How to Set Up an Event Submission Form

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With a Timely account, you can set up an event submission form to be displayed in the front end of the public interface of your events calendar. With an integrated event submission form, you can accept and management event submissions from your community and local partners. Moreover, with this feature you can populate your website calendar with events hosted by other organizations effortlessly. Learn all the steps in this post.

1. Creating an Event Submission Form

Once you log into your Timely account, follow the steps below to create a front end submission form:

  1. On the main menu on the left, click on Community Events, and then on Settings.
  2. Check the Enable event submissions form to enable the feature.
print screen of the Community Events menu with Event Submissions Form enabled

2. Event Submission Form Set Up Options

Use the Settings submenu on the Community Events Menu to Enable event submission forms and set up your preferred options.

2.1. Automatically approve new submitters

If you check this option, all submitters will be automatically approved by default. This will be the general rule, even if you had previously set up individual approval rules.

2.2. Automatically approve new events submitted

When this option is checked, all events sent by all submitters will be automatically approved by default. If you enabled this option, any previous individual submitter approval setting will be disregarded.

2.3. Hide add event button

By default, when you enable the Event Submission Form, the + ADD EVENT button shows automatically on the toolbar of your online events calendar.

print screen of the “+ ADD EVENT” button in the Public Calendar

Nevertheless, you can hide it by simply clicking on the hide add event button checkbox on the Event Submission Form settings.

Please note that you can add your + ADD EVENT button as a CTA elsewhere on your website. You can even change the name of the button to something else, if you wish. Simply go to Settings>Embed Code and select the embedding options according to your needs.

2.4. Enable external tickets

If you check this option, a new field will appear on the form allowing your event submitters to add to an external link to the website where they are selling tickets, as well as the event ticket price.

When the event is published, the link will appear on the “Ticket” CTA on the respective event post on your public calendar.

2.5. Featured image required

This setting allows you to set the featured image as a required item on your submission form. In other words, if this option is activated, your event submitters will not be able to submit events unless they upload an image for their event.

It is particularly relevant for event calendar owners who are careful on how they calendar looks on their audience’s eyes, and want to make sure all event posts have a featured image. Moreover, this feature can save time and improve productivity by making event submitters complete this step on the event creation process.

3. Event Filter Options

3.1. Standard Filters

If you wish, you can require your event submitters to add filters to their events so your calendar is always organized the way you want. You can allow them to search for available filters, or add new ones, if convenient.

The Filters option will list all default filters, such as Categories, Tags, Venues and Organizers.

print screen of Filters options in the Event Submission Form settings

The default filters have two options:

  • Required: if required is checked, then the submitter needs to choose one option; and
  • Show new button: if this option is selected, then a button will appear next to the dropdown and will let the submitter add a new option to the filter.

3.2 Custom Filters

If you have Custom Filters in your plan, all filters created by you will also appear on this list. For example, you can add to the event submission form a Workshops custom field that you have previously created in the Filters menu.

print screen for custom filters preview

The custom filters only have one option: if it is a required filter on the form or not. The NEW button will always appear.

3.3. Filters Use Example

Please see the example below:

print screen of customized filter options in the form the final user will see in the Public View

For this form, the field Category was set up as mandatory field (checked as required). In this case, the submitter did not select an option from the dropdown menu, so the field is marked in red.

Both Category and Tag don’t have the NEW button, so the submitter can’t add his or hers own categories and tags to the event post. In contrast, Venue and Organizer have the NEW button, so the submitter can add his or hers own venues and organizers.

For the last filter – Workshops – the NEW button is always an option.

4. Fields Options

4.1. Standard Fields

When you enable event submissions for your events calendar, our system generates a standard event submission for you.

The standard form contains all the relevant fields for an event to be created in our software. For instance, event title, date and time, including recurrence and timezone, event description and featured image.

The form with the standard fields will look exactly like the image below:

print screen of the public view of the event submission form with standard fields

4.2. Custom Fields

Timely Custom Fields feature allows users to add additional fields to their event submission form. These fields can be customized as text fields, yes or no answers, or checkboxes, providing flexibility in collecting specific information from event submitters. Users can determine whether each field is required or optional and choose whether the answers will be displayed or hidden in the event post.

The feature is explained in detail in the Timely Help Center article How to Create a Custom Event Submission Intake Questionnaire. By utilizing Custom Fields, event organizers can gather tailored information from submitters, enhancing their understanding of the events submitted for publishing in their calendars.

4.3. Custom Fields Example

In the following example, we created a text field and a checkbox field.

print screen of a custom filter in the Event Submission Form settings

The text field asks for the occupation of the submitter and it is not a required item on the form. The Yes / No field asks for confirmation that the submitter is 21 years old or older, and it is a required item on the form. Also, none of the fields should appear on the event page when published.

The fields created will show in a special section of the online event submission form, as follows:

print screen of the example fields in submission form in the Public View

5. Disclaimer Option

The Disclaimer option, if enabled, allows you to add a customized disclaimer for your event submission form. You can use this feature in many ways. For example, you can refer to your Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, or current safety precautions and protocols for events.

Moreover, you can make this a mandatory item on your form. In this case, the submitter will have to agree with the disclaimer before submitting the event. Otherwise, the system will not accept the event submission.

When enabled, the disclaimer will show up near the end of the event submission form, as shown on the image below:

print screen of the Disclaimer area in Event Submission Form settings

For more user guidance, please go to our Help Center. If you have any questions or need additional assistance, do not hesitate to contact us. Alternatively, you can open a support ticket from your Timely account’s dashboard.