a table. Group names must be unique per event. |
| Owner | This is where you select the ticket holder who is acting as the table owner. You can search for the user via their Person ID, Card Number or Name. If left blank, the Content Editor creating the new group is set as the table owner. |
Seating Plan Tables Fields
The Table Plan window is where the Seating Plan is generated once all the ticket holders have been allocated to a group.
This table lists and explains the fields in the Seating Plan Tables window.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Table | This is the table number the ticket holder has been allocated to. This field is only populated when you have updated the seating plan. |
| Group | This is the name of the Group who want to sit together at a table. |
| Group Size | This is the number of ticket holders in the group submitted by the table owner. |
| Name | This is the Name of the ticket holder linked to the ticket reference provided. |
| Ticket Ref | This is the reference number for the Ticket added to the group. |
| Menu Options | These are the Menu Options provided by the table owner on behalf of the ticket holder. |
| Date Submitted | This is the date and time the ticket holder was added to the group by the table owner. |
For further information, see How to Generate the Seating Plan.