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Creating Your First Event

Learn how to create and publish your first event in SignUpGo.

1. Log in to your dashboard
2. Click the "New Event" button in the sidebar
3. Choose an event template that fits your needs
4. Follow the setup wizard to configure your event
5. Publish and share your event link

Running Your First Sports Tournament

Need to run a tournament instead of a standard event? Sports tournaments have their own wizard with pools, brackets, and spectator ticketing.

1. Make sure you're on the Sports plan (or redeem a promo code)
2. Click New Event and choose Sports Tournament
3. Pick your sport - default rules auto-fill and are editable
4. Set divisions, pools, courts, and registration model (per-team or per-player)
5. Add entry tickets and merchandise if you want spectator revenue
6. Publish, share the link, and open registration

Setting Up Payments

Connect Stripe to sell tickets or collect payments.

1. Go to Settings > Payouts
2. Connect your Stripe account
3. Complete the payout information form
4. Start accepting payments in your events

Managing Events

Track registrations, view attendees, move/reschedule slots, and run day-of check-in.

• View all events in the Events section
• Click "Manage" on any event to see details
• Use the Attendees tab to view, move, or reschedule participants
• Share a 24-hour staff scanner link so volunteers can check guests in
• Export attendee data as CSV for reporting

How do I create a Parent-Teacher Conference event?

Select the Conference template, add your teachers (or import via CSV), set your time range and slot duration, then generate time slots. You can customize slots, add breaks, and configure reminders before publishing.

How do I set up Stripe payments?

Go to Settings > Payouts and connect your Stripe account. Complete the payout information form with your bank details. Once set up, you can enable ticket sales or payments in any event.

How do I import teachers via CSV?

When creating a Conference event, you can import teachers by uploading a CSV file with columns for name, email, and optionally phone number. This saves time when setting up large conferences.

Can I customize the event signup form?

Yes. You can add custom fields to collect additional information from participants. Custom fields can be text, number, date, or dropdown options, and are available in every template.

How does QR code check-in work?

When participants register for events with tickets, they receive a QR code via email. On event day, use the Scan feature in your dashboard to scan QR codes for quick check-in. The system tracks who has checked in and prevents duplicate scans.

How does the volunteer/staff QR scanner feature work?

Click Staff Access on any ticketed event (or Gate Scanner on a tournament) to generate a secure 24-hour scanner link. Share the QR code or link with volunteers - they can scan tickets immediately without any account setup. The link automatically expires after 24 hours for security.

What is a Sports Tournament and how is it different from a ticketed event?

A Sports Tournament is a purpose-built event type for running competitions. It includes team or player registration, auto-generated pools and brackets, a court-aware schedule, spectator entry tickets, merchandise sales, and SMS match reminders. A ticketed event is simpler - it's designed for selling seats to a performance or game, not managing competition flow.

Can I charge per-team or per-player for a tournament?

Both. In the tournament wizard you can pick per-team, per-player, or combine them (e.g., a team fee plus optional per-player merchandise). Per-team is simpler for most tournaments; per-player is best when you're building teams from individual signups.

How do spectator gate tickets and merchandise sales work for tournaments?

Alongside team registration, tournaments can sell spectator entry tickets and merchandise directly from the public tournament page. Each ticket gets a QR code delivered by email, and revenue flows through the same Stripe Connect payout pipeline as team registrations.

How are brackets generated and displayed?

When you click Start Brackets, the engine seeds teams based on pool standings and builds a single-elimination bracket. It renders as an interactive SVG tree on desktop and a stacked card view with round tabs on mobile, so captains and spectators can follow along from any device.

Do I need a separate Sports plan to run tournaments?

Yes. Sports tournament features are included on the Sports plan (and higher tiers). Upgrade from Settings > Billing, or redeem a promo code if you've been given free access.

How do I redeem a promo code?

Open Settings > Billing and paste your code into the Promo Code field, then click Redeem. Valid codes unlock a plan tier (often Sports) for a limited period - confirmation shows immediately on success.

When and how will I get paid for tournament or event revenue?

Once your Stripe Connect account is connected, net revenue (gross minus platform fee) transfers automatically through a daily payout cron. You can see the live breakdown on each tournament's Overview tab - team registrations, entry tickets, merch, gross revenue, platform fee, and your net payout.

How is the platform fee calculated?

The platform fee is a small percentage of each transaction (plus a fixed per-transaction amount) that depends on your plan tier. The Sports plan and higher tiers have lower fees than Free. You see the fee line-itemed in the Financial Summary so there are no surprises.

How do messaging credits work?

Each paid plan includes a monthly-resetting SMS credit allowance. SMS reminders, tournament match reminders, and score alerts all draw from that bucket. You can see remaining credits in Settings > Messaging and top up anytime or complete onboarding tasks to earn bonus credits.

Can I move an attendee to a different slot?

Yes. Open the event's Attendees tab, click the attendee, and hit Move to reassign them to another slot. An email with the updated details is sent automatically, and their payment status is preserved.

How do I send reminders to attendees?

Every event supports email and SMS reminders. Enable them in the event wizard's Reminders step and pick a lead time (24h email + 2h SMS is the most effective combo). Reminders queue automatically based on each slot's start time.

Can I invite other team members to help manage events?

Yes. Open Settings > Team, click Invite Team Member, and pick a role: Admin, Editor, or Viewer. They'll get an email to join your organization - no shared passwords required.

Can I add my own logo and brand colors?

Yes. Complete the Branding Onboarding (or open Settings > Branding) to upload your logo and pick a primary color. Your branding then appears on every event page and confirmation email automatically.

Can I upload an event image for a tournament?

Yes. Tournaments support event image uploads just like other ticketed event templates. Add the image in the creation wizard - it appears above the signup form on your public tournament page.

How do I turn on my public merch storefront?

On the Sports plan, open Settings > Shop and flip the "Public shop page" slider on. Your storefront lives at signupgo.com/shop/:your-slug and aggregates every merch product across your events and merch stores. Use the "Live preview" link in Settings > General to open it in a new tab.

Can I sell merchandise without running an event?

Yes. Create a standalone Merch Store from the dashboard and attach products from your Catalog. Merch Stores sell year-round and show up on your public /shop/:your-slug page alongside event-attached merch, with revenue flowing to your Stripe Connect account.

What is the Product Catalog and why should I use it?

The Catalog (Dashboard > Catalog) is your org-level master list of products - with variants, inventory, and images. Add a product once and attach it to any merch store or event without re-entering details. Inventory stays in sync across every attach point, so you won't oversell a hoodie that's also for sale at another event.

How do I create a coupon or promo code for my events?

Open Dashboard > Catalog and scroll to the Coupons section. Click "New coupon", enter a code (e.g. HOMECOMING10), pick % or $ off, set any redemption limits, and save. The code is immediately live at checkout - you can copy it with one click and share it with your community.

Can I limit a coupon to one use per person?

Yes. When creating or editing a coupon, set "Max redemptions per customer" to 1. The limit is enforced by email at checkout, with atomic redemption counting so it's safe even under concurrent purchases. You can also set a total cap (e.g. first 50 redemptions only).

Do my coupon codes work on other organizations' events?

No. Every coupon is scoped to the organization that created it - HOMECOMING10 on your account won't work on another school's checkout, and theirs won't work on yours. That also means two organizations can safely use the same code name without conflict.

Can I apply a coupon to only merch or only tickets?

Yes. When creating a coupon, choose whether it applies to tickets, merchandise, or both. Most organizations scope deep discounts to merch only so their ticket margins stay intact. You can also scope a coupon to a category (e.g. "Apparel") or to specific catalog products.

What is the share modal that pops up after I publish an event?

When you publish an event for the first time, a share modal opens with a one-click Copy link, a downloadable QR code, and prefilled SMS, email, Twitter/X, Facebook, and LinkedIn share buttons. Sharing in the first 24 hours drives roughly 5x more sign-ups than not sharing, so we make it one tap away. It fires once per event and never repeats on re-publish.

I missed the share modal. Can I get back to it?

Yes. Any event with zero sign-ups and more than 24 hours since publish shows a "No sign-ups yet - share this event" banner on its dashboard card. Click it to reopen the same share tools. You also get a nudge email after 24 hours if sign-ups haven't started, with the links inline.

What happens if I publish a paid event before connecting Stripe?

You can still publish. You'll see a "Set up payouts to receive funds" banner on the event and a red dot next to Settings in your sidebar until Stripe Connect is set up. Buyers can still pay - the funds just accumulate in Stripe and pay out once your account is connected. The Connect backlog processor sweeps any historical payments automatically.

Is the Sports plan required for the shop, catalog, and coupons?

Yes. The public merch storefront, org-level Product Catalog, coupon codes, and sports tournament features are included on the Sports plan ($59/mo). Existing events and conferences continue to work on every tier - Sports just adds the commerce and tournament layer.

If I'm a school administrator, how do I create conferences for my entire school?

SignUpGo is great for individual conferences, but if you need to manage parent-teacher conferences for your entire school with multiple teachers, automated reminders, and centralized management, check out our specialized solution.

Are you a school administrator?

Looking to create parent-teacher conferences for your entire school? Manage multiple teachers, send invitations, send email and SMS reminders, and track attendance all in one place.

Learn More →