How a booking happens

The booking form is the [eventnetic_booking] shortcode on an event's page. It walks the customer through a short series of steps and, at the end, creates a booking, an order and one ticket per seat.

The steps

Choose a date : The dates still ahead, one per row with the time and what is left. A date that is sold out or cancelled is shown but cannot be chosen. Where the event allows several dates in one booking, the customer ticks each one. Packages that cover several dates, a course or a pass, are offered above the dates. A one-off event skips straight past this step.

Tickets : A row per ticket type with its price and a counter, and any package used on one date, such as a family ticket, beside them. Several types can go in one order. On paid plans with a hall attached, the customer then chooses actual chairs on the seat plan.

Details : First name, last name, email, phone. Which of these are required is up to your settings. Custom questions appear here on paid plans.

Attendees : One block per ticket, for the fields the ticket type asks for. Same as me fills the first from the details already given. Skip this by asking each ticket type for nothing.

Payment : The order summary — subtotal, discount, tax, total, due now, payable later — then the payment methods you have switched on. If the ticket takes a deposit, the customer chooses Pay the deposit or Pay in full.

Done : The thank you page: the codes, the ticket PDFs, a calendar file, and the joining link if the event is online.

What it leaves behind

One booking creates:

• a booking with a code, a status and a payment status, covering one date or several
• an attendee per seat, each with its own ticket code
• an order with its lines and, once money moves, its transactions
• a customer, if the email is new

When it is full

If the last place has gone, the form does not simply refuse. On the Pro and Elite plans, with a waiting list on for that event, it offers to take a name instead, for that date or for a package that is full: see Waiting list. Without one, the date shows as sold out.

Holding tickets during checkout

Between choosing tickets and finishing payment, the places are held so two people cannot buy the last seat at once. How long the hold lasts is Settings → General settings → Bookings → Hold tickets during checkout (minutes). An abandoned checkout releases its hold when the hold expires, and a background task sweeps them up.