1. Create the event

Where: the management portal, then the event site (see Two places you will work). You need: to be an organization admin.

Before you start

  • A Stripe account for the event. Registration, vendor tables, and the shop all charge through it.

  • Decide the event’s name, slug, and subdomain. The slug is the event’s permanent identifier and cannot be changed afterwards.

  • Know who your event admins are (their e-mail addresses).

Step 1 — Get a Stripe key

  1. In the Stripe Dashboard, open Developers → API keys.

  2. Copy the secret key for live mode (it starts with sk_live_). Use an unrestricted key.

  3. Keep it to hand for the wizard’s Stripe Key step.

Warning

You can skip the key and add it later, but until the event has one you cannot create registration tiers, registration merchandise, vendor table sizes, or shop items — each of those creates a product in Stripe when you save it.

Step 2 — Run the event wizard

In the management portal, open Events → All Events and click Create New Event. The wizard has six steps:

  1. Basics

    • Event Name and Slug — required. The slug is filled in from the name; lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only.

    • Subdomain — the event site’s address (<subdomain>.midsummer.cloud). Optional here, but the event site cannot be opened until the event has an address — this subdomain, or a custom domain added later.

    • Start Date / End Date — set them now. The public schedule needs both.

    • Staff-Only Organization — leave off for a convention. Turn it on only for an organization that uses the Staff module and nothing else.

  2. Modules

    • Switch on the modules this event uses. Staff, Schedule, Register, and Vendors start on; Shop, Inventory, and Chat start off.

    • Turn on everything you expect to use. On your first event this also decides which modules you can administer straight away (see Step 5 — Make sure someone can administer each module).

  3. Import

    • First event: nothing to import — click Next.

    • Later events: choose a Source Event, then pick what to carry over.

      • Departments — select them. Departments are attached to the new event, not copied, so rosters, leadership, and module permissions come with them. Do not skip this: without a department, nobody can administer the new event’s modules.

      • Module Settings & Emails — copies each module’s settings and e-mail templates. Open/close dates are not copied.

      • Reusable Configuration — terminals, kiosks, and devices. Devices and password-manager entries are moved, not copied.

      • Take over subdomain — gives the new event the old event’s address.

  4. Event Admins

    • Add the e-mail address of every event admin and click Add.

    • Add yourself. Creating an event does not make you its admin. (The only exception is the first-run welcome screen for a brand-new organization, which adds you automatically.)

    • Addresses without an account are sent an invitation to set a password.

  5. Stripe Key

    • Turn on Add Stripe Key and paste the key into Secret Key.

    • Turn on Live Mode for a live key. The toggle is not set for you.

  6. Review

    • Check the summary and click Create Event. Midsummer creates the event and fills in the default settings and e-mail templates for each module.

Step 3 — Activate the event and check the key

Still in the management portal:

  1. On the event’s page, click Activate. New events are created inactive (shown as Draft in the events list).

  2. Open Connections → Stripe Keys and use Test connection on the event’s key. If you skipped the key in the wizard, click Add Stripe Key here instead.

  3. To add an event admin later, use the Event Admins card on the event’s page.

  4. To give the event a subdomain later, or to use your own domain name, open Domains and use Assign (Midsummer subdomain) or Add Custom Domain.

Step 4 — Finish the basics on the event site

Open the event site (https://<subdomain>.midsummer.cloud), sign in, and open Event Management in the main navigation. It is shown only to event admins.

  1. General tab

    • Timezone — new events default to America/New_York. Enter the time zone name for your venue, for example America/Chicago.

    • Event Start Date / Event End Date — confirm them.

    • Event Active — should be on.

    • Release Schedule — leave off until the schedule is ready (see 4. Set up Schedule).

  2. Modules tab

    • Confirm the enabled modules. This is the only place to switch Shop, Inventory, and Chat on or off after the wizard.

  3. Click Save Changes.

Step 5 — Make sure someone can administer each module

A module’s admin menus appear only for people whose department owns that module. Event admins count as leadership of every department attached to the event, so one department with the right permissions is enough to get started.

  • Your organization’s first event — done for you. The wizard creates a department called Staff that owns every module you switched on, with admin and superadmin rights.

  • A later event — you get the departments you selected in the wizard’s Import step, with the permissions they already had.

  • A module you switched on after the wizard — no department owns it yet. Grant it by hand:

    1. Open Staff → People → HR Dashboard.

    2. On a department’s row, click the cog icon, Module Permissions.

    3. Under Add New Module Permission, choose the Module.

    4. Under Department Leadership Permissions, tick Admin and Super Admin. Tick the staff and volunteer boxes only if every member of the department should administer the module.

    5. Click Save Permissions.

    Changing module permissions needs superadmin on the Staff module.

Warning

If a later event has no departments attached, nobody can open its HR Dashboard to fix that. Attach one from an earlier event instead: on that event’s site, open HR Dashboard, click Pinned Events on a department’s row, and tick the new event.

Ready check

  • The event shows Active in the management portal.

  • Test connection succeeds on the event’s Stripe key, and the key is marked Live.

  • You are listed as an event admin and can open Event Management.

  • The time zone and dates are right.

  • For each module you plan to use, its menu on the event site shows more than the public pages — for example Advanced → Registration Settings under Register. That is the sign you can configure it.